Just a list of some of the cars I have owned over the years.

[HAL9000]

Because the BMW costs twice as much here.

Really? I googled Chevrolet Impala and found you can spend $30,000 on one, which GBP is about £20,000 which would get you a 1 series or maybe a 3 series with some negotiating.

 

[natto fire]

Well yes, it did, because you guys have all the cars we have here, and American cars. There seems to be this kind of patriotic thing in America when it comes to buying products, buying American cars because you are American and love America, I'm not saying that's a bad thing, in some ways It's a very good thing, more jobs, supporting the manufacturing industry etc.

Fair enough, but I do find it strange that you guys seem to buy (not always, but sometimes) worse cars, because you are being patriotic, when I was in the US the first rental car I had was 2009 Chevrolet Impala, it was an unbelievable piece of shit, I was blown away buy how cheap and crap and tacky it was, and yet I saw them everywhere! I assumed they were really really cheap but they really aren't, they aren't exactly expensive but you can get other, far better made cars for similar prices, So I began to wonder is it this patriotism thing that makes you guys buy American cars.

Then after reading this thread it was apparent that you guys do own more American cars than anything else.

Yeah, actually when I started driving, I was actually a very anti-American fanboy. I was the hardest of my three friends on the Buick back in my anti-American days.

To me it was never a patriotism thing, it was the simple fact that an American make would do exactly what I wanted or better for a low price. I kind of fell into the Jeeps in that I bought them off my parents and found out they are actually decent vehicles.

Everyone has preconceived notions, just like I would be amazed if European manufacturers figured out how to combine wire and an automobile without creating a huge clusterfuck, because of my experience trying to work on an MG and VW and just giving up in favor of the wiring on Hondas and Toyotas.

So yeah, I grew up in Midwest America, hating cars that were built by my northern neighbor, and then took the blinders off and realized cars can be judged subjectively.

I am certainly not trying to apologize for the big three here for sitting on their laurels here and finally coming around when even Korean makes were spanking them in quality, and have seen blind patriotism buying like you are describing. I think this has largely gone away, especially in the tough economy we are all facing.

Another point is that we have nowhere near the cars you have available there, due to crash requirements, looser efficiency standards, and the fact that American market is ripe with profit on subpar vehicles. (let me just go down to the Ford dealership and grab a Mondeo or Escort Cosworth...) especially back in the day when we had extremely shitty diesel fuel.

I think the rise of Wal-Mart and the great outsourcing in the last 15-20 years has proven that American people give two shits about made in America. Getting too P&N now, but it seems funny to me that you are taking lists of cars that people have owned over the last 15+ years (being pessimistic to my argument) and extrapolating that as people that live in America automatically buy American cars.

 

[satyajitmenon]

A 1 series is also much smaller than a Chevy Impala. Try fitting 5 full sized adults in a 1 series and tell me how much fun that is.

Sure. The 1 series is more of a drivers car and more luxurious (definition of luxury varies from person to person). But if you wanted a spacious car that could fit 4-5 people in comfort (or heck, even a fairly largish 'merican driver), you'd need to buy a 5 series. Which is in the 65k+ territory.

 

[LTC8K6]

Did not realise that. Interesting, it was just an example though. Why buy a Chevrolet average car when you can buy a BMW etc...? Is it patriotism?

I think most Americans realize there's no such thing as an American car anymore. I doubt it's patriotism.

Also, there's not a BMW dealer anywhere near me. Nor Audi. Nor VW. Nor Mercedes. Etc.

Were I to buy any of those, it would be quite a trip to the dealer for anything.

The USA is a big country. I have a friend who doesn't have any new car dealers anywhere near his town. None. There isn't even a Wal-Mart anywhere near him. Or a fast food place.

Overall, I like the way "American" cars look and feel. I'm familiar with them. They are what I am used to.

The stuff about quality is really not an issue to me. The quality of all the top manufacturers is quite high, and with the exception of Chrysler, has been for a while, and even Chrysler is much better now.

