1. Fuel prices. A friend of mine faulted me because I own 6 Ford vehicles of which 5 are 4wd and all have V8 engines and the amount of fuel that I use. I stated to him that all of my vehicles together in the course of a year do not get 12000 miles on them and that his 2wd 4cyl Ranger sees over 25000 miles per year actually uses more fuel in a year than all mine put together.
2. I drive 4 miles to work and I drive a 2003 Excursion. If i happen to get into an accident in those 4 miles it is going to have to be a darn BIG vehicle to do any damage to me. I feel safer in my BIG vehicle.
3. Insurance. How do I afford insurance and upkeep. I am lucky enough to have a good driving record and am able to maintain my vehicles by myself. This way I save my money so I can buy another BF truck. Besides a big asd lifetd truck has a better field of vision than a dinky little fuel sipper.
4. AMERICAN PRIDE!!!!! Says it all to me. I cannot stand it when i see American flags and patriotic stickers and the like on cars that have an imported manufacturers name on them. Some will say that Toyota Nissan etc are built in the US, True. But the dollars that you work for and spend on these so-called American made vehicles eventually goes back to the manufacturer. The worst I ever saw was a Toyota Tacoma with "proud to serve WWII" sticker and American flags on it. This guy fought in WWII. Who did he fight? The Japanese! Doesn't make sense to me. I am an American. I never was in the military but I respect any person that was and is. You will NEVER see me in an "import".
Enough for now

 

AMEN, AMEN, AMEN BROTHER, I COULDN'T AGREE MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Of course you realize that you have openned a can of worms on this site, there seems to be a lot of toyota lovers lurking a round here. I personally wouldn't hit a dog in the butt with one !!!!!

 

I would hit a cat in the but with one, but then I would have to be driving it, so I would be dead and driving. Probably a law against that.

 

Last I checked Japan and Germany have been two of the USA's greatest allies since the end of WWII. Vietnam vets have often travelled back to Vietnam to end up crying over the tragic losses with the soldiers they battled against. Same with our WWII vets who have gone to visit Germany, the shores of Normandy, Japan, etc. The same thing happened with Civil War vets -- who even had reunions with soldiers from "the other side". I can't damn a people and their products generations later for the wars of their governments. Here's a touching example about two WWI vets: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_head...name_page.html - if that doesn't touch a heart it would have to be a very cold heart.

I drive only Fords, but not because of a war from 60 years ago. I grew out of that sort of silly xenophobia a long time ago when I overcame my self-imposed ignorance.

I always have to laugh seeing these types of threads, posted by people using computers with CPUs from the USA, hard drives from Ireland and Singapore, RAM chips from Malaysia and Japan, USB controllers from South Korea, video chips from Texas and various Asian countries, and keyboards from Hong Kong. Read the book "The World Is Flat".

 

Yeah, I hear you on this. I drive the Ford in my sig around all the time and people comment about how bad the fuel economy must be.

What they dont realize is that my diesel burns up to 50% used motor oil most of the summer and less in the winter. First off my costs are down and I am consuming less because of it......And I also agree that if I get hit, it s gonna take a large vehicle to do any significant damage.....

 

And now we have KIA introducing the Borrego V8, with gas prices unwinding every day. Are they smart or just lucky?

Steve

 

It's not damning the japanese people for what thier goverment did, even though it claimed 2 of my uncles. The japanese people will be fine, it's our companies that are hurting at thier hands, not from malice, but in the name of the allmighty dollar. The media does more to hurt american car companies than the japanese ever could. As a country, we've lost pride in what we build, there's not much left that we do build. I believe strongly in ford motor company and it's products, everything I had as a child was due to ford and my fathers hard work. My father still depends on ford for his retirement and medical and I still depend on his Z plan ha ha. Japan has never done anything for me except take 2 of my uncles, ford has done for me my whole life. I don't have anything against the japanese, I would buy a mazda because it's ford owned, at least they have controling interest. I buy japanese TV's and what not, but somethings are american to the core, like baseball, hotdogs and ford, chevy and sometimes dodge ha ha. I also like the good ole american jeep, just not so much the chryslerized ones. We have to start perserving our heritage somewhere, might as well start with our car companies. After all, it was our car companies that won the war with japan. They were able to shift production over night for the war effert to build jeeps, planes and tanks. I don't know if there's enough left of our own manufacturing to suport a war effert like they did in WWII. In a dangerous world, that should be concidered when a factory is moved over seas. A real super power shouldn't have to depend on others for our basic needs, that makes us vunrable and should be a national security issue. There is no world economy when half the world is out to take us down. I'M AFRAID WE WILL LIVE TO REGRET ALOT OF OUR DECISIONS OVER THE YEARS.

