Auto Execs Fly Corporate Jets to D.C., Tin Cups in Hand

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

I'm sorry...

Don't be. I'm in law school. My priorities right now do not include having a luxury car. My car gets decent mileage, it's extremely reliable, it's paid for, and actually pretty comfortable.

Actually, to my mind, on the list of 'stuff worth spending lots of cash on,' a luxury car is pretty far down the list.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by preciousjeni

But their products are awesome! I will never willingly purchase an American made car for myself unless my choices are so severely limited that it's "do or die." I only buy Japanese vehicles. My husband, on the other hand, had a Ford and now a Pontiac. It's a house divided.

My parents are big on American autos, but I've never had much luck. My wife and I both have foreign autos, and we haven't had a problem. Plus, the safety features on our previous foreign auto essentially saved our life when we were hit by a drunk driver, so we're pretty loyal.

[PM_Mama00]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

Why? I currently have a german auto but I would buy a Detroit car if it was actually NICE. Like comparable to a BMW or an Audi in the sense of style, use of premium materials and overall drive of the beast. The new 2010 Mustang looks promising...

My brother had a BMW and I thought it was the ugliest thing ever. I thought my Ford Edge was nicer than that. Sure it had the power to go like 0-100 real quick but who needs that unless you plan on racing it? I don't think Mercedes are nice either. I think a Cadilac or even a Lexus (preferably the RX) are way nicer.

[PiKA2001]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Don't be. I'm in law school. My priorities right now do not include having a luxury car. My car gets decent mileage, it's extremely reliable, it's paid for, and actually pretty comfortable.

Actually, to my mind, on the list of 'stuff worth spending lots of cash on,' a luxury car is pretty far down the list.

Screw that priority noise; you want to be a lawyer? Start acting like one. $560 a month with $4500 down is the way to go!

[PiKA2001]

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

My brother had a BMW and I thought it was the ugliest thing ever. I thought my Ford Edge was nicer than that. Sure it had the power to go like 0-100 real quick but who needs that unless you plan on racing it? I don't think Mercedes are nice either. I think a Cadilac or even a Lexus (preferably the RX) are way nicer.

Cadillac's are nice if you're in your 60's, and at the end of the day a Lexus is nothing but a ricer in a sharp suit. The Edge is one of the nicest things FoMoCo has put out in the last decade for sure, but lets not be unrealistic in our comparisons.

[PeppyGPhiB]

First: Honda builds most of its American-sold cars in the U.S. now. The Japanese aren't taking as many American jobs as you think - the jobs are just moving to Alabama and other places where Honda, Toyota and such have factories.

Second: I actually find my Honda perfectly sized and comfortable for me, compared to American cars with seatbelts that cut me at the neck, have gas pedals so far out of reach that I have to sit an unsafe (short) distance from the air bag, and have awkward seat pitches. But the real reason why I love my Honda is that it has 102,000 miles on it now and it has only been in the shop ONCE for a repair, and that was to replace the catalytic converter which the dealership decided to cover under warranty! I have never doubted my car's reliability, and I know it was a great investment. I'm not going to spend more for an American car and get less reliability and more pains in the butt; I don't have the money to replace dash boards or seats or engines every 50-75k miles. My boyfriend, who drives a Ford Mustang and can't wait to get rid of it, marvels at the way my Civic is constructed under the hood - unlike his car where everything is hidden and unreachable to someone wanting to do simple things like change out the spark plugs, Honda smartly put everything within reach. Not only does his car have constant problems, he can't fix any of them despite his knowledge of cars - when he takes his car in to the mechanic, it's an easy $300-$500 for simple fixes. And even though he's a former Ford intern and U. of Michigan grad, this is the last American car for him. The poor quality of American cars - then or now - was enough to turn off generations of U.S. consumers, most of which feel that a car is too big of a purchase to be left up to chance.

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

Like comparable to a BMW or an Audi in the sense of style, use of premium materials and overall drive of the beast.

I looooooooove Audis!!

Originally Posted by KSigkid

My parents are big on American autos, but I've never had much luck. My wife and I both have foreign autos, and we haven't had a problem. Plus, the safety features on our previous foreign auto essentially saved our life when we were hit by a drunk driver, so we're pretty loyal.

I'm loyal to Honda because a Honda Civic HB saved my life in a similar situation as yours.

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

First: Honda builds most of its American-sold cars in the U.S. now. The Japanese aren't taking as many American jobs as you think - the jobs are just moving to Alabama and other places where Honda, Toyota and such have factories.

That's kinda what I thought. If more factories opened, wouldn't we have jobs for the trained American autoworkers that are unemployed?

The poor quality of American cars - then or now - was enough to turn off generations of U.S. consumers, most of which feel that a car is too big of a purchase to be left up to chance.

Precisely

[AGDee]

The Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe are made in the same factory by the same workers using all the same parts. The only difference between them are the logo and the price (the Vibe is cheaper). However, the corporate money for the Toyota goes to Japan. The corporate money for the Vibe goes to the US. GM gave millions of dollars to Katrina relief, Toyota gave nothing.

I've driven GM cars my whole life and have never had any of the kinds of experiences you all are talking about with engine problems at 50-75K miles EXCEPT when I didn't pay attention to the maintenance schedule. I've driven all my GM cars until they died a natural death at over 150K. However, I'm sure you'll find people with GM cars that failed before that, just as you find people who drive Hondas or Toyotas who have problems with their cars (like my boss, whose Honda Passport who had it in the shop a zillion times for transmission problems right after it was off warranty). I have another co-worker who had his Prius in the shop repeatedly.

