mrsandman

I know this couldn’t be just a local phenomena, and some may think it politically incorrect, (whatever) but:

What is the reason that you (almost) never see Oriental people driving American made cars?

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KellyC

I got too much A-Z-N pryde to drive a domestic car

ok...just jokin'. I prefer Japanese car because they look nice, they are, dependable and affordable. American cars, imo, looks ugly and does not have as much values as the asian cars...

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irseg

For the same reason that the Germans I know tend to drive German cars-- liking your country/region of origin. I don't blame them one bit. It's a shame more Americans don't feel the same way, but that wouldn't be politically correct.

A friend of mine is Taiwanese, his family drives nothing but American cars because they hate Japan. So there are some exceptions.

ninety09

American cars suck.

Jesus Pimp

I'm offended by the term oriental.

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jay_21

American cars suck.

ubertuber

Probably because perceived quality of American cars is at an all time low - even below the Koreans (Hyundai and Kia). You'd have to be an American to want to pay for that! I actually read that as part of a study. Unfortunately it has been long enough that I can't remember where I got it from or I'd link it. Probably NY Times.

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buclao

We have four cars at my house and they're all foreign cars (Honda Civic, Toyota 4Runner, Honda Accord, and Toyota Tundra) My family feels that american cars are just crap. Whatever an american car maker has out, a foreign car maker has pretty much the same thing, but with better gas mileage. Also, foreign cars just seem to last longer. We have a 89 Accord and still runs fine.

tropple

Most of my neighbors are Chinese.

I don't see any different distribution of vehicle brands among them than I see among pther races in america.

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mrsandman

Having spent some time in the Far East, I imagine I could have come up with a wide range of descriptions other than "Oriental".
So,what unoffensive term would be acceptable to you?

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Rekna

i'd guess Asian

Jesus Pimp

How about person or individual? :P Whenever I hear the word oriental I think of rugs or exotic goods from the east. I'm a person dammit. I have no problem with the term Asian.

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mcovey

asian would include Indian and Australian cars. And others too.

Oriental implies the Orient, the generally yellow-skinned area of Asia.

I'd say most cars that come out of asia are from Japan, though.

Xepidemic

my fam has a 2003 camry, 2004 maxima, 1998 pathfinder, 1994 corolla, and a 98 windstar. the 94 corolla has 100k+ miles on it and the windstar has like 80K. the windstar broke down first with a cracked piston. the corolla hasnt had a major problem yet. my dad from that day on swore to never get an american car.

Supple Cow

As you should since the term "oriental" refers to things, not people.

Re: American (not occidental) cars - I would drive one if it had better gas mileage than my Honda and was made for someone my size. I like to be able to reach the pedals without having to sit with my chest 5 inches away from the steering column, and that's not just for comfort - a little fender-bender could kill me if my airbag deployed and I was so close to the damn thing that it could suffocate me.

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MSD

Australia is its own continent.

Fenton-J-Cool

Definitely not a localized thing, I live in a town where - by census - 57% of the town is of a visible minority. I consider myself an expert.

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Rodney

Like everybody else said, American cars suck. Also, if you're from Asia (instead of just born to Asian parents in the US), Asian-made cars are going to be most familiar to you. Japanese cars are everywhere in Asian; American cars, nowhere.

And in my limited experience, thriftiness is still more of a reigning ethos in Asia (outside of Japan, maybe) than our buy-it-and-throw-it away Western consumer culture. Thriftiness doesn't mean spending the least money; it means buying things that give you the most value for your money, like a Japanese car that'll run for 250K with moderate repairs rather than an American car that's a POS at 120K.

KirStang

Hey, i'm asian and i drive a Ford.

Generally, domestics will run a good deal cheaper than imports. However, i guess the general concensus is right in that the majority of domestics are not very reliable.

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mrsandman

I’m thinking that it goes far deeper than: “American cars suck”.
There is a common bond between people of the same color/ethnicity.

