American cars vs. imports?

Question

I would just like to hear some opinions and personal experiences on the whole "American vs import" debate. I've owned three American cars and been pretty happy with them but I like to keep an open mind.

Answer 1

Some may hate me on this answer but what the hey....

I've found both the imports and america have made some good cars and some big pieces of crap on the road.

I work on them for a living... I've seen the imports that last a long time until it starts breaking down, then I recommend getting rid of them as I've seen those cars nickel and dime people to death afterwards.

I've seen the americans build good and trash also.. basically the 1980s were some of the biggest nightmares for cars anywhere (wanna make a mechanic break down? .. pull the vaccum lines on a honda from 1985 and see.. their dealer techs have fits sometimes even back then)

But mainly the american manufacturers are finding people won't accept less than quality and the americans are starting to build in Japanese quality into the american cars... right now it depends upon the car manufacturer.. each make has it's rash of problems I've been hearing about and asking a mechanic is about the only sure way of getting a quality car these days.

My family has owned american and japanese .. currently I own a Ford and Gm product... one is 4 years old and one 20.. both have cost less than $500 to fix over there lifetimes in repairs...

So best bet is to trust a mechanic for ideas on your next car.

Answer 2

American Car Imports

Answer 3

Depends on the race if I'm racing on a road course I would be biased toward an import or a pony car. on a straight away I would take the muscle car. The American car that can do well in both environments is obviously the corvette it has straight away power and the handling of a small nimble car. Besides in today's world the muscle cars racing days are behind it. You buy muscle cars today because they stand out in a crowd. They are also great babe lures. Imports either look like everything else on the road or are too expensive to buy and maintain, You try getting Mercedes or jaguar parts it's a pain even for the more common versions.

Answer 4

I've owned both over the past 25 years and I believe both have offered the best cars during different eras and depending on what an individual was looking for in a vehicle.
Nobody could compete with the 70's era American muscle cars when I was a teenager. Then when the first fuel crunch came along the domestics were way behind on fuel economy, but the imports didn't have the spare parts infrastructure in place yet. Today parts are no longer an issue for most imports but Detroit is building fuel efficient, stylish autos. As a matter of personal choice I like to buy American to keep Americans employed.

Answer 5

I'm no expert but I'll tell you what I've heard. It's said that foreign car parts are more expensive and getting them serviced also costs more. It could have something to do with the parts being made over seas. I may be wrong about this and perhaps there are some mechanics out there that can correct me on this.

I had a Toyota Supra that had chronic A/C problems that were never resolved. I spent over $1000.00 on service calls and new parts in vain. I took into the dealer once and I was flabbergasted when they asked me if I had an appointment Apparently the popularity of cars like Toyota have caused a traffic jam for service and maintenance at the dealers.

Answer 6

To me the both have advantages and disadvantages. Quality/longevity doesn't go to either side as far as I'm concerned. My family has had Datsuns (Datsun became Nissan) that would not stop running but had a Honda that died a month after purchase (most likely a lemon). My Chevrolet truck has almost a quarter million miles on it and still runs strong.

Driving experience is something else. American cars have always seemed faster in a straight line than imports but for handling I've generally been more impressed with imports.

Answer 7

I have owned BMW, Dodge , Chevys, Fords , GMC, Nissans, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagons, Volvos .

For me the best road handling cornering fun cars were my 1973 Volvo, 1991 Jetta,and 2007 BMW . The worst were the Toyotas, Nissans and the Subaru.
The best cars for value and comfort were the 2002, 2007 Chevrolets and 2005 GMC . The 3.4 liter GM V-6 of was the most fuel effecient 6-cylinder in automotive history when it was released and the 5.3 lter 8 cylinder gets 20 mpg on highway trips .

We had two Fords with over 200,000 miles and a Dodge Diesel pickup, but I think its hard to beat the value of GM today .


Most people that claim American cars are terrible have very little experience with 1990-2007 American cars and are living in the past .

Many people including myself followed the advice of consumer reports magazine and were dissapointed .

Those idiots picked the 1975 Fiat as car of the year and it was one of the worst cars ever built .

Answer 8

Me and my family have for the most part always went with American Cars. We have tried some imports, such as a Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, but both had disadvantages. Sure, they may be better on gas in some cases, but we have in the whole been much more satisfied with buying a Ford, Chevy, etc. rather than a Toyota or Camry. Hope this helps.

Answer 9

I think its with most things people may have had a bad import against a good American car so they will judge against that.And vice versa.
My personal experience i tried American first then German .
But ended up stopping with Japanese,my reasons i found the American cars didnt reach very high miles and there bodywork also didnt last long.
Also the same on the German cars.
I did enjoy both and they had great fast engines although as said they didnt ware well overall.
The Japanese where better engines for me we couldnt afford a new car so with our budget being for a used car these had less wareon the engine even if it had reached higher miles and the bodywork was longer lasting.
Parts can be an issue but 9/10 times with the net its easy to source parts out.And more places are stocking parts due to the increase in ownership.

Answer 10

Support your troops, buy American products! built in America, by Americans with American parts!

There are a record number of parts manufactures going bankrupt this year