Car Brand Stereotypes

[Everskyward]

My Subaru was made in Indiana. My Ford in Mexico. Go figure.

My former Subaru was made in Indiana. The current one was imported from Japan.

 

[Alexb2000]

I bought a 2014 Silverado 1500, 4wd single cab yesterday. Last Friday the dealer dropped the price $14,500 making it cheaper than used trucks that I was considering.

I hate the thought that it is a govt motors truck but it is the model I like. Using it to tow my new spray foam rig.

Why? If the government would have held the stock a little longer the tax payers would have gotten off free and saved a lot of jobs and a major U.S. company, I don't blame GM for that.

 

[Ken Ibold]

Caveat: must do your own maintenance, buy parts and supplies wholesale, drink the excellent coffee at the dealer, but buy nothing there: parts and supplies are still based on a 175k vehicle.

When my Boxster needs, say, brakes, I go to TiresPlus and get a written estimate. Then I take it to my Porsche dealer, which will match local shops. I take it in late Friday, get a loaner, which is usually a new Cayenne but is sometimes a new Boxster or Panamera, drive it for the weekend for free, and then pick up the Boxster Monday afternoon. All this for the TiresPlus price.

Every once in a while I feel guilty and put gas in the loaner car.

 

[weilke]

My former Subaru was made in Indiana. The current one was imported from Japan.

Depends on which one you buy. Some models are built in the US, some are imported (some of the US built models are quite different from what is available in japan and europe).

Same with the koreans. The Soul I looked at yesterday had a 1% domestic parts content and was 86% korean. The optimas which are assembled in the US have a 45% domestic content.

 

[Shepherd]

Yeah, it is kind of surprising. New York would seem to be the kind of state where a lot of people would seem to care more about keeping the roads pretty than about keeping the people driving on them alive.

Rich

Here in New York State we have figured out the only solution to gridlock is kill off as many drivers as possible. You can see the implementation in practice. No studded tires, really crappy roads, and now they want to give drivers licenses to 1.5 million illegals, most of whom can't read or write and never have insurance.

 

[RJM62]

Here in New York State we have figured out the only solution to gridlock is kill off as many drivers as possible. You can see the implementation in practice. No studded tires, really crappy roads, and now they want to give drivers licenses to 1.5 million illegals, most of whom can't read or write and never have insurance.

Actually, studded tires are legal here in the Empire State from October 16 through April 30.

Rich

 

[ktup-flyer]

I always get guys in lifted trucks trying to race me. Same with guys in riced out Hondas.

 

[denverpilot]

Why? If the government would have held the stock a little longer the tax payers would have gotten off free and saved a lot of jobs and a major U.S. company, I don't blame GM for that.

They should have been dead and their assets picked over by their competitors. They're scum for expecting the public to support their failure, even if it luckily turned out to be temporary. Of course the government crushing plenty of workable used vehicles in Cash for Clunkers helped too.

 

[timwinters]

They should have been dead and their assets picked over by their competitors. They're scum for expecting the public to support their failure, even if it luckily turned out to be temporary.

No different that what was done for Ford in the '80s. Completely different methodology but the government (prez) stepped in to save them from bankruptcy. Ford got the largest government bailout in history.

 

[denverpilot]

No different that what was done for Ford in the '80s. Completely different methodology but the government (prez) stepped in to save them from bankruptcy. Ford got the largest government bailout in history.

Yes. And that was wrong, too. Your point?

I'm really tired of the "two wrongs makes it right" excuse.

No offense, Tim. But it has to stop someday.

"Too big to fail" is cronyism at its worst. Crapitalism I call it. Crony-Capitalism.

 

[timwinters]

Yes. And that was wrong, too. Your point?

My point being that a lot of people proudly say they're buying Fords (or whatever) because they're not "government motors." Ford ran ads stating that they didn't accept bailout money...this was laughable and hypocritical after what went down in the '80s.

And then, every car mfgr blackmails local governments into giving them huge tax credits in exchange for building a plant in their state/town. Actually not every car mfgr...every freakin' mfgr, period. Some of those incentive packages are outrageously huge. And they are no different than the GM bailout.

I'm not defending any of it. Just saying that calling out...singling out...GM is disingenuous at best.

 

[weilke]

And then, every car mfgr blackmails local governments into giving them huge tax credits in exchange for building a plant in their state/town. Actually not every car mfgr...every freakin' mfgr, period. Some of those incentive packages are outrageously huge. And they are no different than the GM bailout.

That is certainly how all the US manufacturing operations of international car-makers were incentivized.

 

[Alexb2000]

Some of these comments about GM seem very myopic. The world is the competition and other governments are FULLY supporting private enterprise. There is no way to compete with countries like China, Korea, India, etc. without government help. If that takes a bailout then so be it. The biggest challenge is employing average citizens at a livable wage, auto plants do that very well, and everyone outside the U.S. appreciates that fact. We've seen car companies like Kia and Hyundai coming from no where and pushing out the europeans and really hurting the Japanese. Soon we'll have Tata taking a chunk. IF we're smart we should support our auto makers.

 

[denverpilot]

Some of these comments about GM seem very myopic. The world is the competition and other governments are FULLY supporting private enterprise. There is no way to compete with countries like China, Korea, India, etc. without government help. If that takes a bailout then so be it. The biggest challenge is employing average citizens at a livable wage, auto plants do that very well, and everyone outside the U.S. appreciates that fact. We've seen car companies like Kia and Hyundai coming from no where and pushing out the europeans and really hurting the Japanese. Soon we'll have Tata taking a chunk. IF we're smart we should support our auto makers.

Sure there is. Tariffs.

 

[RJM62]

75W-85 GL-4 is 75W-85 GL-4. It will work fine. I wouldn't expect any performance improvements, though. Lots of placebos in car performance.

One effect you might get is the next owner swearing at you because Red Line looks a lot more like ATF than gear oil, and he thinks you put the wrong stuff in there.

I finally got around to doing this today. It feels a bit smoother, but it was smooth before, so I really can't say how much is placebo. But the sound level... wow, the Red Line really quieted things down. I didn't think it was especially noisy with the stock fluid, but now it's like silent.

It's kind of funny, actually. I drove around for a while and found I was shifting later than I usually do. I'd been using the whine pitch as an aural tachometer without even realizing it.

Rich

 

[gkainz]

That's great! Someone with more cars than me. But I'm down from 4 to just 3. Drive the Ranger every day, finally sold the old 5-speed Accord EX when I realized the truck (with 3sandbags in the bed) handled WV winters alright. Then there's the wife's Altima with CVT (after a deer took out her Corolla), and my toy, a convertible Jaguar V-12 that I've had nigh onto forever.

Am I liberal or conservative? Tree huger? Compensating? Afraid of guns or owner? Dominant or submissive? 1st child? 2nd child? 3rd child? Only child?

I'm finally downsized somewhat recently, too. A couple months ago I had
95 Jeep Wrangler
98 Jeep Wrangler
97 Dodge Ram 2500 CTD 4x4
07 Dodge Ram 2500 CTD 4x4
02 Chrysler 300M
13 Ford Edge

sold the 95 Jeep and the 97 Dodge ...