domestic vs foreign

[ricardozooms]

I am thinking of getting a new/newer car within the next four months. I currently drive a '94 Honda Accord, 4 door.
I keep hearing the old "stick with honda" or "get a toyota, nissan or anything foreign".
Really, are domestic cars that bad? I mean there are tons of them on the road, how bad can they be?
The cars I would consider r:
Honda Accord, Chevy Impala/Malibou or anything in that size class.
or Saturn Vue.

Is there a right/wrong in choosing domestic over foreign or vice versa?
Please post suggestions.

Thank you.....

[Mischief007]

No. Both the Malibu and Saturn Vue have made massive strides in quality. Which is what everyone raves about. You wouldn't be doing a bad thing by buying either one. The Vue supposedly has a Honda engine in it but I don't know if that is still true. It was a deal between Honda and GM. The Impala looks bland but is a good buy.

GM is finally phasing out the catastrophic 3.4 engine so you shouldn't have to worry about the dexcool shooter any longer.

I drive an Alero. Put 30,000 km on it since I've bought it and it has been very reliable. I could take it cross country and not worry about anything at all. It is approaching 90,000 km. Yeah it is not worth a lot but it will give me worry free driving for quite some time. Only thing I replaced in it was a bad defroster switch.

I would say, no you are not making a mistake by buying domestic. They are just as good and always were as the imports.

[T_Totler]

I would say, no you are not making a mistake by buying domestic. They are just as good and always were as the imports.
Not according to most quality surveys out there.

Japanese card are still way ahead of the domestics in terms of quality, reliability and resale value.

Are domestic cars junk? no. They are getting better but still lag way behind Toyota and Honda.

[Mischief007]

Not according to most quality surveys out there.

Japanese card are still way ahead of the domestics in terms of quality, reliability and resale value.

Are domestic cars junk? no. They are getting better but still lag way behind Toyota and Honda.

I'd disagree but I've lost so many battles trying to defend domestic products that I don't care. I don't care about quality surveys because the cars I did owe and drove never did what the surveys said they would. I'll keep buying domestic because I know the kind of car I am getting. I've seen a lot more Toyota recalls lately than GM. But whatever, I don't want this to get into a domestic vs import battle.

Drive each car, take a look at the options, and then decide what car you want.

[Mouse]

I have a '91 EX. Sell me yours. ;)

I am impressed with the Malibu MAXX, but I don't know what your requirements are.

~$30,000 all-in is a little steep, but they are loaded.

Take a drive. :)

[M_Prime]

well there is 1 clear advantage in buy domestic.. parts.. sometimes for imports parts can either be expensive or hard to find. but now even domestics are foreign, let me explain.. look at my car.. the optra5 by chevy. it is a chevy but in reality its a daewoo since chevy bought em out. so far i'm still less then 2000km on it but i like it.. fuel economy is good and its a lot bigger then the aveo. i'll see how re-liable it is but my dad owns a 2000 caravan. never had a major problem with it.. just brakes and oil changes. i think the worst thing that happened was the AC went, basically there is a leak in the line and they have to take apart the whole dashboard to get it fixed, aka expensive fix. and that currently has over 115,000km on it and i'll tell you, my dad is not a gentle driver.

my friend has a VW GOLF DEISEL and says hes having issues with it and hes still under 100,000 km.

but i will admit the hondas are good.. and so are toyotas so its all fair game. but if you are gonna get a civic why not try a HYBRID?

PS. I Don't like fords.. but thats just me

[Dr.Dan]

No, the domestics aren't that bad... but they still aren't up to the level of quality of the Japanese.

Depending on what you want to do with your new car as to which you might want to buy / lease.

If you like to change cars every 3 to 4 years, then you should buy import... you'll loose less money that way since they have higher resale.

If you 'drive 'em til it drops', then buy whatever you like ;)

[Rustynut]

No matter what you buy, if it is new you are gonna get a 20%kick in the pants the moment you drive it off the lot.
As for used, buy what ever you can afford. If you're gonna pay 10,000 for a five to six year old Honda or Toyota, and you can pickup a 2 to 3 year old domestic for the same price, I would go domestic.

Past expreience has taught me to take down the VIN of the prostpective car then call the Insurance company to see how many body parts and or organs it will take to insure the darned thing.

Case in point, a 2000 Civic vs a 2000 Neon, both loaded with Sun roof, cd changer, air etc. My daughter ended up with the neon since the insurance was 800/yr cheaper to insure.

Let your pocket book govern your purchase, it is an investment which everyone except you profit on!

[The Computer Guy]

Well the neon will cost more in repairs tho, my civic will never fail me, The engine is good for 500,000kms plus. Honda stands behind their cars and its all we have ever owned for years.

[grs7]

Well the neon will cost more in repairs tho, my civic will never fail me, The engine is good for 500,000kms plus. Honda stands behind their cars and its all we have ever owned for years.

I see all kinds of Civics on the hook to. Let us know when you have half a million km on your Civic.

[JohnPB]

I worked at a dealership, and used Hondas always got bigger trade-in-values, even before the tuners used them. Its a known fact, but not admitted by GM and Ford, that the import engines will last longer, and the cars last longer if the body is taken care of.

I have had both NA and imports, and always had better luck with imports. The last GM I need required constant front brakes, I have 300,000 on our Honda civic, and still spent less on brakes then first couple of years of the GM.

