Why not to buy Japanese!!!

[zozoka1212]

Quick story.

Today my wife got called in. She'll be working till late afternoon. So I decided to do the grocery shopping for a week. I asked my son to come with me also. He wasn't to happy but came.

Cut it short away to the grocery store the warning light came up. "low washer fluid"

So I bought a groceries and I bought windshield washer too. I loaded my car and about to start my son asked why I don't put the washer fluid in the car right now. Heck why not. So I popped the hood wide open and went to the trunk to get the fluid out. As I walked back to the front of the car heard an elder couple talking. The guy said to his wife " See that's why you don't buy Japanese cars" . Obviously He thought my car broke down.

You know me it did not take a second to say something.

" So are you saying you don't need washer fluid in your car".

They both turned and realized I am there with windshield washer fluid in my hand. <<They realized the car is not broken>>> My son started to laugh first and the old lady after, the dude turned glowing red put his head down and walked away. I must of been spilled a load of fluid due to the laugh I had.

We came home my son said: "Who says grocery shopping can't be fun"

Well I don't know about that but for sure this was awesome.

I thought it was too funny so I shared with you guys. Don't buy Japanese you need to put washer fluid in it.

Dah



zozo

[rn79870]

Windshield washer fluid? Oh yeah, to keep the windshield from freezing in cold weather right?

[USAF_G35_Guy]

LOL nice story dude, good stuff, good stuff.

I bed your son had a good laugh

[telcoman]

So what brand of American crap were they driving. Probably a #@cking Ford

[rn79870]

There is a funny backstory here. The G35 is one of the few Japanese cars left that is made in Japan. Most "Japanese" cars are made in the US, by US autoworkers. Many US cars are made offshore, by foreign autoworkers, or contain a large number of foreign made components. Ya never know anymore.

[rn79870]

So what brand of American crap were they driving. Probably a #@cking Ford

Well, that guy did imply that his car never broke down...

[RED_DET]

that was indeed a good laugh.

[zozoka1212]

I remember reading it somewhere. One of the Toyota not sure which one has the most North American parts in out of all the cars. I don't know how accurate it was but it is funny.

Telco bro I asked my son if he seen them what car they were driving. He told me it was a Saturn Ion. Wooohaaaaaa

I watched the dude's face and I am telling you he turned glowing red in a metter of second. He could not eye contact me.

What a donkey.

Oh well. I should of thank him. He made my day and my sons.

zozo

[telcoman]

I remember reading it somewhere. One of the Toyota not sure which one has the most North American parts in out of all the cars. I don't know how accurate it was but it is funny.

Telco bro I asked my son if he seen them what car they were driving. He told me it was a Saturn Ion. Wooohaaaaaa

I watched the dude's face and I am telling you he turned glowing red in a metter of second. He could not eye contact me.

What a donkey.

Oh well. I should of thank him. He made my day and my sons.

zozo

zozo my friend

I hate to get too political but:Many may not be aware but back in the late seventies or early eighties, the lobbyists for the American Automobile Companys along with their Republican buddies, passed some protectionist legislation that required foreign automobile manufactures to build plants in this country. Rather then spend money on research & development they thought they could just keep building crap.Well the Germans and Japanese did build plants here & turned out automobiles using American workers that were far superior to American vehicles & much more fuel efficient as well. I remember one case where a buyer of an Oldsmobile found out it had a Chevy engine in it & sued. The Cadillac Cimeron was nothing more than Chevy & buyers were charged Cadillac prices. The Ford Pinto had exploding fuel tanks because Ford chose to save a couple of bucks per car. The Chevy Vegas just rusted away.I could go on on but to the American Automobile Companys I say #@ck you. I won't buy your #hit any more

Telcoman

[tollboothwilley]

What bothers me is that there aren't a lot of American cars that have any appeal. Its not like we can't make a good car, but I think what happens is the manufacturers go off the cost/profit basis and turn out crap cuz its cheaper and the masses keep buying it.

We need something to be proud about IMO

[joe603]

I agree...just saw motorweek this morning and they had a new Saturn car on there that is actually german?! It's the new compact 5-door...competing with the volk rabbit.

Seems even "american" cars are globally influenced...

The Viper, Corvette, and the F150 are a few of the truly "american" vehicles left

[rn79870]

Telcoman, what you say is only half true. It isn’t as if the American auto makers intentionally set out to screw up the cars, they had help. The feds stepped in starting in 1971 requiring air pumps be added to reduce emissions. By1972 they killed the compression rations in new cars in the name of cleaner running engines. My 350 cu in Chevy V8’s produced 164 HP and I think, 8 to 1 compression. 1975 saw catalytic converters and unleaded fuel. Also, fuel lines where we all had to wait to buy gas on odd or even days.

The mandated rapid emission cleanup of engines resulted in crappy mileage. The feds responded with CAFÉ standards which, to reach, required the auto companies to create little, underpowered, light (read cheap) cars. The entire decade of the 70’s was a disaster for American cars. No performance, no economy, no reliability and no value. I remember when a mid 70 car was shut off , it would continued to diesel on before finally it stopped running. Embarrassing.