I love my Jeep for example, but it's engine is made in Mexico.

Oh well.

 

[alkemyst]

Ownership is worthless without the year you owned them.

 

[natto fire]

I think most Americans realize there's no such thing as an American car anymore. I doubt it's patriotism.

Also, there's not a BMW dealer anywhere near me. Nor Audi. Nor VW. Nor Mercedes. Etc.

Were I to buy any of those, it would be quite a trip to the dealer for anything.

The USA is a big country. I have a friend who doesn't have any new car dealers anywhere near his town. None. There isn't even a Wal-Mart anywhere near him. Or a fast food place.

Overall, I like the way "American" cars look and feel. I'm familiar with them. They are what I am used to.

The stuff about quality is really not an issue to me. The quality of all the top manufacturers is quite high, and with the exception of Chrysler, has been for a while, and even Chrysler is much better now.

I love my Jeep for example, but it's engine is made in Mexico.

Oh well.

So wow, I always knew the bolded to be true but upon some more digging did not realize just the amount of disparity we are talking about. If you just count England land area, the top 30 US states are bigger. If you count all of Great Britain, the top 11 states are bigger.

According to 2007 data, there are 2,615,870 miles of highway in the US. Let's give worst case and assume that all of that mileage is only two lane. (The small residential street I live on is over 24 ft across, just measured) Standard for interstates is 12 foot per lane.
So excluding medians, and gimping highways at 2 lane, (pretty unrealistic, especially around big cities? As I am talking two lanes TOTAL, and all interstates are at least 4 lane) we are looking at over 11,890 square miles of paved road, or 30,794 kilometers square.

So to compare the worst case US road scenario to best case UK total area scenario it is 30,794 km3 to, to 243,610 km3. While it seems that 1/8 of the total are does not seem to bad, keep in mind I am being EXTREMELY generous with US paved road area, as well as what exactly encapsulates the United Kingdom.

Side note, where did superscript go? Or did the relentless pursuit of features acknowledge the fact that morons will not format text correctly and eliminated it in favor of brain dead smiley whores?

 

[WackyDan]

Well yes, it did, because you guys have all the cars we have here, and American cars. There seems to be this kind of patriotic thing in America when it comes to buying products, buying American cars because you are American and love America, I'm not saying that's a bad thing, in some ways It's a very good thing, more jobs, supporting the manufacturing industry etc.

Fair enough, but I do find it strange that you guys seem to buy (not always, but sometimes) worse cars, because you are being patriotic, when I was in the US the first rental car I had was 2009 Chevrolet Impala, it was an unbelievable piece of shit, I was blown away buy how cheap and crap and tacky it was, and yet I saw them everywhere! I assumed they were really really cheap but they really aren't, they aren't exactly expensive but you can get other, far better made cars for similar prices, So I began to wonder is it this patriotism thing that makes you guys buy American cars.

Then after reading this thread it was apparent that you guys do own more American cars than anything else.

Sigh... I just ordered my Ford F-150 because the Japanese full size trucks didn't measure up...

We bought a GM product in 2005 as they were the best value for the money. I had looked at the Toyotas and Hondas and found them to be lacking compared to the Chevy which was a new design. I looked at the Mazdas and found them to be too pricey. I looked at the Hyundai Sonata which was the new model being built in the US... and it was more than the GM - though not by much. In the end my wife preferred the Chevy.

You made a comment about a quality car like a BMW.... Which most sold here in the USA are made right here in our state of South Carolina. As other's have pointed out... they are a luxury brand here and a priced accordingly.

Funny thing is, I do lean towards American vehicles/American companies first and then towards built in the USA 2nd ( In cases of the Hyundai, Tundra, etc )... I don't think I'd have an absolute problem with buying a foreign made car, but I've yet to find one that met/fit my needs perfectly. I know that is hard to believe, but it is true. I found the Accords, and Camrys lacking in 2005 and the prices for one with the V6 versus the under powered i4's was a premium compared to the v6 in the GM.

