Why do people insist on buying foreign cars? Many American cars achieve the same gas mileage and are reliable

Answer 1

Great question, time somebody asked it.

There seems to be a myth regarding foreign cars that I do NOT understand.

People talk about foreign quality, I don't see it.

I see foreign cars with rust, pieces falling off, mufflers bellowing.

I still have the 1985 Dodge Omni I bought new. It still starts and runs good.

It is starting to show rust now but that is from the daggum salt they use in Wisconsin winter. Didn't rust till it was about 15 years old.

It has 195,000 miles on the original engine.

I have replaced brakes and struts but no major repairs were needed.

The exhaust died at about 150,000 miles and it cost me only $195.00 for all new parts, put them on myself. OOPs I forgot, the switch for the rear window defroster wore out and I had to replace that with one from the salvage yard. Cost- $7.00

I owned a 1988 Dodge caravan that went 110,000 miles before I sold it to a family that needed more space. I replaced shocks and brakes.

I was buying a 1994 Jeep Cherokee and had planned to trade it in but they offered me more than the dealer. It looked and drove like new. They lived next to my folks and liked it. They drove it till it had almost 200,000 miles and sold it to friends in Nebraska.

The 1994 Jeep had one leak in the front differential that was replaced under warranty and that was the only problem in 104,000 miles.

I traded that in for a 1998 Jeep Cherokee and it went 108,000 miles with not a problem.

Then I bought a 2002 Jeep Liberty. We drove that sweetheart about 65,000 miles and traded it for a 2005 Liberty with the diesel engine so I can run bio diesel in it. My ecological conscience caught up to me.

I had to have an EGR valve replaced on the Diesel at about 13,000 miles, but it was covered under warranty. Seems the high sulfur content in our fuel plugged it up. The sulfur has to drop from 500 parts per million to less than 20 by this fall and that should prevent a recurrence.

That is my experience with American cars. I plan to always buy American, those foreign cars are sucking the blood out of our economy. And so are all those foreign shirts, hats, shoes, pants, toasters, radios, underwear, bicycles, well the list could go on a long time.

Be American, Buy American.

If you are Brit or Aussie, insert your own country there you have that right.

I assume some of you visit Yayhoo answers as we all speak a form of English give or take a few expressions.

Answer 2

I own both... I didn't insist on buying a foreign car (infact I didn't want a foreign car initially) I just did because it was a nice car with low mileage that fit my budget. I considered buying a new Ford Focus, Dodge Caliber, and Chrysler PT Cruiser... the Dodge that had just crapped out on me cost me a fortune in repairs over the 8 years I had it (there was always something wrong with it; bought new and needed a new transmission within 3 years- and no I don't drive a lot) The Ford I have now while a relatively new car already has that shotty feeling despite my best efforts to keep it in excellent condition.

I feel the need to point out that most Ford SUV's and sedans are now manufactured just outside of Bejing, China. Ford announced plans (I think it was 2 years ago) to move the remainder of it's operations overseas within the next decade and a half.... Even when you're "buying American" you're not... parts, fibers, labor, materials... everything has to come from somewhere and globalization has all but eliminated the possibility of something being entirely domestically made. Most companies today are also owned by a parent company... In the case of auto manufactures there are two parent companies (I can't recall their names of the top of my head) that own nearly every car manufacturer known- Only a few high end manufacturers such as Rolls Royce, Astor-Martin and Bently remain independently owned. Do some websearching, take a class on globalization... You'll be amazed by what you learn!

Answer 3

Foreign Cars last longer, have a much, much higer resale value, tend to have more reliablity and lower cost. For instance, a 2007 Toyota Camry will resale the next year at about a 20% drop in price, and will decrease by a small percentage from then on, until leveling off at around 5 or 6 K 10 years from now. You buy a Lincon LS V8 Brandnew, and it will take a 35-45% drop in price the first year, then 7-16% every year thus forth. And is almost IMPOSSIBLE to sell after 100k miles. Food for thought.

Answer 4

You may have seen the Tesla electric sportscar http://www.teslamotors.com
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You may have even seen the T-Zero electric sports car http://www.acpropulsion.com/ACP_FAQs/FAQ_cars.htm
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These two cars show that it is now possible to build electric cars that can out-accelerate a Ferrari, and go 250 - 350 miles on a single charge. But both these cars are very expensive.
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So who else is working on electric cars?
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Would you believe China? They have to work on EVs. There won't be enough oil to support China's future economic growth.
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I drive an old electric vehicle. I also have friends with electric vehicles. Some of them have recently been able to buy some amazing, cutting-edge EV batteries from China - example:
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http://www.everspring.net/product-battery.htm
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These batteries are better, and cheaper than the ones in those $100,000+ sportscars above. If you look at the chart, you'll see they are as cheap as lead-acid batteries, and they hold up for 1100 charges, twice as many charges as the other LI-Ion batteries on the chart.
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Now, look at this car:
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http://www.milesautomotive.com/products_xs200.html
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It's a Chinese electric car, which will be imported into the USA next year. The driving range is almost as good as those sports cars above. But it only costs $28500. And that price could get a lot cheaper.

Answer 5

YOU MUST BE A GM OR FORD SALESMAN HAHAHAHAHAHA

LOOK AT THE CARS THAT GET THE HIGHEST GAS MILEAGE AND YOU WILL NOT SEE AN AMERICAN CAR. THAT'S BECAUSE AMERICAN COMPANIES LIKE TO BUILD LARGE HEAVY CARS AND LEAVE THE SUBCOMPACT-COMPACT TO THE JAPANESE TO DOMINATE.

ALSO JAPANESE CARS GET BETTER GAS MILEAGE COMPARED TO ITS AMERICAN COUNTERPART IN JUST ABOUT EVERY CATEGORY.

ALSO AMERICAN CARS STILL SUFFER FROM UNRELIABILITY. LOOK AT THE JD POWER'S AND CONSUMER REPORTS.... THE TOP SPOTS ARE ALWAYS DOMINATED BY THE JAPANESE. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW BUICK KEEPS GETTING TOP MARKS SINCE THEY ARE THE SAME CRAP THAT CHEVY SELLS AND IT'S BELOW INDUSTRY AVG. I THINK MAYBE THE BUICK OWNERS ARE BUNCH OF LIARS OR JUST OLD PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW ANY BETTER.

BUT WHAT HURTS THE AMERICAN CARS THE MOST IS THEIR CRAPPY DESIGN. JUST LOOK AT THE DASH DESIGN OF A MALIBU AND THE ALTIMA FOR EXAMPLE..... THE ALTIMA BLOWS IT AWAY! THEY NEED TO HIRE BETTER DESIGNERS AND USE BETTER MATERIAL.


********ANNA (REPLAY BELOW) IS WRONG********

ROLLS ROYCE IS OWNED BY BMW
BENTLEY IS OWNED BY VW
ASTON MARTIN IS OWNED BY FORD

LOOKS LIKE SHE NEEDS TO READ UP ON GLOBALIZATION INSTEAD!

Answer 6

Because the Detroit car makers consider the UAW their customer, not the car buyer.

Answer 7

How do you define foreign vs. American? Do you mean the Ford built in Mexico or the Toyota built in America???

Answer 8

you will notice foreign cars are still on the road long after american cars are junk and notice foreign cars cost more thats why

Answer 9

Style.

Answer 10

But they are still not AS reliable and don't hold their value well at all.