Things were not much better through the mid 80’s. I remember the 1986 Buick Grand National fondly as the best American muscle car since the 1970 model year. I didn’t have one but rode in several. Comfortable, great ride, and they were relatively powerful.

I remember growing up and having days when that “brown air” was so thick we couldn’t exercise in gym class. You couldn’t breath deeply, and your eyes burned. We haven’t had a day like that in decades. For that I am thankful. The auto engineers did their job.

American cars are not my first choice as evident by my choice of an Infiniti, but they really are not the crap that many people think they are anymore.

[tollboothwilley]

But thats not really the point is it?

By your choice of vehicle you still would choose a foreign over US.

Its not your fault, we just don't have a lot of cars that are appealing.

We lack the style and reliability that people desire.

I'm all up for using the R & D we have to make a break through in the market for something....but when is that going to happen??

[telcoman]

m79870

The poor air quality in California led the state of California to impose emission standards. The Japanese were able to not only meet the California standards, but exceeded them. If Honda, Toyota, and Nissan can do it, why can't GM, Ford and Chrysler do it. All they did was cry to Washington. My 1980 Diesel Rabbit got over 50 MPG and the oil pump failed at 246,000 miles. It was a great commuter car. The American auto companys lobbied to have vehicles over 6000 lbs gross weight exempt from Cafe standards. This led to the rise of huge SUV & trucks on our roads. These are vehicles that may be required on farms and ranches but have no business clogging up roads in major cities. It is not emission requirement that did in the American Auto industry. It was their incompetent and greedy management. Bush and his incompetent buddies in the white house and their misguided policies have allowed and accelerated the loss of manufacturing jobs to China. Much of the state of Mich is now unemployeed.

Telcoman

[BigWill]

We, (the American car manufacturers), had the option in the '70s to build good quality cars that both ran well, and got decent gas mileage. We chose to continue to go down the 'planned obsolescence' route, and allow the Japanese, who have been building higher quality, more reliable vehicles for years, to continue to gain ground and dominate the market. It was the whole reason that we put import embargos on them, to which they said, 'we'll just make two versions of every car we export, and charge more money!' Hence, Toyota/Lexus, Nissan/Infiniti, Honda/Acura, etc.

The last American vehicle I owned was a 1990 Dodge Dakota truck. Just prior, (thank goodness), to the (pitiful) 25,000 mile warranty ending, the transmission took a crap and had to be replaced by the dealer. I had kept that truck in prime condition, with all the required maintenance. In contrast, the truck I owned before that was a NIssan Hardbody, purchased new in 1986. I drove it approximately 45,000 miles per year, beat the hell out of it, and only changed the oil three times in 250,000 miles. It was still purring when I got rid of it to buy the POS Dodge. Since then, I have owned Acura, BMW, and now Infiniti, and have loved each and everyone of them. I'm not saying that American cars are all junk, nor am I saying that all Japanese cars are perfect, but the Japanese have been kicking our butts in the quality vs cost department for years.
Modified by BigWill at 3:06 PM 1/26/2008

[SVTCOBRA]

I've owned lots of Fords over the years and never really had to spend much money on any of them. The most costly car I've ever owned was my 01 Pathy due to the sensors going out. One if the best Fords that I owned was the 90 Taurus Wagon!! Got us thru the toddler years when you had to carry all of that baby crap everywhere you went.

Come on telcoman, give FORD another chance!!! (probably as slim as me owning another Chrysler)

[rn79870]

m79870

The poor air quality in California led the state of California to impose emission standards. The Japanese were able to not only meet the California standards, but exceeded them. If Honda, Toyota, and Nissan can do it, why can't GM, Ford and Chrysler do it...

I think you're comparing American cars of the past (70-86) with their cars of today. If you dispasionately looked at them, you'd see that they are heads and shoulders above what they once were. In my opinion, the problem they have is that they don't do well on the resale market, (except for one particular American car that I won't mention that does rather well.)

I bought a Japanese car because I believe it was the best fit for me. But that Caddy CTS got a little of my attention too, so did a MB 350, and both are sweet rides. American cars simply are not all junk. IMO.

[BigWill]

(probably as slim as me owning another Chrysler)

I hear ya loud and clear Rich. For me, it is a simple Chevy/Ford rivalry thing. I grew up around lots of GM vehicles, and owned a '67 Camaro that I absolutely LOVED. I also knew of many friends who had Fords that the loved as well. I know two guys right now, one of whom is in the 300,000 plus club, and the other in the 250,000 plus club, both with Ford trucks.

As to Chrysler/Dodge... bahhhh.

[zozoka1212]

I agree...just saw motorweek this morning and they had a new Saturn car on there that is actually german?! It's the new compact 5-door...competing with the volk rabbit.

Seems even "american" cars are globally influenced...