One more thing though.... the reason I shied away from a GM and to some degree Chrysler this time was due to the bailouts they both received, and the horrible quality on that 2005 chevy we bought. I suppose my gripe should be more with the gov't on that one, but they still took the bailout, wiped out their bond holders in favor of the unions, which is in part responsible for my 401k holdings loss. I digress.

Your comment is also funny, as during our "Cash for Clunkers" gov't rebate program ( to spur new car purchases), Germany did the same type of program, yet they restricted the rebate to only cars made in Germany, by German based companies.... We did not.

What is wrong if you prefer home country brands due to a small bit of patriotism?

 

[chin311]

hmm lets try and remember:

88 jetta
89 accord
91 f150
96 corolla
01 s10
07 versa
06 altima

 

[Vetterin]

My 1st NEW car was a 71 Olds 442 W30. After that.............who cares?

 

[Ferzerp]

Because once a non-asian car crosses a large body of water, the price nearly doubles?

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Really? I googled Chevrolet Impala and found you can spend $30,000 on one, which GBP is about £20,000 which would get you a 1 series or maybe a 3 series with some negotiating.

BMW does not ship its small-displacement diesel cars to the US, nor has it generally imported its 4-cylinder cars. (Obviously the diesels, in particular, constitute the majority of cars purchased in Europe, and are cheaper than a BMW equipped with an inline 6.) Our base 3 series is a 328i (which is admittedly, in F30 iteration, a 4-cylinder car, but it's a 4-cylinder turbo with 240 BHP). Same deal with Mercedes. In the US is BMW is not exactly a bread-and-butter car - it's considered somewhat higher end, and more expensive, than the overwhelming majority of Japanese and American cars.

 

[LTC8K6]

Really? I googled Chevrolet Impala and found you can spend $30,000 on one, which GBP is about £20,000 which would get you a 1 series or maybe a 3 series with some negotiating.

Base 328i for me is $34,600.00
Base Chevy Impala for me is $25,600.00
Base Chevy Malibu - much better than an Impala - $22,000.00

 

[ViviTheMage]

obtained 2002 - 1986 F150 - dual gas tank, one leaked/was sealed off, cylanoid was replaced every 2-3 months too, POS...but was my first vehicle

obtained 2003 - 1996 dodge shadow - first manual vehicle, drove it off the parking lot, without being taught how to drive it only stalled once on the way home (highway included)

obtained 2005 - 1999.5 jetta 2.0L no issues really, first taste of german

obtained 2006 - 2000 jetta 1.8T no issues

obtained 2007 - 2001 jetta 1.8t wolfsburg edition loads of issues, I bought it knowing it would have issues, ended up being a decent car, but I am tired of the interior of mk4 VW's

obtained 2008 - 2006 Audi a4 2.0t 6 speed, current car, love it...no problems at all, just maintenance.


obtained 2005 - 1998 pontiac grand am, purchased for GF for 1k, did top end rebuild, solid car..eventually sold to her parents, who to thsi day, have not done anything but maintenance.

obtained 2009 - toyota yaris hatch, crashed after 4k, was GF's car...someone ran a red and killed the car....no issues of course, horrible winter vehicle, mediocre MPG for size IMO.

obtained 2009 - 2005 4.7L v8 jeep grand cherokee, bought for GF...decent car, loads of issues, mechanical and electrical...tranny replaced, drive shaft replaced, axles replaced, water pump failed then replaced, sunroof leaked, car would die randomly and lose all power, some lights were not functioning, battery as well...other then that, awesome truck, decent MPG, great power, lots of space for dogs. Pretty weak interior IMO, but I wasn't expecting luxery...purhcased for 11k, 3 years later sold for 10k to dealership (got a couple hundred back for the extended warranty too)

obtained 2011 - 1999.5 VW GOLF 2.0L 5 speed, gf's first stick..spent 4-5 hours teaching her in the parking lot, drove off with it...1 owner, solid car so far. I like the golf, room for dogs, cheap, great MPG for it's size/capabilities...just wish it was AWD...R32 incoming after she gets a few more months + winter months of driving with it.

