[jebartle]

I'm certainly not advocating buying a car solely because it is made in US but sure wish we could keep our bucks and jobs here!!!! Most Hyundai are built in Korea and lord only knows that there are a ton of them on the road....Why do you buy foreign cars? Is it solely because of gas mileage?

[salpal]

My Prius....50 MPG is only reason. I think the car itself is unattractive, but love the mileage and it is very quiet.

[red tail]

i bought my car because i love the way it looks. didnt really care where it was built. it turns out my GMC terrain was built in canada.
go figure!

[spk7951]

Bought my 1st new car in 1974, Chevy Monte Carlo, and about every 3 or 4yrs bought a new car and all were US made. But my last US made was a lemon and the problems with it coupled with the poor response from Chrysler led me to try a Lexus in 2001. Kept that vehicle 5yrs and never had a problem with it. Just about every US made car I had seemed to have at least a couple of quality issues but not the Lexus. And they certainly treated me much better than Chrysler did.

Now an observation of sorts to the original post. Quite a few "foreign" manufacturers do build their cars in the US. Case in point is our current vehicle. It is a Honda CRV and was made in the Honda plant in East Liberty, Ohio. So while the profit may go to a non-American company the product was built by American workers.

[memason]

I todays global economy, just because you buy a car with the the Ford or Chevy badge, doesn't mean it was built in the US. Same goes for BMW, Honda, etc.

I like to say I buy based upon quality (workmanship) and price/value proposition, but in all honesty, it's almost always an emotional purchase...How it looks, how it drives, my wife agrees [], stereo system, etc.

[2BNTV]

I have owned only one foreign car and it was because of reliability.

Even though a car may be a foreign brand, it still could be made in the USA by checking the VIN..

World Manufacturer’s Identification (WMI)
The first character in the WMI sequence represents the country where the vehicle was manufactured. Countries like the United States (1 or 4), Canada (2) and Mexico (3) are represented by numbers while other countries such as Germany (W), Italy (Z) and Japan (J) are represented by letters.

The second character refers to the manufacturer. The characters can be either letters or numbers. For example: Jaguar (A), Dodge (B), Chrysler (C), Jeep (J), Buick (4), Cadillac (6) or Saturn (8).

The third character represents the vehicle type or manufacturing division.

Just sayin......

[Loveithere]

I started buying Toyota's in the seventies after too many American lemons. I decided to buy an American car in 1985 and again I got a terrible car. I went back to Toyota and that's all I will ever buy.

[billethkid]

I never have and never will. And the car is always one made in the USA.
Almost all the excuses that everybody still uses for buying a foreign car are from the past and they are all gone i.e. quality, mileage, dependability, etc.

I subscribe to the global economy thing but that is not the reason to not buy a car made in America!! Real manufacturing has declined for the past 40 years...jobs that is...all gone overseas.

I believe if one is really interested in making America strong again that means making some choices that will ultimately result in manufacturing (jobs) reviving in America.....buying cars made in America is a major contributor to that happening.

If one is out of work and driving a car made else where and can't find a job...you can always eat your import.

btk

[Pat_RI]

Aren't a large portion of Toyotas made in the US?

[Loveithere]

Originally Posted by billethkid

I never have and never will. And the car is always one made in the USA.
Almost all the excuses that everybody still uses for buying a foreign car are from the past and they are all gone i.e. quality, mileage, dependability, etc.

I subscribe to the global economy thing but that is not the reason to not buy a car made in America!! Real manufacturing has declined for the past 40 years...jobs that is...all gone overseas.

I believe if one is really interested in making America strong again that means making some choices that will ultimately result in manufacturing (jobs) reviving in America.....buying cars made in America is a major contributor to that happening.

If one is out of work and driving a car made else where and can't find a job...you can always eat your import.

btk

Why would buying an American car put manufacturing back to work? Most parts of almost all vehicles are made from all over the earth. If American parts are made cheaper, then they might go back to work. As long as we allow parts to be imported, there is not any chance to see an increase manufacturing jobs in USA.
The USA still has a strong manufacturing base but many jobs are lost forever from CNC machines and more productive methods. With the new machinery that companies bought the last 20 years, it only takes around 10 people instead of 50 the old way. (My estimated figures)

[aljetmet]

I currently own a Toyota and a Nissan. Basically for reliabilty, price etc.

I work in a chemical plant in Memphis TN with about 220 workers ( we once had double that amount and we're still producing about the same!) Anyway since we have 3 shifts I get to see most of the cars that people drive to work. Plenty of foreign cars. Even the trucks and we have plenty of those as well.

[westcoast]

I drive a Toyota because of reliability and safety features and of
course looks. The Toyota rep told me that Toyota USA has more
emplyees that any other american manufacture. I have not verified
this but they do have many plants in the USA

[travelguy]

since 1964 i have only owned 2 american cars, and both were such disappointments that i will not even consider wholly american brands any longer. my non american purchases have included: volkswagen, opel, toyota, hyundai, and honda. the only non american car that was a real lemon was an MG in 1976.......lousy car, but when it ran well it was so much fun!
since american manufacturers did not pay attention to what the consumers wanted in vehicles, and overpaid their employees while producing inferior products, i have no problem paying whomever gives me what i deserve and expect.

[billybye]

i buy only toyota since 1979 and only new cars - last time i bout american it was a chrysler that burned a quart of oil a month. When I brought it in for service and explained that to service manager,also telling him I had a toyota as second car with over 100,000 miles on it and didn't take any oil between changes he said well a quart of oil a month doesn't cost much and you can't expect a mid size chrysler to be a good as a small toyota.

[batman911]

Last two American cars I owned were Pontiacs (GTO and Firebird). Had the GTO for 26 years until I sold it to a guy from Ball Ground, GA who wanted to show it in car shows. The 1983 Firebird was a lemon. Worst car I ever owned. For the GTO, must have changed 5 water pumps, 6 or 7 alternators, numerous fuel pumps, more spark plugs and rotator points than I can remember (the engine would absolutely distroy electrical ignition components in 6 months (400 CI engine)), three starters, one exhaust manifold (cracked), more than 20 mufflers (thank you Midas for all the free mufflers), and way too many other items over the years. You actually had to lay up side down in the drivers seat to access the fuse box. I was fortunate to be able to maintain the car myself or it would have cost me a bundle. I sold the GTO for more than three times what I paid for it new (one owner car with all the original documents and orginal GM stickers on the air cleaner). Took the money and bought a BMW M3. Fuse box under the hood where you can easily get to it, has spare fuses and a fuse puller in the box. You can remove the whole dash in a few easy pieces. What I'm getting at is that foreign cars are just plain engineered better. Not only do they drive better and last longer, but the sales and maintenance teams are a pleasure to deal with. Just my experience and opinion.