Chinese cars coming to U.S.

[Kevin]

Chinese cars coming to U.S.
Arizona dealer will be the first to sell a full line of Chinese made autos in the United States.
June 27, 2004: 10:58 AM EDT

DETROIT (Reuters) - An Arizona car dealer is gearing up to become the first to sell a full line of Chinese-made vehicles in the United States at Wal-Mart-style prices he hopes will lure tens of thousands of buyers.

Rest of story:
http://money.cnn.com/2004/06/27/pf/a...reut/index.htm

[Kevin]

From what I understand the Chinese cars are supposed to be of "inferior" quality and are often compared to Hugos. I've seen Kia do fairly well here despite similar allegations -- in fact, I've heard exactly the opposite as far as customer testimony.

Consumer Reports and J.D. Powers & Assoc. seem to be less and less reliable to give us an honest assessment of a brand that might upset the establishment.

From what I understand, all of these Chinese cars will be under $9000. Considering the markup that we currently pay on cars, I think this might help the market out a lot in terms of what the consumer gets for their buck.

[swissmiss04]

Is it possible that they'd be even worse than Kia? There are some things you don't skimp on, and car quality is one of them. Cheap things often come w/ a heavy price.

[Munchkin03]

Originally posted by ktsnake
From what I understand the Chinese cars are supposed to be of "inferior" quality and are often compared to Hugos. I've seen Kia do fairly well here despite similar allegations -- in fact, I've heard exactly the opposite as far as customer testimony.

You mean, Yugos? Those were some fugly cars.

I've never met a Kia owner, so I have no idea how they like their cars. I'll probably stick to Japanese/German/Swedish cars.

[PM_Mama00]

Grrrrreattttt. There goes Detroit's economy even more. PEACHY.

BUY A BIG 3!!!! Have you driven a Ford lately?

[Kevin]

Originally posted by PM_Mama00
Grrrrreattttt. There goes Detroit's economy even more. PEACHY.

BUY A BIG 3!!!! Have you driven a Ford lately?

If Ford wants to charge 30K for a car whose tires explode out from under you, that's cool. I just won't buy from them. Honestly, I haven't heard of that happening to Kia or really any other brand. Ford is probably the one with the biggest quality issues.

GM has improved a lot in my opinion over what they were a few years ago. But I think their prices are still very high. I chose a Honda because they have kind of 'middle-of-the-road' prices, a great reputation for quality and a very innovative design (which we're seeing more and more in American cars).

I've just been damned impressed with what I've heard about Kias thus far. They're not flashy, they have crappy rides, but they won't fall apart. Hyandai has a 100,000 mile warranty... These guys know how to compete and I hope they get American cars to improve their quality and price to remain competitive.

[PhiPsiRuss]

I'm all for free trade, but not with countries that are one sided. Let China fix their currency valuation before we let anything from them into this country.

[Munchkin03]

Originally posted by ktsnake
If Ford wants to charge 30K for a car whose tires explode out from under you, that's cool. I just won't buy from them. Honestly, I haven't heard of that happening to Kia or really any other brand. Ford is probably the one with the biggest quality issues.

When I was on a "Buy American" kick about 10 years ago, I remember asking Daddy why he wouldn't buy a Ford Explorer. "Do you know what Ford stands for, baby? Fix Or Repair Daily." People can say what they want about German cars being very expensive to maintain, but I've seen worse issues with Fords than Mercedes and BMW.

[PM_Mama00]

I've been driving a Mercury for 7 years, no problems. My family has been driving Ford products for years and no problems. And Ford uses different brand tires now.

Back on topic, kinda, my aunt in NY has a Kia. She loves it.

[Kevin]

Originally posted by PM_Mama00
I've been driving a Mercury for 7 years, no problems. My family has been driving Ford products for years and no problems. And Ford uses different brand tires now.

Back on topic, kinda, my aunt in NY has a Kia. She loves it.

Ford has had a long history of catastrophic design flaws and quality issues. Notably the saddlebag gas tanks on their pickups and the exploding fuel tanks on the Pinto. They are also now by Consumer Reports (which is fairly accurate in evaluating the quality of the big 3 when compared vs. eachother) they are the lowest.

[PM_Mama00]

And through those years improvements have been made. Who drives a frickin Pinto nowadays anyways?

It's not just about Ford. If people stop buying American cars, the Motorcity is gona be going downhill.

[Kevin]

Originally posted by PM_Mama00
And through those years improvements have been made. Who drives a frickin Pinto nowadays anyways?

It's not just about Ford. If people stop buying American cars, the Motorcity is gona be going downhill.

If Motor City doesn't produce a competitive product, it will go downhill. It shouldn't be the other way around.

[PhiPsiRuss]

Originally posted by PM_Mama00
It's not just about Ford. If people stop buying American cars, the Motorcity is gona be going downhill.

Its not the responsibility of Americans to bail out Detroit. If Detroit has chosen to be a one industry town, then it has dug its own grave.

[MattUMASSD]

Im not a Detroit expert or ar expert for that matter, but I do know that a huge part of Detroit's econoomy is in the automotive industry. I know its tough to hear but like in many cities across the country the "cash cow" is leaving due to competitors in other parts of the US and world. Its kinda like when textiles were huge in New England. There were mills everywhere. The owners of the mills took the mills to the south, then overseas to cut costs. This devastated the cities. For example New Bedford, MA was once the richest cities in the country due to textiles and whaling but when those industries left, the city was in poverty. Hopefully Detroit will learn from lessons of the past and diversify it's economy, and I know its easier said than done.

Enough rambling on my part lol

[starang21]

Originally posted by PM_Mama00
Grrrrreattttt. There goes Detroit's economy even more. PEACHY.

BUY A BIG 3!!!! Have you driven a Ford lately?

somehow i really don't think their funds will go dry...