 

[alent1234]

2003 Civic
2005 Toyota Matrix
2009 Honda Accord
2010 Honda CR-V

 

[LTC8K6]

1991 Ford Tempo - bought used, traded for
1995 Ford Taurus SE - new, traded for
1997 Chevy Z24 - new traded at 11 years and 41K for
2008 Jeep GC new - 17K still own
1995 Ford Taurus GL - 60K - still own - inherited from Dad who bought it used in 1995

1996 Chevy Lumina - 50K - company car which I drive a lot

 

[JulesMaximus]

Well yes, it did, because you guys have all the cars we have here, and American cars. There seems to be this kind of patriotic thing in America when it comes to buying products, buying American cars because you are American and love America, I'm not saying that's a bad thing, in some ways It's a very good thing, more jobs, supporting the manufacturing industry etc.

Fair enough, but I do find it strange that you guys seem to buy (not always, but sometimes) worse cars, because you are being patriotic, when I was in the US the first rental car I had was 2009 Chevrolet Impala, it was an unbelievable piece of shit, I was blown away buy how cheap and crap and tacky it was, and yet I saw them everywhere! I assumed they were really really cheap but they really aren't, they aren't exactly expensive but you can get other, far better made cars for similar prices, So I began to wonder is it this patriotism thing that makes you guys buy American cars.

Then after reading this thread it was apparent that you guys do own more American cars than anything else.

That car is an umbelievable piece of shit. They are everywhere because chevy sells them to the car rental agencies by the truckload at fleet pricing which is far below what you or I would pay for the same car, assuming we were stupid enough to buy one of course.

I've owned 2 Fords and an early 70s Pontiac. The rest of my cars have all been Japanese. I've owned more Japanese cars than American cars by almost 2:1. That said, I would buy the new Ford Focus or another Mustang (these were the 2 Fords I owned previously). I wouldn't buy a Chrysler/Dodge or a Chevy (Corvette is possibly the only exception I would make here).

I've never owned an American motorcycle and I don't imagine I ever will either. Japanese or Italian bikes for me... I would buy a German or British bike though.

 

[AdamK47]

HAL9000 and his two dimensional thinking always makes for entertaining posts. That and his terminal British affliction aquired by being British.

 

[HAL9000]

What is wrong if you prefer home country brands due to a small bit of patriotism?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that, for example I prefer Land Rovers to other 4x4's I will think about buying a Jag before a BMW, I'm just curious to know if it is patriotism that feeds into the choice that you guys make to buy American.

A lot to reply to in this thread, I'll be back to it.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

Obtained 2005 - 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt LT - First car, gigantic POS, broke down and generally fell apart. Build quality was equal to that of something put together by monkeys high on acid.

Obtained 2008 - 2008 VW GTI - Loved it
Obtained 2010 - 2010 VW Jetta TDI - Great cruiser, slow as balls though

Obtained 2011 - 2011 BMW 335i - Not a single bad thing about this car, I giggle and smile like a 3 year old every time I start this thing up

 

[cliftonite]

2004 Honda Civic DX VP. First car I bought out of college and it has about 88k miles now. Will probably buy something in the next year or so.

 

[skyking]

Ownership is worthless without the year you owned them.

go back and look at my post, start @ 1976 and move down the list, it is in order. The last two I still have.

 

[Blueychan]

1988 Honda Prelude Si
1995 Toyota Corolla LX
2002 Toyota Corolla LX
2003 Honda Accord EX
2004 Acura MDX
2009 Honda S2000 CR

 

[RichieZ]

You made a comment about a quality car like a BMW.... Which most sold here in the USA are made right here in our state of South Carolina. As other's have pointed out... they are a luxury brand here and a priced accordingly.

i'm pretty sure the only cars made in spartanberg sc where the old e85 Z4 and now all the X series SUV/SAV.

