What would it take for you foreign car owners to buy an AMERICAN CAR Again ?

When Consumer Report starts recommending them, based on their extensive, unbiased testing and the reliability records turned in by members.

all it took for me, was to watch the History channel and see what the Japanese and Germans did to their fellow man between 1935 and 1945. Horrible. Too horrible to describe. I'll never buy Japanese or German cars again. Besides, The Japanese cars are not as reliable as they were 10 years ago. Alot more problems.

Manual transmissions in a car like a Malibu are not in demand...why build a car with a transmission almost no one will buy?

Look - I am an environmental disaster - 4 cars - with two teenage daughters. Two very good cars - 2007 Honda Pilot (which I gave to daughter #1); and 2006 Honda Odyessy (van driven by my wife), 2003 Olds Aurora (originally bought for daughter #1 as a used car but now mine), and 2004 Volvo S 80 for daughter #2. It is not even close, the Aurora (I have the V-8) is the cheapest to repair and is by and far and away the most pleasurable to drive. Although viewed as an old guy car, I will buy its follow-on cousin, the Buick Lucerne, to replace it. And friends are giving similar raves about the Chevy Malibu. This is not based on maudlin sentiment - the GM products have radically improved. The Hondas are fine, and I may buy more Honda's in the future - but GM has very good cars - and their price points may provide better values.

So you'll be skipping these foreign gems:

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/autos/0802/gallery.2008_cr_worst_cars/7.html

^ Yaris one of 11 worst CR cars

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/autos/0802/gallery.2008_cr_worst_cars/6.html

^ FJ Cruiser one of 11 worst CR cars

And looking at a domestic?

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/news/2007/04/top-picks-for-2007-4-07/overview/0704_top-picks-2007.htm

^ Silverado on the 2008 Top Picks list

Pdubbs wrote:

I bought a new car earlier this year was considering alitma, accord, and the malibu. The Malibu didn't come in stick, so i didn't even go look at it. How hard is it to put a manual transmission in a car? Gm lost a potential 20k real quick. It turns out my Alitma was built in Tennessee, so no big loss to America anyway.

I'm glad you didn't try to justify selecting a Nissan for its quality.

don't like american luxury cars..and nothing hugs the road like a BMW

Here is when. wrote:

When Consumer Report starts recommending them, based on their extensive, unbiased testing and the reliability records turned in by members.

The Ford Fusion has excellent reliability & ratings all around.

I bought my first car in 1972 and I've never owned a car that got less than 40 mpg. Any more questions?

Actually they all had American labels on them although they were all foreign under the hood.

I've owned two cars, both Volvos. I'm about to buy my 3rd.

The first, I sold with ~220,000miles to a local high school kid. That was 2 years ago and I still see it around, so its gotta have over 230k by now.

The second currently has 196k.

The first sold for $1500 this one I'm listing for $3500.

Find me an American car that will last that long, resellf for that much with that mileage, and have over 220hp.

The UAW drives the prices up by protecting weak, incompetent workers who expect too much for unskilled labour (yes, they learn a skill, but anyone could). It is a shame they make more money than nurses, teachers, social workers, police officers... etc.

(unions do have there place when they protect people with LEGITIMATE sicknesses, parental leave, bereavement... but they go too far in protecting "I deserve more" mentalities who don't provide quality products, but expect security in the face of lay-offs or being let go)

I rent American cars 4-6 times a year and can't stand them. Let me break them down;

Interiors--Ugly. I haven't found a good looking, clean interior in an American car ever. They are over done and ridiculous.

Seats--made for fat people. Wide and uncomfortable. I slide around on them.

Handling--horrible. Sloppy steering, sloppy gas peddle, and sloppy braking. Not even close to the German/Japanese competition.

Exteriors--getting better and getting worse. The new Malibu is pretty good looking. The new Focus, with its chrome all over the place is ugly as all get out. Simplify, Detroit. Simplify. I still look back to the mid '90's Mazda vehicle's as great examples of simplicity. The 6 and the MX-5 still look, especially compared to the Ford/GM cars of the same timeframe.

Feel--I drove a golf foremotion a few years back and it was great. No small American car even comes close. Why can't GM/Ford come out with a classy feeling little car instead of a car you don't want to drive?

I am in the same boat, i have to rent monthly for work trips and am often stuck with american cars. ugly and the interiors are built for guys from the greatest generation.zero imagination, poor quality, incredibly poor handling and from a business perspective just horrific segmentation and categorization.

amen to that. when i can find an american car that handles like a bmw i'll give it consideration.

First, to the guy who said that the UAW drives up prices...um, wrong. They drive up COSTS. Do a side-by-side comparison of feature content on domestic vehicles versus imports and you'll see that, in general, imports command higher prices because of their reputation for reliability.

To the OP: do you work at the GM tech center? Which department?

For me, it simply takes the right car. Until a few years ago, the design quality (particularly perceived quality) at Ford and GM were pretty bad. They offer much more competitive products now (Chrysler exempted). For example, I find the Malibu and Fusion much more desirable than the Camry or Accord. When Detroit is serious about design (for GM, this means: Corvette, Malibu, Silverado, G8, Sky, Enclave) the results speak for themselves.

Personally, I want a fun-to-drive car that gets decent mileage (preferably 35+ highway), is nimble (read: not 3500 lbs) and maximizes its interior volume. If I had to buy a car tomorrow, I would put the Mazda3 5 door, Fit, and Civic at the top of the list. I would test drive the Astra as well, but it's a bit heavy for its size. The "new" Focus is a shame. We'll see if the next-gen Cobalt and Fiesta make the cut.

I love my dodge neon. $15k 35+mpg.

For me, American manufacturers still haven't overcome the damage they did to their reputation with the poor quality vehicles they made in the 80's. Our family had a few bad ones and so tried Toyota and it was good. Since then my family has owned 9 Japanese cars and can't complain at all.

My last car was a mid-90s Chrysler which I received as a hand me down It really was great. Ran well except when incompetent mechanics worked on it. And that includes the lousy local Chrysler dealer. I loved the car but I eventually felt I should sell it and get a new car.

Even after the great experience with the Chrysler, when it came time to spend my own money on a vehicle, I didn't even look at an American car. Looked at Honda, Nissan, Acura, Toyota, Mazda, and a couple others but not American. I've read the quality is nearly the same as Japanese cars but still I remember their issues 20 years ago. Why take the chance? Of course every car maker puts out some duds but if you like a product, why change brands? And I don't really know if buying a foreign name plate but made in America car is any better than an American brand but made overseas but I got the former.

?!?! wrote:

Manual transmissions in a car like a Malibu are not in demand...why build a car with a transmission almost no one will buy?

Because then people like me might buy one?

I was happy with our 2001 Venture in terms of gas and handling, but it wasn't even 3 years old when the paint started to bubble all along the hood despite buying the extra rust proof package. We can prepare space shuttles to reenter the atmosphere, but we can't prevent paint on a van from rusting(?). We now own a Hyundai Sante Fe and are pleased (although once or twice a year I wish we had the extra seating).