 

I'm not, nor are many people, part of this "we" that has lost pride in what America builds. I don't think any single person can speak for America's collective pride. I don't have an inferiority complex about how Americans feel about American products. Go ask any American if they are proud of what they produce and the vast majority will tell you they are. I haven't lost any pride in the products Americans build but that doesn't mean I'm going to buy everything solely on its country of origin without regard to price and quality. If anyone here says they do --- I'll wager you can inventory the products in their home and prove they are a liar.

The fact is a manufacturing base must have cheap labor to remain competitive --- that's always been the case. Unfortunately, American's have a wage, regulatory and tax structure (especially a tax structure) which makes hard to compete.

I feel Ford makes the best trucks in the world, and has for a long, long time. I have 4 Fords currently, 3 of them trucks. If Ford started making crap... I wouldn't be buying a new one (for instance, you couldn't price a 2003 Powerstroke cheap enough for me to want it).

 

Amen brother!! I don't know what I am going to do if Ford ever goes under, I guess I will just keep driving mine til the wheels fall off.

 

Dean88, thats funny because I said that about me and my wifes cars and then she drove the wheel off of her's, I fixed and it is still going. Anyways back to the topic.

The fact is that we are in a world economy. I agree that the US needs to have in place strategic abilities to provide for itself, since half the world hates us for some reason. this is why I work in construction. What I build cannot be moved, shipped overseas, or downsized. I produce an american product and am PROUD AS HELL of it.

 

Well it's pretty simple really, if collective america does take pride in what it builds, then japanese auto makers wouldn't be gaining larger shares of the market. I don't want to here the excuss that a larger share of the japanese auto's are built here.Tokoyo still benifits, not Detroit. Or does the americans working in the japanese plants just work harder than those in american plants, I think not. However, the domestics have to deal with the UAW where as the japanese do not. Also why do we allways end up in this same discusion on a ford truck site where it should be pro-ford. I'm not trying to convince anyone that I'm a rocket scientist. I'm just a hard working american who has seen alot of changes through my own eye's over the years and they haven't been for the better. I maybe stupid, but I say buy american whenever you can, our future and our childrens future may wish we did. I maybe old fashion, but it was a better country when were all a little old fashioned with american pride, not that there isn't proud americans, we just seem so divided now days.

 

For a very long time Detroit built some pretty crappy cars. At the same time, these were gas guzzler's when American's didn't want them. Detroit is to blame for leaving a market wide open for the Japanese to come in and fill the void.

One can be pro-Ford and pro-free market at the same time. I buy Ford vehicles because they serve a need. Now if Ford were to release a crappy truck should we ignore it and buy crap? That's like thinking trying to pick up a turd by the clean end. Take a look at Harley Davidson.... when their quality went to crap they lost huge market share. When they recovered it, and learned to properly brand themselves, they turned it around. I know few people who are "proud" of the garbage Harley put out when under AMF control.

The thing is.... problems can never be resolved by ignoring them, or financing them. We cannot simply wish and hope for people to buy a higher priced product made in America if they have a budget to meet. The fact is people have always purchased based on price more than quality. This happened in America time and time again. Used to be all furniture was 100% hand made. Then US companies started mass producing it and people bought the cheaper stuff. Now, non-US companies mass produce the same things for less and people buy it.

Here's a harse reality...

Let's look at a hypothetical situation. Say you owned a bicycle manufacturing company. You made quality products here in the USA and had a 100% US work-force. A Chinese company starts selling bikes at the same store for less and you start seeing your market share disappear. You can't compete because you have to pay 7.5% payroll tax, 30% or greater corporate taxes, property taxes, inventory taxes, state income tax, excise taxes on the your electrical power, an excise tax on the plant's water usage, you can't write off equipment purchase immediately but instead have to take a big hit now and depreciate it over several years. Plus you have to worry about employees suing you over petty things and you must carry a hefty liability policy. The city your plant is in also levies a yearly tax based on sales (most do). Your worker's comp rates keep going up because there is widespread fraud in the system. To add insult to injury, you pay income taxes on any profits you pay yourself.

