Car Advice

[Dillinger-63]

I've been a VW person pretty much all my life, even during the lean years they made junk. I have yo admit even today their cars don't come close to what Honda and Toyota makes (My wife drives a 2006 Scion, built by Toyota and I drive a 2003 New Beetle Turbo S) but I refuse to buy American again. Even though I have owned VW's, I've also had Ford's Chevy's Pontiac's Chrysler products, and more than average problems with them all. I've also owned Toyota's and Honda's and have had much lower than average issues with them. I'd go with a Toyota or Honda.

 

[Stretch]

I hope she got the tC, and not the ugly xA or xB.

The sad part is those two are supposed to be appealing to my generation, and I think they are two of the ugliest cars you can get.

 

[UserofMacOSX]

The Hondas and Toyotas that everyone remembers are from yesteryear. The average American car these days meets or exceeds the new Toyotas and Hondas, moreso Toyotas whose quality has been slipping for the last 10 years. I will never own on of those vehicles, I am an American who shall own vehicles manufactured by American owned and benefitting companies. I know the truck I drive is an Isuzu-designed vehicle, but GM owns Isuzu and their sales benefit GM, which is an AMERICAN company. My money isn't going in the pocket of Sushi Chin Kwung Vu Komoto.

 

[nukemm]

I've decided my 1997 Mazda 626 w/ 170k miles has seen enough days with me, and have decided to to make an upgrade. I'm looking to spend about $10k, and I would like to find something with around 50k miles, although would be willing to take a few more miles. Looking for something that will be a fun car, as well as reliable.

I really am not that much of a car guy, so I would love to hear people's suggestions for vehicles I should look for!

Go VW! I bought my '02.5 GTI 1.8T 2 years ago w/45K for $13K. They can be had for $9-12K now.


...oh wait, you said reliable...

In that case if you buy VW get an 02.5 or newer.

 

[Netty4mac]

I've been a VW person pretty much all my life, even during the lean years they made junk. I have yo admit even today their cars don't come close to what Honda and Toyota makes (My wife drives a 2006 Scion, built by Toyota and I drive a 2003 New Beetle Turbo S) but I refuse to buy American again. Even though I have owned VW's, I've also had Ford's Chevy's Pontiac's Chrysler products, and more than average problems with them all. I've also owned Toyota's and Honda's and have had much lower than average issues with them. I'd go with a Toyota or Honda.

You drive a Beetle!!! I want to trade my Jetta for one...it's my dream car =)

 

[Stretch]

I work with a girl that owns an original beetle. I helped her move it from her dad's house to her house now. Its in fairly decent shape, just needs a little work to get it road worthy.

 

[ToddG]

The Hondas and Toyotas that everyone remembers are from yesteryear. The average American car these days meets or exceeds the new Toyotas and Hondas, moreso Toyotas whose quality has been slipping for the last 10 years. I will never own on of those vehicles, I am an American who shall own vehicles manufactured by American owned and benefitting companies.

Toyota and Honda employ, between the two of them, how many tens of thousands of Americans?

Those "all-American" companies outsource the manufacture of parts and even complete vehicles to how many different countries?

 

[UserofMacOSX]

But the money goes back into GMs pocket eventually. And they employ people all over the world, billions of people. Honda and Toyota are just now getting into America and all their profit goes back to the company base in Japan. Heck, some GMs are made in Canada, some in Mexico, they are made everywhere to so they can sell it to us for a cheaper price. Imagine selling a Suburban in Japan that was made here, that would be OUTRAGEOUS. And Honda and Toyota still import most of their vehicles, only a few are actually assembled here. GM is the third largest company in the world, I don't think you can accurately say they don't employ many people.

 

[ToddG]

But the money goes back into GMs pocket eventually. And they employ people all over the world, billions of people.

Billions?

Honda and Toyota are just now getting into America and all their profit goes back to the company base in Japan.

Honda began manufacturing in the US in 1979.

Toyota, which began manufacturing in the US in 1988, employs 32,000 Americans in ten plants in the U.S.

]And Honda and Toyota still import most of their vehicles, only a few are actually assembled here.

Almost half of all Toyotas sold in the U.S. in 2006 were manufactured in teh U.S. I don't know the numbers for Honda but I am sure it's more than "only a few."

GM is the third largest company in the world, I don't think you can accurately say they don't employ many people.

Third largest in what sense? I checked the Forbes 2000 Largest Publicly Traded Companies and GM was listed as #526. They actually tied with Porsche. Ebay beat them at #524.

Toyota, at #12, was the highest rated automotive manufacturer. DaimlerChrylser (do you consider Chrysler a US company still?) came in at #45, the second highest auto manufacturer. Mitsubishi was #62, Honda #63, and Nissan #65.

In fairness to you, the Fortune 500 (which is based solely on total gross revenue) lists GM at #5, DaimlerChrysler at #7, Toyota at #8, and Ford at #9. The difference is that while Toyota earned over $12B in profits in '06, Daimler earned $3.5B and Ford earned $2B, GM managed to lose over $10.5B. I don't think GM shareholders can afford for the company to get any bigger than that.

 

[eric]

i'm sure this guy already bought a car - this thread is over half a year old.


i'd love to get into the world market car discussion, but i just don't have the energy right now to get into it with at least one of the people who has posted. nor would i want it to get nasty.

 

[rs2sensen]

Haha, yes, I definitely did buy a car. Ended up with an '02 Pontiac Grand Prix.