We are now “hyphenated” Americans, and have no such bond.

I think that pride in our country could unite us in a common bond.
However, we seem destined to destroy ourselves from within, pitting faction against faction.

America, as a melting pot, was once our strength, maybe now it is our weakness...let us pray.

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Rodney

Hmph. I'm a white Ammurican whose family has been here for a couple of centuries, and I've been driving Hondas for years now. I'll buy American when they make cars that are as reliable. And actually, Americans do -- for Honda, in Ohio .

It may be that Americans need a stronger common bond, but the attitude toward cars is not a sign of factionalism. People will buy whatever meets their needs at good value.

Zeld2.0

I personally think you're digging a bit too deep into this issue...

I, like other consumers, often go out for simply the best bang for the buck - if I can get a car with better mileage per gallon, better quality, requires fewer repairs, and drives just as fine - I'll take it over the ones with poorer qualities than that. And that is my general concensus with Asian cars.

My family has had a wide range of cars from Mercedes to BMW to Pontiac to Buicks to Toyotas to Nissans to Infiniti and so on. For the same price, we have found Asian cars to last the longest and have given more bang for the buck.

It's as simple as that - not any notion of having some Asian roots or undermining america or wahtever. It's simple supply and demand and free market: the consumers tend to go to the better product for the same money.

mrsandman

Yeah, you're probably right. I'm originally from Detroit, and was rudely displaced when the Japanese bombed Detroit. It has affected my life, and therefore I plead guilty to a certain prejudice with my observations. (Try and buy something at Walmart not made in China.)

Because of that history, I have never bought a non-American car.

Call me patriotic...or stupid.

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Cynthetiq

I'm of Asian decent and I drive an "American" car.

live by a stereo type and you'll be treated like a stereotype

kutulu

I've been thinking that for a long time. The sooner we forget about where our great-great grandparents lived before they lived here the sooner we will be able to unite as Americans.

I could care less that my Father's father came here from the Phillipeans or that the rest of my family came from Europe.

All the labels do for us is tell us how our fellow Americans are different from each other.

Until Sunday, every car I'd ever driven was Japanese. Now I'm driving a VW.

Mephisto2

What's that supposed to mean?

India and America are not?


Australia does not consider itself Asian or Oriental, primarily because of its historical social links and history with "the West"; specifically Britian. It is not a member of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations), but it is irregularly invited to attend the summits as an observer.

But it does consider itself an Asia Pacific nation; and a local "Super power"' to boot. This is in itself an interesting observation, as the only real difference is one of perception and social/ethic identity, which goes to emphasize the racial underpinings of such epithets.

Mr Mephisto

sapiens

Australian cars cannot be included under the "Asian" heading because Australia is not Asian. It's Australian (Seven Continents - Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America).
There may certainly be racial underpinnings involved in Australian social identity, but I still think that it's possible that Australia is not part of ASEAN because it isn't Asian. The term "Asia Pacific" may be more inclusive, resulting in Australia considering itself an "Asia Pacific" nation.

Back to the topic of the post - A larger question might be "What is the reason that you (almost) never see American people driving American made cars?" What is an "American car" anyway? Many foreign brand cars are more "American" than "American" cars, as Rodney may be suggesting with his Hondas made in Ohio point.

Nazggul

Right on. Unfortunately American car companies are buying all the foreign care companies. =/

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sashime76

Best built American car - Toyota, in Kentucky!

Trisk

Uhm...actually, if I'm not mistaken, the continent Australia is considered to be part of is called "Oceania". Australia is the name of a country. There are several other countries/islands near it, including New Zealand...which don't consider themself part of Australia. However...I think the name Oceania was only added to the books 4-5 years ago so I'm not going to blame you for being mistaken

Cynthetiq

really? last time I checked Daimler-Benz bought Chrysler = Germans bought American...

VW bought SEAT = Germans bought a Spanish Car maker.

