I’ve gotta agree. The only vehicles worth a damn are built by Honda and Toyota, or their luxury divisions of Acura and Lexus. They’re a bit more expensive than American counterparts, but the expense is easily made up for by lower repair costs and higher resale value. Originally Posted by JacuzzmeYou're right. You might laugh at this one. I'll start out by saying I've never in all my years of driving have owned a foreign car brand. I've always had Ford (Mustang) and Pontiac. In 2008 I bought a 2007 Pontiac Grand Prix with a Supercharged 3.8 V6. I drove that car for thirteen years and racked up a little over 130,000 miles on it. For about the last five years it has become a money pit a big one. The last week of February I traded it in. Guess what I traded it in for? Yep a rice burner a 2015 Acura TLX with about 44,000 miles on it. Anything can happen to any car and of course as cars age things need to be repaired or replaced, but all I ever heard was buy Toyota, Honda, Nissan. So I gave the foreign market a shot, we'll see.
Most cars are up to 80% foreign parts anyway. It varies a lot in that percentage. Final assembly is just a small piece of the supply chain. Originally Posted by royamcrIt's the design of American cars. For instance the 07 Grand Prix I once owned had plastic elbows that were attached to the engine and were inserted into the tensioner pulley assembly from there they were attached to the heater hoses. Poor design hot metal and hot liquid going through plastic doesn't hold up well under those conditions so they are notorious for failure, mine did at about 50,000 miles. GM later approved an Aluminum Elbow made by a Company called Dorman Products. Parts can be made anywhere that's not what determines it's longevity it's the design that counts. GM and Ford both try to save money by cutting corners by using inferior material and poorly designed parts. Most Toyota's and Honda's are assembled here in the United States but their design and specs originated in Japan.
Ford will definitely save on costs but they will lose business. It's not a smart move. Originally Posted by Lucas McCainFord parts & components have been coming out of Mexico since before you graduated from your Ivy League enlightenment. Do you mean to tell me that in all of your business-know-it-all in Texas you've never represented anyone who had their products manufactured in Mexico and then carted across the border to be shipped inland to U.S. markets? You need to "get out more"!