How old is your car?

[brk-lnt]

Originally Posted by nicole

Just curious- the Toyota factories in the USA-are they not union? If so-bravo for them.

Toyota, BMW, etc factories in the US are not Union. Without the UAW burden, those companies can employ American workers, build a good product, and turn a profit.

[nicole]

Originally Posted by brk-lnt

Toyota, BMW, etc factories in the US are not Union. Without the UAW burden, those companies can employ American workers, build a good product, and turn a profit.

That is what I thought-thank you for answering my question

[chipj29]

I am not sure of the exact number, but I read not too long ago that roughly $3k of the price of every new car (American made) goes to pay pensions/benefits to retired employees. If that is true, that is a staggering number. No wonder they can't make any $$.

[Wolfeboro_Baja]

Originally Posted by Sunset Bob

Buy American save the American auto industry.
Or don't cry when this country goes broke!

I will when they make something I like style- and feature-wise and with GOOD quality!! The only American cars I would consider owning at this time are the new Camaro and the Ford Mustang; I would definitely take the Mustang over most anything!! Unfortunately, the prices are outrageous!

Originally Posted by gtxrider

My guess is that people listen to the hype that foreign cars are better. Not always true!

They may be near equal in quality now but in the past, Toyotas were superior in quality and they designed something I actually wanted to drive!

Originally Posted by nicole

Where does the $$ go? Both of our Toyotas were made in the USA, so they provided Americans jobs and helped add to the local economies. Our prior Corolla that we traded in recently was made in the USA as well. Just curious if you know where your Ford was made? I know a lot of American cars are now made in Mexico. I know some are still made in the USA but that number is dropping.

It is kind of disturbing-at least to me- that American car companies-who have a lot of manufacturing plants in Mexico now are asking for a bailout. So, won't that taxpayer bailout $$ be indirectly making it's way to other countries?

I guess I am different than most people, but I try to seek out American made whenever possible. I know most people don't care about that anymore-but I do. I would rather purchase an American made product-regardless if it is an "American" company than a product made in Mexico, China or elsewhere just because it happens to be by an American owned company.

I know my 2001 Ford F-250 Super Duty 4X4 was made in Kentucky. But I am APPALLED by the design and build quality!!

Going back to Sunset Bob's quote above, you buy a 3/4 ton truck thinking it can handle some work! I bought this one to tow my boat and that's pretty much the only "work" it's had to do. This truck will be 8 yrs old in December; it only has 48,000 miles on it and yet, this summer, the fuel pump failed ($713 repair bill), broken studs attaching the exhaust manifold to the head (causing an exhaust leak) had to be replaced ($1200 repair bill) and lastly, 2 ball joints are failing and will not pass my next inspection so THOSE have to be replaced (replacing all 4 ball joints, approx. $800 repair bill); imagine, a heavy duty truck WITHOUT greaseable ball joints!! These things should NOT be failing at 48,000 miles; this is NOT what I expect from a so-called "heavy duty" truck!!!!!!! The really frustrating thing is, Ford KNEW about the exhaust manifold and ball joint problems (they have TSB's out for them but no recalls)!!!! Sorry for the rant but I'm not going to continue throwing money away on "American" if the quality isn't there!!

Will I keep the truck? Yes, because after all this repair work, I can't afford to replace it!! Besides, now that I've fixed these problem areas (and I did NOT let the dealer fix them!!), the truck will hopefully last another 8 yrs!! That's assuming the body doesn't rust out from underneath me!!

Our other cars; a 1990 Ford Thunderbird SuperCoupe (125,000 miles) and a 2000 Toyota Celica GT-S (99,000 miles). No new or used cars in our immediate future. The F-250 and Celica are year-round daily drivers; the T-Bird is driven in the summer only (it's NEVER seen winter).

[kaj]

1996 Accura runs good
1994 Tbird runs great
1970 Chevelle runs the best of the bunch!

[GrandmaBig6]

2008 Ford Taurus - 9,000 miles on it!

Mary