I recently wrote an article about GM building a new Buick with a turbo 4 cylinder, 6 speed manual transmission car. [See original article here] One of the comments I received to the article was from reader Steve Clark who stated:
Well, I’m not an old man either,but…I remember when gas went from 59 centa gallon to a buck-plus and we waited in lines.
My grandfather sold Datsuns… called Nissans now,Mercurys and Buicks. I’ve owned several Buicks. I like comfort. Skinny girls don’t turn me on. GM has built some very comfortable cars.. So is Ford and I like to buy American. The LeSabre Buick made in the 90’s was a nice car. I put 240K on one- and I sold it to a guy 2 years ago and he’s still styling ’round in it.
I wouldn’t call the undertaker yet. GM & Ford aren’t gasping. And while we’re at it- I don’t like Chineese clothes,Arab oil and Korean cars. I’ll pay more if it keep YOU in an American job in America.
Well Steve I found your comments interesting since I also recall 59 cents a gallon gasoline and I also sat in the gas lines like you did. Like yourself I had always bought an American built car. But my last American car I owned, a Ford T-bird was nothing but a pain in the ass. It started with transmission trouble, followed by a cracked intake manifold, a heater core leaking and finally a blown head gasket. The unfortunate thing is that the car only had 63,500 miles on it!
On the day I received the $2,000 estimate to fix the head gasket, I had the car towed to the junk yard! I went to a Kia dealership and leased a new Sportage. When the lease ended I bought a new Nissan Rogue. But this is just me, and the decision I made to buy Korean and a Japanese vehicles. What I found interesting about your statement is that you believe that buying anything but an American car takes away American jobs.
The Korean car company Kia has built a 1 Billion dollar assembly plant in Georgia to build their cars here in the U.S. The factory was built by Americans, the cars are being built by Americans, are sold at American dealerships and also serviced by Americans. Hyundai, another Korean company, has been building their cars in Alabama.
Here is a blurb from Honda:
Honda has steadily expanded its U.S. presence to encompass a broad range of products and operations. Today, Honda employs more than 27,000 U.S. associates engaged in the design, development, manufacturing, sale and servicing of Honda and Acura products including automobiles, motorcycles, ATVs, personal water craft, power equipment, and an advanced light jet.
Honda operates 10 U.S. manufacturing plants with two new plants under construction, along with 14 R&D facilities and more than 12 regional sales, parts and service, and finance offices around the country. The company’s network of U.S. parts suppliers comprises 545 companies in 34 states with annual purchases exceeding $17.5 billion in 2008.
Guess where Honda builds their cars at? Ohio. Built by Americans, sold by Americans, serviced by Americans, parts by Americans for Americans. Last year I watched the Discovery channel which was about Honda. They build Accords here in the U.S. and ship them back to Japan to sell.
Forbes had this article:
Volkswagen is erecting an assembly plant in Tennessee, Kia Motors has a plant going up in Georgia, and Toyota Motor is putting one up in Mississippi, although it has delayed opening there because of the slump in auto sales.
Foreign auto manufacturers and suppliers already have a massive presence in the U.S. Many of these new transplant factories are in the Sun Belt: South Carolina (BMW), Mississippi and, Tennessee (Nissan), Alabama (Mercedes, Honda , and Hyundai), Texas and Kentucky (Toyota). The foreigners do have a few plants in the North, too: Honda in Ohio and Indiana, and Toyota and Subaru-Toyota in Indiana.
I’m not going to enter into the debate between union and non union jobs. What I want to know is if buying a Korean or Japanese car is Un-American as some believe it is? I personally do not believe this. What do you think?
Comments welcome.
I father works at the Kia plant in West Point, GA. It’s brought a lot of new businesses to the area and really helped the surrounding town’s economies.
First of all, let it be known, skinny girls don’t turn me on either! I’ve owned several GM vehicles, one of which was a “Bandit Edition” Trans Am. To date, I’m on my fourteenth (yes 14th) Z-car. The first was a ’76 Datsun 280Z…..all the way to present. American made vehicles are so far behind Japanese and German technology as to be laughable. I say don’t bail those greedy bastards out with my money, when they insist on selling inferior crappola for the cost of a modest home! Hope I’m not being to subtle?
I bought a 2007 Tundra after desperately trying to love a new F-150 – a brand I have owned since the early 80′s. I test drove 3 F-150′s then drove a Tundra and parked it at home 4 hours later. It was built in Austin, Tx. and is the most awesome piece of iron I have ever owned. A hot rod that’ll smack your head against the headrest when you stomp it. Tows 10,300 pounds! Almost as much as my F-350 dually. Not one problem – nada, zippo. An Abrams tank in the snow, takes a load in the bed like there’s nothing there. Did I mention it nudges the sound barrier when you get on it? It may say Toyota on the badge but it’s pure American horsepower on the road!
Hi Matt,
I wish your Dad well in his new job. I have seen the new 2011 Kia Sorrento that is being built in GA. and it is a beautiful machine at a reasonable price. And it’s built right here in the good ‘ole US of A !
Buffet.
Nissan makes a nice ride. But how do you really feel? LOL
Heh Bruce,
That Tundra you bought will last longer than any Ford, Chevy or Dodge will!
I wonder what Howie Long drives?
America is crony capitalism. The American car companies can’t compete because of a mixture of products that don’t serve their customers needs, and due to legacy obligations that they never should have agreed to with the UAW.
Yet, when they fail, the taxpayer bails them out.
Crony capitalism = You win big, you keep it. You lose everything, the taxpayers have your losses covered.