My new Saturn Vue has 8 way electronic seats so finding the right elevation, distance, angle is a breeze. It has a 9.9 out of 10 safety rating with ABS and Stabilitrak traction control. In fact, because of it's safety rating, my car insurance is MUCH lower than I anticipated. It drives like a Cadillac (smooth starts and stops, great handling, great suspension.. I barely feel the potholes) yet has the cargo space of an SUV and I'm getting about 24 mpg on the first tank of gas (I filled it up for the first time today). I can't imagine anybody being disappointed with it if they test drove it. Road noise is almost non-existant. It feels like a luxury car. It has heated seats, cruise control, remote start, heated outside mirrors and heated windshield fluid nozzles (all very important in Michigan although I guess in the South most of those things wouldn't matter!) The best thing about it is OnStar. The OnStar alone is a magnificent feature for safety and convenience. It's the best purchase I've ever made. Plus, it was only $21K.

[epchick]

Originally Posted by AGDee

The best thing about it is OnStar. The OnStar alone is a magnificent feature for safety and convenience. It's the best purchase I've ever made. Plus, it was only $21K.

I soo wanted a car with OnStar until one of the teachers at my mom's school got her brand new GMC stolen & OnStar couldn't track it because it had been disabled. Apparently it is pretty easy to disable OnStar so that you cant track a stolen car. She never found her car.

ETA: I got into 2 car accidents (where i should have been seriously injured or dead) and both cars that saved my life were foreign--a Nissan Sentra and a Subaru Legacy.

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I've driven all my GM cars until they died a natural death at over 150K.

I kinda did a double-take at that number. How is death around 150K miles natural? I expect cars to last at least 250,000 miles on the original engine. I will say that I have personally witnessed a Ford pick-up with over 300,000 miles. That impressed me. Of course, the engine had been completely overhauled.

[PM_Mama00]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

Cadillac's are nice if you're in your 60's, and at the end of the day a Lexus is nothing but a ricer in a sharp suit. The Edge is one of the nicest things FoMoCo has put out in the last decade for sure, but lets not be unrealistic in our comparisons.

This is true but have you seen that two seater convertible Caddy? It's hot!

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by preciousjeni

I kinda did a double-take at that number. How is death around 150K miles natural? I expect cars to last at least 250,000 miles on the original engine. I will say that I have personally witnessed a Ford pick-up with over 300,000 miles. That impressed me. Of course, the engine had been completely overhauled.

I said 150K because that's the lowest mileage at which I've had a car die. When I first started driving, nobody expected cars to last that long and the odometers didn't even have the 100,000 place marker so when you 100,000 it rolled over to 0. That was kind of cool Anyway, I'm on my 7th and 8th cars right now. My '75 Buick Apollo, '76 Buick Regal, '76 Caprice, '91 Pontiac Transport and 2004 Aveo were all purchased used so the maintenance history was unknown. The Transport had been in an accident. If *anybody* made a car like my Buick Regal again, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. That thing was indestructible. I actually sold that one when I graduated from college because I wanted a new car. In fact, I had forgotten about a couple of these cars when I posted. A few of them were sold and were still running fine then. I bought an '87 Chevy Cavalier and ran it into the ground without hardly ever changing the oil. Then I had the Transport which we actually got rid of because back then, mini-vans only had a door on one side and it was a pain to get *two* car seats in and out of it. My second Cavalier was a '99. It was a great car until after the ice and viaduct incident of '02 when it was $200 from being totalled (no injury to me thanks to the airbags)It was never quite right after the accident. I think the frame was bent but they didn't want to say that. The rack of the rack and pinion was replaced twice after that and needed to be replaced again because the power steering was messed up when the engine died at 180K. Again, I did not change the oil as I should.

The used 2004 Chevy Aveo was an emergency purchase when the Cavalier died. I will admit, this one is what I consider a "disposable" car. It's cheap ($11K brand new) and you can tell. I got regular oil changes but didn't read the maintenance schedule to know that the timing belt needed to be replaced at 60K miles. So, at 70K, it slipped causing major engine damage. I'm having it repaired and it will be my daughter's car now that I've purchased the Vue. The irony? This cheap car that had the engine damage far too early is actually a Daewoo sold under the Chevy name. There is something to "You get what you pay for". If you buy an $11K car, you get a cheap car.

Everybody has a different idea of when a car has died a natural death. If I have to pay more than the blue book value to cover a repair, I consider it a dead car. Once a car has over 200K, by my definition, buying new tires for it would probably put it over the edge into the "dead" category.

[nittanyalum]

This is an interesting article on Ford's positioning within the "Detroit 3" -- I think I've mentioned in other threads that I've been a fan of Mulally since his Boeing days. He still impresses me. http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...nterview_N.htm

[AGDee]

Some headlines in Detroit today:
2009 Motor Trend Truck of the Year: Ford F-150
Toyota puts off opening of Prius plant in South
Downturn caused it, automaker says

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by AGDee

Some headlines in Detroit today:
2009 Motor Trend Truck of the Year: Ford F-150
Toyota puts off opening of Prius plant in South
Downturn caused it, automaker says

Ah, yes, but both the Car (Nissan somethingorother) and SUV (Subaru Forester) of the year are foreign-made. Doesn't "Truck of the Year" usually go to a domestic maker?

I don't own a car right now (yay NYC!), but if I were, I'd go foreign.