American vs Imports

[IC3]

Just curious as to what everybody likes better American Made Cars or Imports...When I say Imports I mean anything that is not american or Vise Versa...Depending on where you live.

I personally like Imports..I have owned 1 American made car which was a 91 Cavalier...but Every car i ever own is gonna be either Eauropean or Japanese.

IMO I think Eauropean & Japanese cars are all around better cars.

So what's your preferance?

I did not make this thread with the Intentions of starting any kind of flame wars, just curious as to what the majority of TFP'ers would rather have.

Thanks.

[soccerchamp76]

Depends on the car but I will have to go with imports

[sixate]

I own a Honda now and I haven't had a single problem with it. I've owned five other American vehicles and had an assload of problems.

Imports > American

Although, my Civic was built right here in Ohio.

[HeAtHeN]

I gotta say the build quality of North American vehicles.... well... it sucks.

Gimme a Jap or Euro car any day.

[bad30th]

Imports will win this poll.

I am a die hard Chevy guy, but buying an import, owning an import, and generally praising imports is the popular thing to do right now....so there ya go.

I'm sure import lovers have a million stories about how their domestic sucked, and likewise, I have a million stories about how my import sucked. It all comes down to your personal experiences.

Mine experience? I, and several of my friends, have had assloads of problems with their Honda, Kia, Nissan, and Mitsubishi products. I have had much better luck with good old American made vehicles.

Domestics > Imports IMO

[telekinetic2]

Methinks IMO is going to be the keyword for this thread....

[Peryn]

Too vague for me. it totally depends on what i want out of my vehicle. If i want a light little go-kart to tear up the autoX i will go with an import. If i want luxory, chances are i will go with an import. If i want raw power i will go american all the way. If i want offroading durability, i will go american. If i want a lot of power at a cheap price i will go american. If i want exotic i will go import.

It is just too vague for me to make a real decision or generalization. But, 4 of 7 cars around here are import, so i will go with that.

[Krycheck]

Needed a third choice. Depends on the car .

I drive a Mercedes C280 right now and I'd like a newer E class.

But if i needed a SUV or a minivan for my wife I'd get an american car.

And remember, import doesn't always equal quality.

[Kurant]

Offroading, depending on what your price range is, you can't find a better off road vehicle then a G-Class or a Range Rover. If I can find there link, Motor Trend has an article about road tests on 2 Range Rovers, a G-Class, Hummer and a Z71 Tahoe. The only one they coulden't roll over on it's side was the G-Class, the best overall offroad-ability was the Range Rover...

Everyone has horror stories of cars, I guess it just depends on what you like. I own a Silverado for the winters up here in AK, I also own my M3. Both great vehicles. But, if Mercedes made a real vehicle to tow a boat with, I woulden't even think twice about not ever buying American again.

[stuffthatsgood]

I've driven lots of cars and definitely import.

As for repairs, I haven't seen American cars being very cheap either, which is supposed to be a strong point for them. Reliability hasn't been as good as with the imports for all of the people I know.

Stylistically, I don't find as many American cars attractive. Exterior and interior.

I own an Eagle Talon which is half and half, mostly import. I'm not happy with it either, heheh... Mitsubishi isn't one of the good Japanese auto makers in my book.

If on a budget, I'd buy Japanese, if I had more money, I'd buy German.

[KeyserSoze]

Most imports are built here in the states and most American cars are built abroad.

[archer2371]

It really depends, I love my American cars, but for sheer performance value, I gotta go with imports that aren't Japanese and don't run on rice. By that I mean, Mercedes, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, McLaren, etc.

[lt1s10]

For my needs. Gotta go american. I drive a 1/2 ton pickup. Not many import options with the same capacity as my Chevy. The Tundra/T100 I looked at when considering trucks.

The deciding factor was that I do all my own work. Parts availability and pricing is much easier for me with an american truck. I do work for my friends and even with my commercial account at most of the dealers and parts stores in town there's a premium for the import parts. Ususally around another 30-40% over the domestic parts.

[Mill]

Import cars have better quality because they use better parts, and assembly techniques. They make money from being more efficient.

Any North American assembly plant is capable of building a better cars. The car makers choose to save money with cheaper parts and getting the cars out the door and letting the dealers fix the problems.

I have worked for both Chrysler and Toyota, I drive a Toyota.

