It's been a lot of discussion lately about the throttle pedal sticking and ABS brakes on Toyota's, This has sparked the American public's curiosity about the quality of vehicles, American and Foreign.
The MSM and the blogging community has took this and ran with it.
It's a no brainer, all manufactures have glitches from time to time but American vehicles are much superior to their foreign competition and I will elaborate.
First this is nothing new, automotive vehicles have had recalls since their introduction, from very minor unnoticed repairs to items that cause fires, brakes, throttle pedals, exploding gas tanks, etc. the list is endless.
In the late 70's thru the early 80's American vehicles got a bad rap as admittedly the quality of the autos produced by the big three did lack from previous years. This was due to the gas crunch of the Carter administration, (remember odd and even days for gas? I do)
They quickly regrouped and got back on track to a quality vehicle.
The U.S. government installed very strict regulations on emissions standards on all U.S. made vehicles. This forced the big three to use Chevrolet engines in Pontiac's, Oldsmobile's, Buick's, and even some Cadillac vehicles. The engines were factory de-tuned along with the added smog BS. This in itself caused some reliability problems in some of the larger vehicles and complaints from the die-hard "brand" worshiper. IE: Cadillac owners were NOT happy when they found out they had a Chevy engine. What they didn't know was they had a better engine than Cadillac ever built.
Introduce the rice-burners to the American public in the late 70's, these vehicles did not have to meet such rigorous emissions standards (except Ca) as they were at that time imported, the rice-burners nearly doubled the U.S. vehicles in fuel mileage at that time because the engine was not fitted with all the power robbing emissions garbage and it was 1/2 the cubic inches. The general public latched on to fuel pinching foreign vehicles because at the time fuel at the pump had tripled or quadrupled in price in a very short time and fuel was being rationed at the pump, RE; the odd-even days.
The new car buyer was looking to save all they could in the way of fuel prices. When window shopping for a new vehicle the foreign vehicles nearly doubled the mileage of a similar big three (or so the EPA sticker said) so the choice was simple to the penny pincher.
What was soon to come to the owner of the foreign POS they had no idea. When their prized fuel sipping rice-burner became a little aged and needed a repair it would cost 5 times the price to repair than the U.S. vehicle. They needed a $400.00 timing belt every 50,000 miles as routine maintenance when people had never heard of a timing belt, most went neglected and the devastation done to the tiny interference engine when the belt snapped was extremely expensive to repair. Most people didn't even think about it, but ALL the money they had saved in fuel plus much more just went out the window for the high-price repair of their beloved foreign fuel sipper. How long does one have to drive to save even 100 bucks in fuel? (think about it)
The above paragraph still reigns true today, it cost much more to drive a foreign vehicle than a big three produced vehicle. The savings in fuel will be overridden with the simplest of repairs and normal maintenance not to mention the high priced O-rings they call tires.
Then we have the people that talk about how many miles a rice-burner will run above a U.S. built vehicle.... Bull shit.. I have been a mechanic all my life, working for a pay check repairing vehicles at the age 12 for Ruth Donaway when she was in the building that's now occupied by Billy Ward and have done my whole life since.
Any U.S. manufactured vehicle will out perform, out last, and cost much, much less to repair and maintain. For example, an alternator for a 2000 Mercedes cost $171.00 from Advance Auto (rebuilt junk part) and a alternator for a 2000 Impala (comparable U.S. car) cost $45.00 and the labor to install the alternator on the Mercedes will be at least treble the cost and probably more, so how much fuel does one need to save to offset this. Get the picture?
It is also a myth that foreign vehicles will run more miles than the U.S. iron. Way back in the 70's it was not uncommon to see a cheap Plymouth Valiant with an inline 6 cyl engine to have 300,000 miles and going strong. I have an American made vehicle right now that is approaching 400,000 miles and runs as good as new.
As the refining of oils improved, the introduction of synthetic lubricants, and the technology in machining,... today's engines will easily double the running mileage of yesteryear's and very easily surpass that of ANY rice-burner.
The interior components of foreign vehicles are also much less of the quality of any U.S. vehicle, the rice-burners interior simply fall apart, recycled plastic that has already aged cracks and deteriorates in a few short years leaving the rice-burner just a mess inside. Look around at the classic car cruise-ins and shows, how many classic Mercedes, Toyota's, Datsun's, Honda's do you see? NONE. Why? Because they just cannot stand the test of time like American muscle.
I often wonder if the people that brag on their rice-burner realize that their vehicle was assembled here in the good'ol U.S.of A. (parts made in Mexico) and it's not the nuts and bolts that fall out, in the long run the car just falls apart and cost 10 times the amount to repair.
You can keep your fuel sippin', gas pedal stickin' brakes not workin' plastic coated, recycled beer can rice-burner.
