So many foreign cars here in the DMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I recently drove to Kansas City, Missouri to visit a former colleague of mine.  I noticed most folks there drive American cars.  I live in McLean and I noticed the other day at both McLean Giant and Lidl grocery store parking lots that about 90% of cars in the parking lot are foreign made, Toyota/Lexus, Honda/Accura, Nissan/Infiniti, Mercedes, Audi, Volvo. Most American made cars I see in the McLean are either high end made cars or Tesla.  I also see the same thing out in California as well, almost all foreign cars with the exception of Tesla.

More immigrants and foreign-born live in the DMV. No surprise they are more comfortable with foreign cars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The questions is, why would anyone drive American engineering? Every time there's a car broken down it's Pontiac, Dodge or Chevy. Next ones up are German cars.
Maybe people like working on their cars in Mid-west. I don't. I want my car to last for 10 years minimum as I don't get excited about getting a new one. I don't want it to leave me on the side of the road or be at dealership all the time, and also not make any kind of statement. It's just an effing car.

Pontiac? They are not making it anymore. It looks like you are living in the 70s. American cars are one of the most reliable cars nowadays.

My host parent had a Pontiac. American cars maybe reliable now, but why would I buy one know they have been crap as far back as I remember. I'm glad someone is buying them, why would I!
I remember Ford and even a guys fancy Cadillac being in the shop all the time. He thought it was normal for new Cadillac to be in the shop, amazing.
Maybe I've got lucky but my Mazda and Honda never gave me any problems. Even my first car- Opel Vectra ran great in EU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having driven a fird for a few years, I have no desire to drive another American car. The Japanese and Europeans tend to be way ahead in terms of reliability.

Hyundais are more reliable

Honda vehicles are reliable and stylish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I recently drove to Kansas City, Missouri to visit a former colleague of mine.  I noticed most folks there drive American cars.  I live in McLean and I noticed the other day at both McLean Giant and Lidl grocery store parking lots that about 90% of cars in the parking lot are foreign made, Toyota/Lexus, Honda/Accura, Nissan/Infiniti, Mercedes, Audi, Volvo. Most American made cars I see in the McLean are either high end made cars or Tesla.  I also see the same thing out in California as well, almost all foreign cars with the exception of Tesla.

More immigrants and foreign-born live in the DMV. No surprise they are more comfortable with foreign cars.

The country is made of immigrants. It takes common sense to choose a car.

[Anonymous]

Both DH and I are from rural, midwestern areas. The idea of "buy American" is still very strong there. A lot of people grew up believing that buying American brand cars meant more money in American worker pockets, and higher GDP.

Now, of course, most "foreign" cars are assembled in the US, and most "domestic" cars are made from many imported parts. The distinction is increasingly meaningless. But for communities that long ago adopted the "buy American" ethos, it can still linger.

There is an element of sophistication and education there -- if you don't adhere to the dogma of "buy American," you will discover that there are many better brands out there and that companies like Ford and GMC have been turning out very mediocre cars for years. But then a lot of people in coastal cities have their own provincialism -- they sometimes view European or Japanese cars as superior based on nothing but the brand. BMW is and has long been incredibly popular in most coastal cities, even though there are much better cars for the money available. But it's a status/cultural thing. So it does cut both ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Both DH and I are from rural, midwestern areas. The idea of "buy American" is still very strong there. A lot of people grew up believing that buying American brand cars meant more money in American worker pockets, and higher GDP.

Now, of course, most "foreign" cars are assembled in the US, and most "domestic" cars are made from many imported parts. The distinction is increasingly meaningless. But for communities that long ago adopted the "buy American" ethos, it can still linger.

There is an element of sophistication and education there -- if you don't adhere to the dogma of "buy American," you will discover that there are many better brands out there and that companies like Ford and GMC have been turning out very mediocre cars for years. But then a lot of people in coastal cities have their own provincialism -- they sometimes view European or Japanese cars as superior based on nothing but the brand. BMW is and has long been incredibly popular in most coastal cities, even though there are much better cars for the money available. But it's a status/cultural thing. So it does cut both ways.

There's definitely a lot of truth in this, but I also wonder if there's not a chicken and egg issue with the fact that American companies tend to produce cars that are more useful for the kinds of lives people in those places live. Our last car was a Honda Fit which I loved, it was perfect for what we used it for, easy to park on the street or get through tight spots on small roads, but with enough cargo space for what we needed to carry (camping equipment for a few people or a small amount of mulch for a townhouse yard). When we looked to replace it, basically no American brands looked like would fill the same needs (other than Bolt). My small town parents (who got their first foreign car last year) asked why we weren't looking at American brands and that's why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Both DH and I are from rural, midwestern areas. The idea of "buy American" is still very strong there. A lot of people grew up believing that buying American brand cars meant more money in American worker pockets, and higher GDP.