[Mischief007]

I worked at a dealership, and used Hondas always got bigger trade-in-values, even before the tuners used them. Its a known fact, but not admitted by GM and Ford, that the import engines will last longer, and the cars last longer if the body is taken care of.

I have had both NA and imports, and always had better luck with imports. The last GM I need required constant front brakes, I have 300,000 on our Honda civic, and still spent less on brakes then first couple of years of the GM.

I'm the exact opposite. I've had great luck with GM cars. Never really had to replace brakes until needed.

[The Computer Guy]

Well there is a lot more imports on the road now than in previous years and it is showing the quality surpasses the domestic hands down. Hondas if they are maintained right are a long lasting car.

[Mischief007]

Hondas if they are maintained right are a long lasting car.

That statement holds true for every car ;).

[T_Totler]

That statement holds true for every car ;).
Yes, but some cars are engineered and built much better than others :)

[Doug Smith]

honda has a plant up the road from toronto so when your talking imports are you refering to cars not made on canadain soil? If your thinking of buying research cars built in canda by canadains and buy canadain. more of your hard earned money stays in canada and you win 2 ways.

canada has lots of stuff built here and we should try and buy canadain built when ever you can.

oh btw ford is investing over a billion dollars in the oakville plant - thats oakville ontario canada not usa or china or anywhere else. canadain constuction and canadain builders. I also think honda is building an engine plant here, so my question is why not buy candain?

[Number6]

canada has lots of stuff built here and we should try and buy canadain built when ever you can.

Agreed. Remember the old TV ads promoting buying Canadian products? Given the choice I try and buy Canadian.........check the labels.

[T_Totler]

honda has a plant up the road from toronto so when your talking imports are you refering to cars not made on canadain soil?
That's a good point, but I think people still think of "imports" as cars other than those manufactured by the Big-3 North American companies (GM, Ford, and Chrysler), regardless of where they are built.

Most Japanese cars are developed and engineered in Japan and those that are subsequently built here are built under Japan's strict adherence to quality control and workmanship.

No Japanese car goes into production unless Japan gives the go ahead regardless of where they are built.

[Mischief007]

Yes, but some cars are engineered and built much better than others :)

I've seen it all. Honda's and Toyota's blowing engines and transmissions, things falling apart, etc. I've also seen that from the Big 3.

Like I said, I've seen it all. I've seen it happen to everybody and people keep switching brands on a daily basis from ALL manufacturers.

[T_Totler]

I've seen it all. Honda's and Toyota's blowing engines and transmissions, things falling apart, etc. I've also seen that from the Big 3.

Like I said, I've seen it all. I've seen it happen to everybody and people keep switching brands on a daily basis from ALL manufacturers.
Happens to all brands to be sure.....

But the odds of it happening to a well-built and engineered Japanese car are much less.

Toyota is poised to be the largest car manufacturer in the world. It's only a matter of time now. GM is sinking.

[Dr.Dan]

It's not good for any of them to be sinking... it would have a huge global impact :eek:

It was just last year that they said (in the news) that cars from the 'big 3' average life expectancy is down to 8 to 10 years... Japanese is up to 12 to 13 years.

I see more high milage imports then domestic (300,000 Km +)

Sure, anything can have a major failure at anytime... and these days it usually comes down to how someone care for their car more than any other factor... You take care of almost anything and you can get over 300k

[Mouse]

That's a good point, but I think people still think of "imports" as cars other than those manufactured by the Big-3 North American companies (GM, Ford, and Chrysler), regardless of where they are built.
And the CAW encourages that type of 'thinking'. :vfw:

[Twan]

At the end of the day a lot of the parts probably come from the same plants anyway. Over the last 15 years my family has owned cars from Ford, Chrysler, GM, Nissan, Mazda, Honda and Hyundai. Only the Chrysler and one of 5 Fords had major problems, and my dad's last two GM cars have had fewer problems than my current Nissan which has had 4 recalls. While I trash the Chrysler I owned for going through 2 transmissions, a friend of mine is on his third and swears by them. My father-in-law will only buy Honda, but my friend hates his Accord -- the powertrain is good, but almost everything else has blown out on him. While I'm sure there are trends that can be observed, in the end it comes down to the car, the lot of parts that went into it, and luck.

A car is NOT an investment. Buy what you like/need and can afford.

[T_Totler]

A car is NOT an investment.
Ever watch the Barrett-Jackson (http://www.barrett-jackson.com/) auctions? ;)

[Rustynut]

Ever watch the Barrett-Jackson (http://www.barrett-jackson.com/) auctions? ;)
Now that isn't a fair comparison, newer everyday drivers up against polished and / or restored oldies simply isn't right. Those old cars were nothing but fortunate to still exist and have a following crowd of people with more money than brains to pay that kind of price for something you could buy new for 2500 bucks back in the day. Just look at the money it took to restore them and no wonder the price is so high.

Japanese and other imports had their bad history as well. Toyota, Datsun, Mitsubishi among others had very poor quality cars at first kind of akin to the Hyundai Pony rust buckets of yesteryear. They did however learn from their eroneous ways and now produce superior quality products, they were forced to if they wanted to compete in the North American market whereas the big 3were so full of themselves that it is only now they are realising that you need quality and value pricing in your product in order to stay afloat.

[T_Totler]

Now that isn't a fair comparison
I was being sarcastic ;)