While FORD and GM have purchased lots of other car companies from Jaguar to SAAB on the European front, they don't own more than just stock/stake in Japanese manufacturers.

besides, you live in SF you know about the NUMMI plant (toyta/GM plant) that's in that area... that's not owned by either, but works for both.

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Glava

The weird thing is that even if Japanese-branded cars are made in America, they retain their reliability and quality. I suppose the engineering is more of a factor than the factory labor in the production.

raeanna74

Hubby have not owned a car other than an oldsmobile for almost 7 years. We owned a chevy cavalier for a couple months, a pontiac for a couple months, and now a chevy lumina as well as our Olds. We're going to miss Oldsmobile when we go to buy a new car and can't get it. Hubby owned a VW beetle at one time but I don't think he ever owned anything else. We're caucasian Americans.

Now if you drive 30 min south to the town hubby works in you can seen TONS of Honda's, and other Japanese Eastern made cars. The town is boasting of the influx that they are encouraging of the Hmong. The immigration began a couple years ago and they expect it to top 5,000 Hmong in the next 5 years. You see so many fricken Ricers around acting like they're the COOLNESS. It's annoying. They often tend to drive like idiots in their ricers. Then they drag 5 and 6 whiny children with them through the grocery stores. Then they're standing line behind you and jabber in their language and look at you and giggle - you can't help but feel like their "Whispering" about you. Don't they know it's impolite to whisper like that? Talking in some other language is equivalant to whispering behind people's backs. I won't ever move to that town. It's creepy.

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bermuDa

if we're going to generalize, why not ask why i see so many crackas driving asian cars? (of course my use of the term is meant as a joke)

maybe it's the well marketed belief that asian cars are of a higher quality? maybe it's the visual appeal? maybe they like adding kits and foot-wide mufflers on them.

or maybe it's just a decent car with decent mileage and easy maintenance? Most american cars just don't have the same appeal as asian made vehicles.

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Flyguy

[deleted]

Flyguy

Regretfully, I have to agree.

Why don't orientals drive American cars? Becuase they know better.

Orientals all think that we American's are a bunch of lazy slobs. Why would they want to drive our cars? And besides, everyone want's those damn SUV's which are too fucking big to begin with, guzzle gas and are SO unrealiable. I've driven my civic for six years, SIX YEARS with NO mechanical problems, whatsoever.


Now tell me you can do the same with your chevy.

Terminal Frost

American Cars Suck.

I know a few other people said it, but I would just like to say it again.

I'm a white American of German descent. I drive a BMW. I bought a used 325i when I was 16 and still have it today. German cars have a much better feel than American cars and even Asian cars. I might have bought a Japanese car if they made anything in rear wheel drive, but it seems only the Germans do that now. If I didn't really love to drive and love to work on my car all the time I would have gotten a Japanese car, never would I have any reason to buy an American car unless I get really fat and need the extra room.

Glava

Most vehicles with Asian name plates are made in America. Unless you want to exclude that group, I think "Asian-made" should be replaced with "Asian-branded" or "Asian-engineered". Now that I think about it, I think Toyota has a design studio here, too.

greytone

I don't know what constitutes a foreign car anymore. My first car was a Dodge that was manufactured by Mitsubishi in Japan. My next car was a Nissan that was assembled in TN (a neighboring state). and my current car is an Acura that was shipped from Quebec. It seems to me I did more for the local economy by purchasing the Nissan than the Dodge.

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sapiens

The number of land masses considered continents depends on where you are from(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continents).

Some countries teach a 7 continent model of the world (the US and parts of western Europe). Others teach a 6 continent model with the Americas combined as one (Europe and South America) . Others teach a 5 continent model without Antarctica and the Americas as one continent (UK).

In all of the cases, Australia is not included as part of Asia and the Islands of Oceania are not considered part of a "true continent" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceania). Australia is considered a continent nearly everywhere.

Anyhoo, I may have gone off the deep end talking about continents...And I just said anyhoo... I've got problems...