[Scorps]

Me I'm American made, keeping the money in the Country so to speak.

Im a Chevy fan and always will be a chevy fan.

[Spyder_Venom]

I am really starting to hate this question becuase it is subject to what people want out of thier vechical. So I will have several awnsers -

Daily Driver - Jap Import, I want good gas milage Euro's are too manince intensive to qualify for this one in my book.

Go-Go Racer Car - American, there is no way to go faster for less. When you break it, they are cheap to fix.

Weekend Car- Give me the euro any day of the week!

Tow Rig - American, show me a Jap 1 Ton truck... Don't even start to think that a Nissan pickup is going to tow 10,000LBS

[DEI37]

I've had no real problems to speak of with my Oldsmobile's. It's pretty much all I've owned, but do toss two Chevy's, a Buick, a Mazda, and a Pontiac in the mix. I've had 6 Old's, and love 'em.

[rival]

Originally posted by DEI37
I've had no real problems to speak of with my Oldsmobile's. It's pretty much all I've owned, but do toss two Chevy's, a Buick, a Mazda, and a Pontiac in the mix. I've had 6 Old's, and love 'em.

Didn't they discontinue the Olds? I had a 92 Cutlass Supreme, bought it in 99 for three grand. I probably put another three grand into fixing the thing. Of course, it was used and 7 years old by the time I picked it up.

I've only bought imports new. It has more to do with the fact that I like the look and feel of imports over American cars than anything else. It seems to me that cars are individuals, they have problems that have nothing to do with who built them. Just buy what you like and hope all the expensive shit breaks under the warranty.

[mighty mouse]

You know it really depends. We have a Toyota Corolla that my dad bought in 1975. It has been nearly trouble free and very nice. But really any better than the other 30 year old cars around my house? Not really. Cars have problems. It is all in what you personally take as good or bad. I say, 50/50.

[irseg]

My car has a turbocharged OHC 4 banger running 18 psi of boost (bumped up slightly from 15 psi factory) that has spanked many V8s, a computerized suspension that stiffens the shocks when it's driven hard, 4-wheel disc ABS brakes, power everything, automatic headlights/high beams/rear view mirror, and a bunch of other cool stuff. It's a *1988* Ford Thunderbird.

And you know those touchscreens that are just now showing up in Lexuses and Mercedes? My friend's '86 Buick Riviera has the same thing. It was considered to be a silly gimmick back then, but now that imports have it 15 years later, it's the coolest thing ever.

Needless to say I prefer American cars. I like a lot of imports, but they tend to copy existing ideas rather than developing their own, and I can't respect that.

[rival]

My friend's '86 Buick Riviera has the same thing.

It's not the same thing. The "gimmick" touch screens you are seeing now are combination onboard computers complete with DVD, Onstar navigation system and six disk cd changer. It's not just a fancy way to change your radio station or turn on the A/C like it was back in 1986.

Other than that, the Thunderbird sounds spiffy.

[james t kirk]

Originally posted by Mill

Any North American assembly plant is capable of building a better cars. The car makers choose to save money with cheaper parts and getting the cars out the door and letting the dealers fix the problems.

Man, you hit the nail right on the head.

GM does nothing but look for ways of getting cheaper and cheaper parts. They like to add / push high dollar (useless) gizmos such as on star, DVD players, power points and coffee cup holders, but cut quality in engines, suspensions, transmissions, and all things mechanical or material which the unsuspecting public thinks are all more or less the same.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Case in point, my 97 buick with a cheap plastic intake manifold (rather than an aluminum one) that cracked and destroyed the entire engine. Your average smuck on the street doesn't even know what an intake manifold is let alone that there can be variations in quality just by material selection.

Edit:

And this is coming from a guy who used to be so pro-North American that it hurt. I WAS Mr. GM. But GM is the worst of the worst now in my eyes. They are totally run by accountants who spend more on marketing a car than engineering a car. The old GMs are still a thing of beauty in my eyes, but the new ones all look the same more or less and on top of that, their styling sucks. (Other than the corvette, i still have a soft spot for that car, though still prefer the 67 and back vettes.)

Harley Earl must be spinning in his grave.