I think it’s a lot more un-American that we have to bail out every company that dug its own hole and then have to listen to these idiots that tell us that buying a Kia, Honda, Toyota, etc. makes us evil communist bastards.
Those “foreign” plants create more American jobs than the American companies.
So just buy your import and if anyone preaches, tell them that you already gave at least a couple hundred dollars in last year’s payroll tax to GM, Ford, and Chrysler.
*gets off soapbox*
Heh Ryan,
‘So just buy your import and if anyone preaches, tell them that you already gave at least a couple hundred dollars in last year’s payroll tax to GM, Ford, and Chrysler.’
I like that! LOL Sad but true.
Regards, Ron
I have a ’99 Toyota Tacoma that just keeps on driving–200K miles. It was made in the US too.
I’ll buy American branded cars or trucks when they figure out how to make them with the quality that Toyota, and for that matter Subaru, builds into their vehicles, which are also made right in the USA.
gypkap,
2 thumbs up!
One thing that no one has mentioned. The quality of a car seems to depend entirely on its design. The foreign manufacturers design their cars well. When they’re assembled, those Toyotas, Nissans and Subarus work just fine whether they’re assembled in Japan, Korea, the US, or Mexico. “The quality is built in,” and where the car is built doesn’t matter.
Detroit needs to figure out that their vehicles have to be high quality, by design. Once they figure that out, they can be competitive again.
Hot Wheels and Matchbox stocks are trading higher than GM
They should sell what’s left of GM and give the money back to us in the form of a tax refund.
What they will do, however, is keep GM nationalized and pump more of our money into developing the Hippiemobile that runs on sunshine and cinnamon buns.
A friend of mine is given a very generous car allowance based on buying an US built car. I said US not AMERICAN. Most US car companies models are made in Canada, some Mexico. The distinction of US made by union workers made my friend pick the Pontiac Vibe. He was not allowed a truck, SUV or a car that seats less than five and there were gas mileage limitations as well. Fortunately he just traded in his old one for a new one . Unfortunately whatever is left of them (if any ) are now going for half price as Pontiac and Saturn are no longer. The Pontiac Vibe is made by GM with a partnership with Toyota’s Matrix in Fremont California and that of course has come to an end. What will be my friend’s next car? We don’t even want to talk about it. I suggested the Buick LE Sabre a while back as it would work being manufactured in the same plant as the equivalent Cadillac. The replacement car for the Le Sabre is made in Canada. The Park Avenue which he almost got has been discontinued long ago. I did want him to get the Oldsmobile Aurora as I liked the idea of a car named after a utilitarian everyday product like toilet tissue. But alas both names have been discontinued.
Ford pickup trucks are built in Mexico? How American of them.
I’ll stick with whatever vehicle LASTS!!! I bought a used Lexus RX300 for a really good deal at a Chevy dealership. Had it 6 years now and NO, NADA, ZIP – repairs. Brakes pads replaced at 70,000. Tires twice now. I’m in Florida and hot weather driving is tough on brakes and tires. Even the battery was original and lasted 7 years. Wiper blades changed once, still good. Nothing broken. That’s what I want. Turn the key, and go. Don’t bother me with vehicle stuff.
OH I see I thought this was an unbiased blog but by the fact that my pro American car statements were erased this must be an mouth piece to preach the holiness of the almighty walk on water asian car product , Do you think Japan/korea will send economic aid to us so we can buy there vehicles when we no longer have jobs because we were more worried about the global economy, we are the global economy we have to be strong for the world to be strong we are the lynch pin that if we fail then the rest of the world falls into the abyss economically and morally and the sooner you get that through your post sixties groovy woodstock burned out minds the better , if the rest of the world is so advanced and enlightened then by all means move to your holly lands and ron you can sensor my blogs here cuz this is your house but like it or not we the americans can and will think for ourselves so post this if you dare.
Thanks Jamie for your comments.
Your first comments, IMHO, were inflammatory.
Regards, Ron
If you are an American – wise up! We are playing the sucker when it comes to supposedly ‘free trade’. Kia and Hyundia from Korean are allowed free access to our market to the tune of 700,000 + cars last year. However, US car companies were essentially shut out of S Korea through tariffs and a systematic use of bureacratic red tape – and it not just US companies , the European brands also are shut out of Korea. China and Japan also have continued to ‘cheat’ in their trade with the good old stupid USA. The USA will have 10% + unemployment forever until Americans understand – if you buy from other Americans, the money stays here.. and helps your neighbor… Buy from a Korean or Chinese, and your money goes overseas where they can turn around and lend us more money to buy more of their shit. It is a vicious cycle and we better wake up . I have no problem with countries that treat us the same way we treat them.. but China, Korean, and Japan are CHEATERS… and as Americans we should be pissed that they keep cheating in the trade game.
The real issue here are cars. We buy cars because of its quality, design, and other factors. I don’t really care where its made. It could be Korean, Indian, Chinese or even American. It is simply just getting the best product with the best value for your hard earned money. Period. No politics, no nationalism involved, no economic blah blah, etc.
korean is better than japs and white pigs
Hi Kim,
OK. If you say so.
I am a little late in replying, but I agree with Leo. Other than an S-class Mercedes in the late early 1990′s – because I just HAD to have a Mercedes, I have always driven American made cars. I am in the market ot replace my 2005 Cadillac deVille, and will most likely end up with something foreign made. Why? Because there is not one single American luxury car that I would buy. Cadillac has so dramatically reduced the size and options of the DTS that is is nothing more than a Malibu with nice upholstery. The is not a single Lincoln product that has any style – they are ALL butt-ugly. Where does that leave the American luxury car buyer? With an import. Don’t blame it on the consumer. The fault here lies with the American car manufacturers!