The Viper, Corvette, and the F150 are a few of the truly "american" vehicles left

GM owns Opel. It is a Europian GM. The funny part is the Opel had the Astra(saturn) for years and they brought it in here saying brand new design Europian style bla bla bla...They can't sell it there anymore so they bring it here.

here is a link for the Astra

http://www.edmunds.com/insidel...21207

People in North America hear Eurostyle and they buy it. It is true for almost everything not just for car.

Personally I would love to see American carmakers start to built better quality and more attractive cars. I just can't see that happen. But why those Japanese cars made here too.

zozo

[SVTCOBRA]

One of my best friends also had a 69 Mach 1. So, we both had meadolark yellow 69 Mach 1's. Anyway, he traded his in on a 84 Camaro. I think he has a corvette now.His 84 was always vapor locking, but he continued buying Chevy/GM's.I traded mine in on that 84 Daytona Tubo Z. I grew up with friends that had 67-73 camaros, trans-ams, firefirds, 442's, .....I liked them all. As you can tell, I'm not a die-hard Ford guy. I just happened to have owned a few since the Daytona and I've had good luck with them. When I was looking at buying another SUV years ago I did try some of the GM's. And really liked the Tahoe, but I did not like how easy the steering wheel turned. I like the way a Ford's feel. To me, they feel very similiar to my G. Also do not care for the way Toyota's feel. Maybe it goes back to my Mach 1......It didn't have power steering. It had grunt steering. And, that's why I have a mustang in my driveway today....because of my Mach 1 and my inability to out grow my childhood!

[SVTCOBRA]

zozo, a friend of my sister's had an opel.She fell out of it one day and ran over her leg!!!She was a blonde!

[rn79870]

You know, if the G only sounded like the Mustang,(It has Magnaflow exhaust) it would be a perfect car.

[smockers83]

The quality of the Big 3 has risen dramatically, its just there are still these myths about poor quality still lingering about. Buick topped Lexus in reliability last year, but GM is still the worst domestic. My family has lived off of Fords since the 1950s. My winter vehicle, a 98 Ford Explorer, currently has 173,000+ miles on it, still runs fine. I was the first one to move out of Ford since then when I bought a 96 Monte Carlo in high school (I have no idea what I was thinking), ran pretty well...still does today (my brother now has it). I was also the first in my family to buy an import. Well, we know how much I like my import.

The fact of the matter is is that the Big 3 are suffering mainly due to the previously established standard that they aren't reliable. Check the reliability tests from 2007, I think it'll surprise some. In fact, a lot of the European imports were not as reliable. Ford was much better than GM. The reason quality is poor these days, especially with GM, is because they can't focus on products, they have way too many and just throw parts together. This is why Ford is getting smart and downsizing by selling Aston Martin and wanting to sell Jag, to be able to focus on products that fit their strategy. BMW only has 2 brands to think about and only a handful of cars, the Japanese makers generally have 2 brands and a dozen and a half or so cars each, but with many similarities. Benz and VW have gone down the hole, I would never buy a Benz or a VW. Ford and GM keep saying they need to develop new products in order to recover, well they keep coming up with new cars thus reducing money and quality spent on the other cars already in production, which also attests to Ford wanting to downsize.

[smockers83]

You know, if the G only sounded like the Mustang,(It has Magnaflow exhaust) it would be a perfect car.

I'd like to disagree. When I went to the dealership to test drive a G, it was the first time I heard one run and I was sold the moment it was started because of the exhaust note.

[rn79870]

I think I read that Ford did sell Land Rover and Jag to Tata motors of India. I'll look it up if anyone wants a cite.

[BrandAidDesignG35]

I agree ^

Even my bro who is a huge import fan say... "theres no better sounding car than the g35" As you add parts, it will sound better and better... I just put in fujita F5 intake, now it sounds way better

[SVTCOBRA]

You know, if the G only sounded like the Mustang,(It has Magnaflow exhaust) it would be a perfect car.

I DO like the sound of my cobra better than my G Sedan. However, the G Coupes sound pretty darn good right out of the box.

I think this tells me that I need to throw some more mods at the G!!! Does my daughter REALLY need to go to college next year.......

[zozoka1212]

She was a blonde!

LMAO

I kind of figured.

zozo

[zozoka1212]

I think I read that Ford did sell Land Rover and Jag to Tata motors of India. I'll look it up if anyone wants a cite.

They did sell both to Tata. They had to they were not making money on them and both of them have reliablity issues. See the year old Jag cost 30-35% less then the new.

zozo

[gwoods]

That is hilarious man!

It was the same ignorant adittude in the Hemi club when the new Tundra came out making more power then a stock Hemi.

I was very quick to post a scanned copy of my 07 SEQUOIA with is US assembly/build and my 04 Hemi ram with its Mexico assembly/build location.

There is still a generation that things buying American supports the economy. Working for a steam ship line I know NOTHING is made in American anymore and it is mostly the fault of manufactures and unions....

OH CRAP I think I just started a war!