[Scorps]

Originally posted by Spyder_Venom
I am really starting to hate this question becuase it is subject to what people want out of thier vechical. So I will have several awnsers -

Daily Driver - Jap Import, I want good gas milage Euro's are too manince intensive to qualify for this one in my book.

Go-Go Racer Car - American, there is no way to go faster for less. When you break it, they are cheap to fix.

Weekend Car- Give me the euro any day of the week!

Tow Rig - American, show me a Jap 1 Ton truck... Don't even start to think that a Nissan pickup is going to tow 10,000LBS

American are better all around, ya they maybe a little more n gas but Chevy never die.

[rodgerd]

American cars are imports.

[DEI37]

Didn't they discontinue the Olds? I had a 92 Cutlass Supreme, bought it in 99 for three grand. I probably put another three grand into fixing the thing. Of course, it was used and 7 years old by the time I picked it up.

I had a '92 Olds Cutlass Supreme as well that I paid $7000 for in '97 with 58,000 miles on it. Granted, I did have to replace an engine at the 108,000 mile mark, but it was due to the faulty lower intake manifold gasket, and me not realizing what that would do, and failing to fix it in any amount of appropriate time. Other than that, nary a problem. I have '97 Olds Cutlass Supreme right now that I paid $8200 for in 1999 with 47,000 miles on it. Had a salvaged title at the time...still does, obviously. Had the same motor problem with it, so it's got a different engine in it now that has developed a bottom end knock...after it sat UNOILED for 2 years!!! That's the junkyards' problem, not GM's. Anyways, I've wrecked that car HARD twice, and there is still nary a squeak or rattle in the car for the most part. What is there takes a big bump to bring out the small rattle.

Then again, I've never really had any major troubles with my cars except for the two things I described above. Most of my cars have died after wrecking them. That said, gimme a GM any day. They build a high quality car, according to the consumers via JD Power.

[Stare At The Sun]

My vote goes for imports.

[lakefire]

GM > all other companies.

[MSD]

I can't generalize and say one over the other. Each car has its good and bad points, so I can't even generalize by manufacturer.

[FastShark85]

Originally posted by lakefire
GM > all other companies.

Why? Styling? Reliability?

In terms of importance to its corporate mindset..... GM profits > GM product quality

[Esoteric]

Although there are some good American made cars, I'd have to go with Imports on this one.

[mikey08]

im a big fan of BMW. they drive so nice, are good on gas and when you need power you mash the gas peddal and it goes

right now im using a 95 jeep grand cherokee. its nice for off road, its good in the snow and good and pulling stuff but its no where as nice and it handles like a truck.

i prefer the BMW any day of the week, except when i need the 4 wheel drive or the truck-ness. imports are the way to go. trying to save money and trade the jeep for a tacoma or get my old car back

[89transam]

The good thing about fords is they circle the problem for you....which is nice

[Zesty]

American

[billege]

This thread is immune to logic, reasonableness, and is a waste of bandwidth.

For one, it's a completely subjective question. There is no point what-so-ever to a question like this.

Every other thread on the Motors forum is an "Import vs. American" thread.

Pick any thread on the MForum that has a Civic on it, or any thread with a Camaro on it. Those threads are all the same.

[jimk]

usa.

my dad is a retired g.m. guy..........i've had imports (acura, mg), but i just feel uncomfortable in them. in my blood i guess.

[JBX]

Originally posted by KeyserSoze
Most imports are built here in the states and most American cars are built abroad.

BINGO!! Beat me to the point.

[merkerguitars]

Give it enough years and it will all blend together....

[macmanmike6100]

Most definitely imports. Drive a Mercedes-Benz and you'll see what I mean ;-)

But imports generally a better than American.

[hotzot]

when americans can make a car that the transmission doesn't blow just after 70,000 miles . I'll buy american again.

[BooRadley]

Originally posted by Mill
Import cars have better quality because they use better parts, and assembly techniques. They make money from being more efficient.

Any North American assembly plant is capable of building a better cars. The car makers choose to save money with cheaper parts and getting the cars out the door and letting the dealers fix the problems.

I have worked for both Chrysler and Toyota, I drive a Toyota.

Most US market toyotas are american made. This is going to be a large flamewar...

Also, the arguement about GM quality : GM HAS to cut costs in build quality, because labor costs are outrageously stupid ( *cough* UNIONS ). It is the same for any car company who builds cars in the US. Including honda.