There's no where you can cut costs to keep the doors open. You are faced with a tough choice:

1. Close the doors, put every American worker you employ out of a job and put yourself out of a job. Let's say for sake of argument that's 100 people out of a job.

or

2. Move production to China. You can slash prices this way and compete with the Chinese company. Instead of putting yourself out of a job and 100 other people out of a job 30 people can stay on to manage the office, decrate the imported bicycles, design new products, etc.

Which choice do you make? Any person, as much as they don't like it, would be forced to choose option 2.

There is a great book called "Atlas Shrugged" which the above is a classic example of. The basis of the book is, essentially... based on the myth of Atlas holding the earth on his shoulders. Atlas is strong. He produces a much needed service (holding up the earth). Now, if the burden (government) gets too heavy Atlas (the class of citizens who provide jobs and produce wealth in this country) will eventually get tired and be unable to hold up the ever increasing weight of the burden.

Now, you can't blame Atlas for trying ease the burden. Instead blame those who keep increasing the burden (governmental tax and regulatory burdens). Unfortunately this country has it backwards. The heavier the load gets on Atlas the more we blame Atlas instead of the increasing load. So, what do we do? We (the government, since we elect it) keep increasing the load and then whip Atlas and call him evil and greedy.

 

my company is currently auctioning off some old equiptment on an auction site irsauctions.com....

Just by looking at the site, its evident that american manufacturing is on the decline.

As far as chineese products, we make wood flooring,, so do LOTS of chineese people. We are a small custom mill (we can make 10,000 sf a week) where as a chineese mill could make 10,000sqft in an hr. Natrually, we are more expensive..

In a lot of cases, (not all) the quality just isn't as good as ours. The milling isn't as precise, the grading of the wood isa more lax, If prefinished, one pallet of color X may look completely different than another pallet of color X.

I try to educate customers about quality issues, Sometimes they'll spring for the higher quality, higher priced floor, but A LOT of the time, price is the biggest factor...

The "greenness" or lack there of bamboo flooring is another huge issue........

 

China is the new japan I'm afraid, the difference being, japan attacked us in 1941. China could attack us today. Japan is a major allie, china is more like a major adversary. Doing business with china is like dealing with the devil in this volital world climate were engulfed in. China could turn on us in a heartbeat, even start a war over Tiawan. I'ld rather do business with our friends the japanese if given a choice, I trust them.
American cars may have rusted bad in the 70's, but so did the japanese cars. I've driven fords all my life and have never been left walking or had a fender fall off or any major repair unless it was a project car or something. I've never had a problem with fords quality. Even jeeps have been good to me, sure little things go wrong on jeeps, but you can fix them with baleing wire and duct tape and keep hitting the trails ha ha. To buy american is to honor all who gave all defending her. They gave for our people and our way of life. They also gave all for freedom and that includes be able to buy whatever car you wish, I understand that. Ford is a good vehicle and it's quality is up there with the best of them according to JD Powers. A lot of people buy japanese, not because they've had problems with the domestics, but because motor trend or car and driver tells them to. The media is in the tank for the japanese and the media is powerfull in this country. The media may have elected it's first president. Toyota and honda has recalls, but it doesn't grab the headlines like if it were ford or GM. The media seems to gravel in the demise of the domestics, but have nothing but praise for the japanese. The UAW also helped tank the domestics in the 80's, even though there playing better ball now, the damage is done. The UAW helped sink chrysler by having 500,000 unsold 06 vehicles setting in storage that the UAW forced them to build per contract to keep guy's working. Chrysler was forced to eat them and has never recovered. Ford and GM were too big and was crumbling under thier own weight. I know under Alan, ford has become a meaner, leaner company. It's bad enough car sells are off because of high gas, now there's no money to loan for those wanting to buy new cars. It's an up hill battle for ford, thats why they need our help. If you have ever concidered buying a new car or truck, now the time. Other than credit, it's a buyer's market and ford needs your business. I just bought a new 08 mariner and an 09 ranger, but I'm just one guy. Ford needs all of our help now from those who can. Buy ford, buy american!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

When Chinese manufacturers want quality manufacturing equipment they turn to the US and Germany. They are happy to pay the price. It will not be long before they start cranking out quality products at a lesser price. Then...we will feel the pain.

They are starting on upscale products and / or products that require tighter specifications and higher scrutiny. Invading quality markets with quality products.