I don't normally resort to vulgarity, but yeah smart a**, I DO feel patriotic driving my American car built in Canada. So there.

And I have news for you. I WOULD BUY AN AMERICAN BIG SCREEN, BUT WE DON'T MAKE THEM ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So while we can still drive CARS THAT ARE MADE BY AMERICAN COMPANIES, I WILL.

(Sorry for Caps abuse, but I feel like I'm talking to redzed here)

And actually, my Z28 and my Grand Prix do not squeak, and do not rattle not one. See, I didn't even have to go looking for your bias in an old post...its right there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for saving me the time. Nice job on the big screen comment. You fed right into my argument. Hope you have a good job that doesn't get cut someday because of cheap labor somewhere else

 

Some people just don't get it. GM isn't going overseas to build cars because they want to screw Americans out of jobs. They do it because it is the only way they can compete in segments with cars that toyota and honda can make two or three times the profit that GM can. The reason that toyota and honda can make two to three times the profit? Because they have been making cars overseas for a lot cheaper for years. Now GM has to go overseas to be competitive. If there was not an unfair trade, and GM could make somewhat equal profits on cars that cost the same to manufacture as the imports, they might not be building cars overseas.

If GM spends X amount of dollars to make a car in the US, and toyota can make a car that competes with the GM car for less money because they used cheap materials and labor, and then both cars have to be priced in the same range to compete; GM would obviously like to go overseas to build the car for cheaper so they can COMPETE. If they don't then what happens is that GM has to find ways to get the price down some other way. That would explain the cheap interiors and big body gaps that everyone complains about. And when toyota knows that they can make the car with a higher profit margin they can invest some of that profit in better interior plastics and whatever else matters to you new car buyers that like your dash to feel soft. (I've never rubbed my truck or Camaro's dash and wished it was made of a softer plastic.) Maybe it's because I really do hate all imports for being imports, but I would almost be willing to go as far as to blame the loss of jobs within GM and Ford on the imports directly. Anytime GM outsources a job to korea because it is cheaper to pay someone there to do it, it's because the imports have been making a killing that way for years. Why wouldn't GM do it too?

I know I'm being ridiculous here, but people who praise the imports for being built here in the US are stretching a little bit to say that it is the same or close to the same since a lot of domestics are not built in the US anymore. So because the import brands have forced domestics to go elsewhere to find cheap land, labor, and steel to equal the edge that the imports use to get a leg up, it should be OK to support these imports so they can force more jobs overseas?

 

 

Yeah, I wonder what those guys who had nice jobs assembling TVs for RCA are doing these days. It's the disturbing trend in America...we demand things cheaper, cheaper, cheaper....no matter who provides it for us. Me? I'm willing to pay a little more for something I know was assembled by my neighbor than a guy working half way around the globe. Manufacturing is the cornerstone of our country, it is what we are built on. It really is sad that people don't care much anymore.

You obviously have the right to buy what you want, that's also a principle this country was built on. But I think you're doing everyone, including yourself, a huge disservice by not even considering a domestic product. If it wasn't for some of these completely idiotic auto journalists (don't get me started on the Detroit News' Leinerts) who keep feeding the stereotypes, I think many people would see from a quality and refinement standpoint a GM, Ford, or even Chrysler offers a fine level of quality and refinement comparable to just about anything anyone else offers in a particular segment for the money.

 

I'm pretty sure there are tariffs on cars - 2.5%, I believe. Not much, granted, but its something. I just had this conversation with an OEM customer who's based in Europe.

I will say that I'll be a lot more interested in Lexus when Toyota starts assembling them in the United States. I'll also say that the IS350 looks to be a heck of a sedan. A preference for domestically-built product and admiration for foreign vehicles don't necessarily have to be mutually-exclusive things.

 

I don't care about the engine, but at least they changed the styling. The old version was 100% riceboy deluxe.

 

Well said


-Mike

 

I agree. A lot of people here have been saying they preferred the old look, but to be honest the old IS300 was by far my least favorite looking Lexus model. It didn't even look like it belonged in the same lineup as the rest of the Lexus models, and did look a bit ricey. Then again the Toyota version of that car that was sold in Japan was called the "Altezza" and was, to my knowledge, the cause of the entire altezza tail light fad that all the rideboys took after. Before then I never saw such a thing as Altezzas.

 

Yeah, maybe your right, but this thread has started to get interesting now. At least more interesting than the Lexus (my opinion of course.)