I'll keep my American Iron. And don't complain when your throttle sticks or your brakes don't work and you hit me and total your your rice-rocket and I just wave and drive away without a scratch.
The MSM and the blogging community has took this and ran with it.
It's a no brainer, all manufactures have glitches from time to time but American vehicles are much superior to their foreign competition and I will elaborate.
First this is nothing new, automotive vehicles have had recalls since their introduction, from very minor unnoticed repairs to items that cause fires, brakes, throttle pedals, exploding gas tanks, etc. the list is endless.
In the late 70's thru the early 80's American vehicles got a bad rap as admittedly the quality of the autos produced by the big three did lack from previous years. This was due to the gas crunch of the Carter administration, (remember odd and even days for gas? I do)
They quickly regrouped and got back on track to a quality vehicle.
The U.S. government installed very strict regulations on emissions standards on all U.S. made vehicles. This forced the big three to use Chevrolet engines in Pontiac's, Oldsmobile's, Buick's, and even some Cadillac vehicles. The engines were factory de-tuned along with the added smog BS. This in itself caused some reliability problems in some of the larger vehicles and complaints from the die-hard "brand" worshiper. IE: Cadillac owners were NOT happy when they found out they had a Chevy engine. What they didn't know was they had a better engine than Cadillac ever built.
Introduce the rice-burners to the American public in the late 70's, these vehicles did not have to meet such rigorous emissions standards (except Ca) as they were at that time imported, the rice-burners nearly doubled the U.S. vehicles in fuel mileage at that time because the engine was not fitted with all the power robbing emissions garbage and it was 1/2 the cubic inches. The general public latched on to fuel pinching foreign vehicles because at the time fuel at the pump had tripled or quadrupled in price in a very short time and fuel was being rationed at the pump, RE; the odd-even days.
The new car buyer was looking to save all they could in the way of fuel prices. When window shopping for a new vehicle the foreign vehicles nearly doubled the mileage of a similar big three (or so the EPA sticker said) so the choice was simple to the penny pincher.
What was soon to come to the owner of the foreign POS they had no idea. When their prized fuel sipping rice-burner became a little aged and needed a repair it would cost 5 times the price to repair than the U.S. vehicle. They needed a $400.00 timing belt every 50,000 miles as routine maintenance when people had never heard of a timing belt, most went neglected and the devastation done to the tiny interference engine when the belt snapped was extremely expensive to repair. Most people didn't even think about it, but ALL the money they had saved in fuel plus much more just went out the window for the high-price repair of their beloved foreign fuel sipper. How long does one have to drive to save even 100 bucks in fuel? (think about it)
The above paragraph still reigns true today, it cost much more to drive a foreign vehicle than a big three produced vehicle. The savings in fuel will be overridden with the simplest of repairs and normal maintenance not to mention the high priced O-rings they call tires.
Then we have the people that talk about how many miles a rice-burner will run above a U.S. built vehicle.... Bull shit.. I have been a mechanic all my life, working for a pay check repairing vehicles at the age 12 for Ruth Donaway when she was in the building that's now occupied by Billy Ward and have done my whole life since.
Any U.S. manufactured vehicle will out perform, out last, and cost much, much less to repair and maintain. For example, an alternator for a 2000 Mercedes cost $171.00 from Advance Auto (rebuilt junk part) and a alternator for a 2000 Impala (comparable U.S. car) cost $45.00 and the labor to install the alternator on the Mercedes will be at least treble the cost and probably more, so how much fuel does one need to save to offset this. Get the picture?
It is also a myth that foreign vehicles will run more miles than the U.S. iron. Way back in the 70's it was not uncommon to see a cheap Plymouth Valiant with an inline 6 cyl engine to have 300,000 miles and going strong. I have an American made vehicle right now that is approaching 400,000 miles and runs as good as new.
As the refining of oils improved, the introduction of synthetic lubricants, and the technology in machining,... today's engines will easily double the running mileage of yesteryear's and very easily surpass that of ANY rice-burner.
The interior components of foreign vehicles are also much less of the quality of any U.S. vehicle, the rice-burners interior simply fall apart, recycled plastic that has already aged cracks and deteriorates in a few short years leaving the rice-burner just a mess inside. Look around at the classic car cruise-ins and shows, how many classic Mercedes, Toyota's, Datsun's, Honda's do you see? NONE. Why? Because they just cannot stand the test of time like American muscle.
I often wonder if the people that brag on their rice-burner realize that their vehicle was assembled here in the good'ol U.S.of A. (parts made in Mexico) and it's not the nuts and bolts that fall out, in the long run the car just falls apart and cost 10 times the amount to repair.
You can keep your fuel sippin', gas pedal stickin' brakes not workin' plastic coated, recycled beer can rice-burner.
I'll keep my American Iron. And don't complain when your throttle sticks or your brakes don't work and you hit me and total your your rice-rocket and I just wave and drive away without a scratch.
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