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Why not let the free market work and buy the best available vehicle regardless of where it is built?
This will promote competition and force the car companies to build the best vehicle for the best price.
Well in theory I would agree with this, but the problem is we are not in a "free market." Some countries like Korea do not reciprocate free trade with other countries and that has led directly to the recent rise of Hyundai/Kia.
They have a protected home market which gives them a pile of extra cash they can use to put more money into subsidizing cars for export markets.
Last year, about 7,600 U.S.-built vehicles were sold in South Korea. In contrast, more than 411,000 Korean vehicles were exported to the United States. That is justs plain wrong and we are stupid enough to let them do it.
For those who say this happens because the US automakers makes crap, well the Japanese (Toyota/Honda/etc) have simiar trade deficits with Korea, too. (Japan led the way on how to operate with a closed market and now Korea is executing what they learned from big brother.)
I will buy any US or Euro car because we do trade freely back and forth, but I will never buy anything from Korea, Japan or China unless they open their borders.
i'd rather buy a car from mexico than from china. i just rented an hhr for the weekend. before i chose that car i jumped into a pontiac vibe and there was a label across the drivers door MADE IN CHINA.
I don't know what you were looking at, but the Pontiac Vibe was made in California
I would not buy a Detroit 3 car UNLESS it was made in Mexico. The cars are NOT assembled by the UAW, or the equally corrupt CAW and the Latin American plants (especially Ford's) are truly state of the art, something the stinking UAW won't allow to happen here.
The Ford Fusion is made in Mexico, and is the only Detroit 3 car that is as reliable and well made as Asian makes. The only Mexican built car I am interested in though is the Nissan Versa.
I had a 1998 Pontiac Bonneville with the 3.8 V6. At about 4 years old and 70,000 miles the problem was a defective (plastic) throttle body in the intake manifold that melted away. Plastic in the intake manifold? Yes. What did they replace it with, another plastic throttle body, of course. Cost to repair, out of my pocket, about $1100. They had to pull apart the intake manifold to fix it, and had to replace the head gasket too. If you google "defective GM intake manifold 3.8 V6" you will see countless results. I sold the car shortly afterwards, in 2002. GM kept using this same defective intake manifold assembly up through 2004.
had the exact same problem with my '98 Buick Skylark a couple years back... cost about $700 to repair
I would not buy a Detroit 3 car UNLESS it was made in Mexico. The cars are NOT assembled by the UAW, or the equally corrupt CAW and the Latin American plants (especially Ford's) are truly state of the art, something the stinking UAW won't allow to happen here.
The Ford Fusion is made in Mexico, and is the only Detroit 3 car that is as reliable and well made as Asian makes. The only Mexican built car I am interested in though is the Nissan Versa.
I guess you have not been to Dearborn Assembly, where they make the Ford F-150, which also has quality ratings much higher than products from GM, Dodge, Nissan and Toyota. That plant is as state of the art as they come - all the way up to its grass (sedum) roof.
That is a UAW plant, too. Look, I am very much against union labor especially the UAW/CAW which have overstepped their bounds over the years, but they have no influence on whether a plant becomes state of the art or not. Plus, the actual plant a car is built at has very little to do with long-term quality. How the car is engineered is the most important factor. The plant issues are like having a piece of carpet not quite installed right, a seat screw not torqued down enough, a rubber door seal not in quite right, etc.
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