 

I'm a 25 year old kid from New England, aka Import Central (outside of SoCal). There are 8 credit analysts in my office at the bank. We're all around the same age. They drive:

-'04 Accord EX
-'05 Accord EX
-'04 Mazda 6
-'98 Diamante
-'99 Escort
-'02 Infiniti I35
-'02 Protege
-'01 Grand Prix and '97 Camaro (gee, don't I stand out )

These people, as a group, couldn't care less about where their car is made or where the company resides. All of us analyze commercial credit requests, some for MANUFACTURING JOBS (of what little is left in New England). Virtually all of these companies are struggling. And yet, it doesn't even dawn on this group of people that buying American might make more sense.

My generation really couldn't care less. We think Scions with blowers are cool Clearly, we're screwed...then again, keep in mind who I am. I went out of my way 2 years ago when I got my first apartment to buy an American made microwave. And indeed, while Sharp is not an American company (name one microwave that is), the microwave was built in NC I paid $20 more than a comparable Chinese made one, and I couldn't care less that I paid more. Maybe I'm the crazy one...

 

Seems like that is the trend with white collar jobs. Our guys on the floor (and guys who are too grizzled to be in a while collar job, but are - like me) all drive Ford, Dodge or Chevy trucks, but managment drives mostly imports with a spackle of Corvettes, Cobras and Cadillacs though and the usual domestic SUVs. GM hasn't made a lot of good, lower priced cars to buy though, so I can't blame the people, they get paid to be good with money.

 

I think the previous generation Grand Prix was phenomenal with respect to its then-market participants...this one? Yeah, I'll conceed with what you said about some entrants not being so great

But, I wonder when the new Impala comes out, how many would even SHOP a Chevy dealer vs. going and buying the usual Camry or Accord. That's the issue. My boss at work also drives an '05 Accord EX. She knows I sell on Saturdays, and as the previous owner of a '91 GP and a '95 GA, I expected she'd probably ask to swing by and see a new G6 (I'm not going to solicit sales from my own boss!). What did she do? Drove straight to the local Honda dealer and drove out in a new Accord. She didn't even LOOK at anything else. When I asked her how she liked it, she said "How could I not? Everyone loves their Hondas."

Ignorance is bliss. For her, for the way she drives and for what she got, I cannot see ONE tangible advantage to the Accord over a G6. And yet, she didn't even bother to look. Indeed, you are correct about the white collar thing...its bad. Real bad. My father (a VP/CFO of a local paper mill, and a CPA) has a Sunset Orange Formula that, on the rare occassion he drives it to work, sits between Hondas, 3 series and Mercedes. Yeah, he feels a little out of place, but ask him if he really cares

 

I think Jason is correct. The younger generation for the most part, only cares about themselves. Obviously there are exceptions, but that has been my opinion for quit some time now. As long as they can justify what they are doing, to themselves that's all that matters. Manufacturing WAS the backbone of this country! Especially manufacturing automobiles, and what represents Freedom, more than cars....American Cars. OK, Harley's too. Another company who's helped us defeat our enemies in our time of need. Who in the Hell is gonna do that, if that need ever arises again, and these companies are gone? People aren't thinking about that.....Or again, they just don't give a damn, about the strength of this country, or anything else! This is why I have a big problem with the so-called journalists today, they have helped ppl rationalize thier decisions, to not buy American, among other things. I think they have been misled. And they believe anything they are told, without any facts to back it up. Jimbo, says, "Are all Americans dumb"? To that I would say, Not ALL Americans buy yotas... Not that the ones that do are dumb, maybe just misled.

 

younger generation? how about all generations... just look at the people that buy stuff from walmart, target, etc..

People have been burned before by domestic products.. and now are too comfortable with the imports, so they stick with them.. My parents for the first 20 years, bought domesic cars. some okay ( a remember white Ford station wagon was pretty reliable), some not so good.. Their first car, a Vega.. that they occasionally still laugh about, but it barely soldiered thru its life, an olds, and some Eagle? stationwagon).. and a scary one.. a Ford Escort.. lol. my mom nicknamed that the tiny tank, cause it drove and sounded horrible (think my uncle bought it new when he at this country for a year, then gave it to us when he moved back). and maybe a few other cars I don't remember.

So now they dislike domestic cars.. and only buy Toyota Camry's.. They've been better than the rest for at least the first 100k miles. It rubbed off on my sister too.. although, she is considering the new Caddy CTS or STS as her next car.

Welll, anyways, sorta back to the original topic.. I'm going to try to convince my parents on getting a IS250 to replace their aging ES300. They are old now, and even getting them to consider another Toyota car besides the Camry is hard enough, let alone leave to another brand... let alone a domestic one.

 

Definitely. Started with the baby boomers.