So today I went car shopping with my dad. We looked at both domestics and imports and I had some very distinct impressions.
1) All of the somewhat affordable domestic sedans/sports cars were crap. (yes cadillacs and lincolns are very nice but I can't afford one)
I went to a GM, Ford and Oldsmobile Dealership. They all looked the same. The interiors were shiesty gray cloth, no originality, the consoles all looked the same, and the gauges were plain. I know most of you are going to say, you can get leather! But the fact is, they all looked the same hands down. The only thing that really stuck out to me was the power seats on the Oldsmobile Alero. The designs were similar, just different enough to not infringe on design copyrights. I was really dissapointed. They also had no basic features whatsoever.
As well they were grossely overpriced for what you were getting.
2) The import sports cars/sedans are where it's at.
For the price of a Mustang GT 1999 at a ford dealership I could buy a brand new Mazda 3 with the sports package (air conditioning, spoiler, power seats, leather chairs). As well the design was much more agressive and sporty. I found this to be similar in other cars I toured, including the toyota matrix and camry, as well as the volkswagen jetta. There was really no competition between domestics and imports, I can see why domestic sales are obviously declining. As well the nuts and bolts were simply more impressive, the warranty unparalleled. It came down to things as simple as interior lighting, the creativity involved with lighting the dash inside the car made it obvious that they wanted you to like this car. At the Mazda dealership they offered to replace your tired and pay for maitenence until the warranty expires on your car.
My conclusion: Domestic sedans/sports cars are generally ugly/similar to eachother, grossely overpriced for what you are getting, looking very dated and generally come with no features. On the flip side, Imports are more agressive, cheaper (despite having more features) and generally offer a much better warranty.
1) All of the somewhat affordable domestic sedans/sports cars were crap. (yes cadillacs and lincolns are very nice but I can't afford one)
I went to a GM, Ford and Oldsmobile Dealership. They all looked the same. The interiors were shiesty gray cloth, no originality, the consoles all looked the same, and the gauges were plain. I know most of you are going to say, you can get leather! But the fact is, they all looked the same hands down. The only thing that really stuck out to me was the power seats on the Oldsmobile Alero. The designs were similar, just different enough to not infringe on design copyrights. I was really dissapointed. They also had no basic features whatsoever.
As well they were grossely overpriced for what you were getting.
2) The import sports cars/sedans are where it's at.
For the price of a Mustang GT 1999 at a ford dealership I could buy a brand new Mazda 3 with the sports package (air conditioning, spoiler, power seats, leather chairs). As well the design was much more agressive and sporty. I found this to be similar in other cars I toured, including the toyota matrix and camry, as well as the volkswagen jetta. There was really no competition between domestics and imports, I can see why domestic sales are obviously declining. As well the nuts and bolts were simply more impressive, the warranty unparalleled. It came down to things as simple as interior lighting, the creativity involved with lighting the dash inside the car made it obvious that they wanted you to like this car. At the Mazda dealership they offered to replace your tired and pay for maitenence until the warranty expires on your car.
My conclusion: Domestic sedans/sports cars are generally ugly/similar to eachother, grossely overpriced for what you are getting, looking very dated and generally come with no features. On the flip side, Imports are more agressive, cheaper (despite having more features) and generally offer a much better warranty.
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