 

[alkemyst]

me, born sometime in 1971

1988: 1966 Mustang GT, Red (original Silver Frost)...black vinyl top, GT package, 'factory' air, only an automatic. Me and my dad (he supplied all the cash save the $3600 I paid to restore it, I was the guy the scrubbed every bolt in the car). I got in an accident (old lady hit me at a red light), dad yanked it back.

1990: Temporary 1988 ish Mitsubishi Precis, White on red...manual. Not a bad commuter.

1990: 1988 Mustang GT with about ~20k on the clock, dove grey on red with T-tops, 5 speed. Owned by the Lincoln Mercury parts department chief. Every option + some you couldn't get. Full motorsport catalog.

1992: 1993 Marin Bear Valley SE moutain bike...my car for the next couple years at college

Temporary 1986 RX7 GXL gold on ??? one of the worst car experiences. Thing was abused and had an undisclosed fluid spill that I found everywhere inside the car. It dissolved all the plastic/rubber. Fortunately I paid only $1800 for it and sold it for the same.

1994: 1992 Acura GSR, I think it had like 10k miles on it. It was cherry. White on Charcoal, manual. Awesome car. Just no torque.

1996: 1997 VW GTI VR6, candy white on black leather, manual. Sent it to Stu Brummer / BSI Racing for full suspension upgrades the day I got it and to Elite Wheels in Ft. Lauderdale (at the time named Good Roads) for wheels and tires.

1999: 1996 Saturn SC2, Black on light grey leather. 5 spd. Great car. At the time chicks thought it was a much more expensive car. Picked it up practically new for a steal. Took a lot of flak for this car here on AT. My college car at 30 years old when I went back the second time.

2004: 1998 Nissan 240SX SE, White on Charcoal, 5 spd. 70k, but mint. Owned by one owner then Ken of Enjuku Racing in Winter Park. One of my favorite cars. Hated selling it last month. This car got tons of attention. So far the only car I have owned that people literally pulled me over to make an offer on. At the time I bought this car I was also shopping the 1988/89 Porsche 944 Turbo. My budget was about $15k cash. Unfortunately the Porsches I was looking at with perfect interiors were closer to $25k. The 240SX's around 12-15k. Ken wanted $8800. It was a no brainer. I dumped a ton of cash into it the day after I brought it home.

2011: 2006 BMW M3, Titanium Silver on Black Leather, 6 spd. 25k on the clock. Mint. I spent $4000 before it even arrived on parts and upgrades. I have had it less than a month (put 6 tanks of gas in it so far since 12/1), but I will say it gets a different attention than the 240SX from women. Guys liked the 240SX, I have gotten a few "who has the M3 out front?" from doing the whole holiday party meet and greet these past weeks...with the 240SX most women didn't really care. My wife said it was painful (solid suspension) and I should have just kept my Saturn.

My first haircut the day after I got it I was greeted by practically all the chicks that worked there at the door and they were gushing all over me during the cut. Not saying they were super models or I got to have my way with them in the back room, but it was fun.

Just this morning I was parking at a local gas station to grab a drink for the road and some pretty fucking hot chick raced to grab the door for me and said hi. Then a couple nights ago I pull up to a PetCo and as I am unloading my dogs two chicks came up and were all touchy-feely with me due to cuteness overload of carrying dogs in a BMW. They followed us all inside. I did a $5 donation to PetCo and they went nuts. Yeah they were just 18ish, not my type at all...but it was fun. Unfortunately though, my latest bigger donations (only $100) almost caused a freaking riot.

 

[HAL9000]

My first haircut the day after I got it I was greeted by practically all the chicks that worked there at the door and they were gushing all over me during the cut. Not saying they were super models or I got to have my way with them in the back room, but it was fun.

Wow... Just wow dude.