Now, of course, most "foreign" cars are assembled in the US, and most "domestic" cars are made from many imported parts. The distinction is increasingly meaningless. But for communities that long ago adopted the "buy American" ethos, it can still linger.

There is an element of sophistication and education there -- if you don't adhere to the dogma of "buy American," you will discover that there are many better brands out there and that companies like Ford and GMC have been turning out very mediocre cars for years. But then a lot of people in coastal cities have their own provincialism -- they sometimes view European or Japanese cars as superior based on nothing but the brand. BMW is and has long been incredibly popular in most coastal cities, even though there are much better cars for the money available. But it's a status/cultural thing. So it does cut both ways.

GM and Ford are not American companies. They are multinationals headquartered in the United States with no allegiance towards any citizenry. I don't consider their cars that are made in Mexico as supporting the US economy.

[Anonymous]

I take issue with the characterization of Kansas City as "rural America." It's not. The KC metro area including Overland Park is over 2 million people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ironically, the most American pickups are the Toyota Tundra and Nissan Titan.

This. Ford is more Mexican than American. My Subaru was made in Indiana and our Honda is from Alabama

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ironically, the most American pickups are the Toyota Tundra and Nissan Titan.

This. Ford is more Mexican than American. My Subaru was made in Indiana and our Honda is from Alabama

I don’t recall Ford bombing Pearl Harbor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The questions is, why would anyone drive American engineering? Every time there's a car broken down it's Pontiac, Dodge or Chevy. Next ones up are German cars.
Maybe people like working on their cars in Mid-west. I don't. I want my car to last for 10 years minimum as I don't get excited about getting a new one. I don't want it to leave me on the side of the road or be at dealership all the time, and also not make any kind of statement. It's just an effing car.

Pontiac? They are not making it anymore. It looks like you are living in the 70s. American cars are one of the most reliable cars nowadays.

My host parent had a Pontiac. American cars maybe reliable now, but why would I buy one know they have been crap as far back as I remember. I'm glad someone is buying them, why would I!
I remember Ford and even a guys fancy Cadillac being in the shop all the time. He thought it was normal for new Cadillac to be in the shop, amazing.
Maybe I've got lucky but my Mazda and Honda never gave me any problems. Even my first car- Opel Vectra ran great in EU.

You know, Ford had a large ownership stake in Mazda for decades, right? Their designs and engineering were all intertwined into the Ford global network. Wouldn’t expect a coastie to understand the complexities of the global automotive industry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ironically, the most American pickups are the Toyota Tundra and Nissan Titan.

This. Ford is more Mexican than American. My Subaru was made in Indiana and our Honda is from Alabama

I don’t recall Ford bombing Pearl Harbor

No, but if it had been up to Henry Ford, the U.S. wouldn’t have bombed Nazi Germany. So maybe WWII is not the best framework through which to decide how to buy a car. (I don’t think Honda bombed Pearl Harbor, either; that was the government of Japan.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ironically, the most American pickups are the Toyota Tundra and Nissan Titan.

This. Ford is more Mexican than American. My Subaru was made in Indiana and our Honda is from Alabama

I don’t recall Ford bombing Pearl Harbor

No, but if it had been up to Henry Ford, the U.S. wouldn’t have bombed Nazi Germany. So maybe WWII is not the best framework through which to decide how to buy a car. (I don’t think Honda bombed Pearl Harbor, either; that was the government of Japan.)

Honda supplied Aircraft parts to Japans Air Force during WWII. Honda was instrumental in automating the production of aircraft propellers which sped up production. Honda the car company was not founded after WWII

But Soichiro Honda who founded Honda was President of the Ministry of Munitions in WWII. He also worked with Naksjima Aircraft Company and the Imperial Japanese Navy.

A US B-29 Bomber blew up his factory in 1944.

After WWII he started the “lovable” Honda we know today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ironically, the most American pickups are the Toyota Tundra and Nissan Titan.

This. Ford is more Mexican than American. My Subaru was made in Indiana and our Honda is from Alabama

Using that same logic, Toyota is more American than Japanese.
Here are some of the Toyota models that are made in the USA:
Highlander
Camry
Corolla
Sienna
Tundra
Rav4

Why don't you call them American cars then?

[Anonymous]

My Dad had Chevy cars in the 1970s. All junk. I bought a Ford as first car - replaced much of electrical system twice. Junk. Since then, I've had one Nissan, 3 Subarus and 1 Mazda. Great cars. Last forever if you pick the right model and take care of the car. My experience is that Subaru and Mazda are better cars and more reliable than Ford or Chevy.