Why I buy American

[Nick R]

Ok, you all know and have known that I am for the most part, adamant about buying American products. Made here, and owned here.

My parents, and entire family for that matter, grew up and lived in Lorain County, Ohio. There are/were two ford plants, and are still many in the area. The Lorain Assemebly, which made among other things, the Ford Thunderbird/Mercury Cougar, the Ford E-series vans, Gran Torino, etc. Lorain Assy is now closed

Then there is the Ohio Assembly plant in Avon Lake, Ohio which made the Escape (till 05), the Nissan Quest/Mercury Villager, and now produces the Ford Econoline. My now deceased (RIP) uncle/godfather used to work there, Leonard Hudacek.

My grandfather worked for the Lorain US Steel Plant for over 40 years, as a crane operator. He and my mom saw what foreign competition (primarily Japanese) did, forcing them to be laid off and out of work for months at a time. This directly affected my mom.

My Aunt Pat down in Lordstown works on the GM Assembly Line. Worked there forever.

My dad's friend from childhood also works at the Lorain US Steel Plant, and has for about 20 years now.

Buying American is ingrained into pretty much my entire family. Out of my entire family (and it is massive) there is not a single non US brand in the lot. I've kind of inherited that from my family.

I want to have pride in American Products. I want to know that my money is going to a company that primarily operates, and hires in the US, and Canada. They may employ in other countries, and design there as well, but it's here that is important.

Hope this reveals a bit more about why my attitude is the way it is.

 

[dishdude]

I've had nothing but American cars but mainly because they just made sense at the time. After driving everything in the class/price range I was looking for, I ended up with an American nameplate. I have had very good luck with my cars also, so no complaints.

I have almost always considered an import when car shopping, but there was always something less appealing (looks, performance, cost) that pushed me towards something domestic.

 

[demarpaint]

God Bless the USA! I've been driving since the 70's and only owned Ford, GM, and Chrysler vehicles.

 

[OVERKILL]

My family has been buying Ford since the Model "A" on my mom's side. Nobody in my family that I know of has ever worked in the auto sector. My mom's dad was an Engineer in Hydroelectric for GE. His father was an Engineer in Hydroelectric for GE.

My mom's dad; my grandfather was probably the most influential person in my life. He shaped my childhood in many respects, as I spent every summer with he and my grandmother as far back as I can remember.

If he wasn't out mowing with our Ford tractor, we were working on one of our Chris-Craft boats that he had converted to be Ford powered, or he was talking about converting another one of them to having a Ford engine in it. I inherited his F-250. He had a Thunderbird with a 427SOHC in it that my mom learned to drive on.

He convinced my dad to buy his first Lincoln. My dad hasn't looked back. That car is the '89 in my signature and has served us both well.

From humiliating vintage speedboats with the built 425HP Y-block in our 22' Chris, to dropping an SBC to the bottom of the lake to moor our floating dock, my grandfather was a character who was larger than life. He had a vehement dislike for GM for whatever reason, and a serious hatred for the Japanese which ties in with his involvement in WWII, something he was unwilling to discuss with me.

He was probably the most die-hard Ford guy I've ever met. So I guess that explains a little as to why my attitude is the way it is, to borrow your line Nick

 

[SuperDave456]

I understand your sentiment.
I wish I could buy all American.
I just don't know how.

I own 2 ford vehicles. A 2002 Taurus, assembled in Chicago according to the sticker, and a 1998 F150.

Pretty much the way the world works now is that overseas wants to do business over here and we want to do business over there. So there is some exchange.
Unfortunately the big guys on top make all the profit the little guys get hosed. But the shrinking middle class is another subject entirely.

Being 29 I'm not so sure what to think about anything. I've been reading headlines about how states are looking into how they can declare bankruptcy and get out from their obligations to Pensioners and how 2011 is going to be the "bottom" of the housing crisis.
Don't know what is happening to the country I grew up in. Don't know what to do about it in order to begin fixing it.

BTW, been unemployed since October and I've had a lot to think and read about all of this.

 

[Greggy_D]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
God Bless the USA! I've been driving since the 70's and only owned Ford, GM, and Chrysler vehicles.


Chrysler hasn't been an American company since 1998.

 

[AZjeff]

Originally Posted By: Greggy_D
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
God Bless the USA! I've been driving since the 70's and only owned Ford, GM, and Chrysler vehicles.


Chrysler hasn't been an American company since 1998.


It is now. Again.

from Wikipedia:
DaimlerChrysler announced on May 14, 2007 that it would sell Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management of New York, a private equity firm that specializes in restructuring troubled companies.[3] On October 4, 2007 a DaimlerChrysler Extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting approved the renaming of the company. From October 5, 2007, the company has been titled Daimler AG.[4] The US company adopted the name Chrysler LLC when the sale completed on August 3, 2007.

The 06 Jeep Grand Cherokee we recently bought is, technically, a foreign vehicle.

 

[Nick R]

Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Originally Posted By: Greggy_D
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
God Bless the USA! I've been driving since the 70's and only owned Ford, GM, and Chrysler vehicles.


Chrysler hasn't been an American company since 1998.


It is now. Again.

from Wikipedia:
DaimlerChrysler announced on May 14, 2007 that it would sell Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management of New York, a private equity firm that specializes in restructuring troubled companies.[3] On October 4, 2007 a DaimlerChrysler Extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting approved the renaming of the company. From October 5, 2007, the company has been titled Daimler AG.[4] The US company adopted the name Chrysler LLC when the sale completed on August 3, 2007.

The 06 Jeep Grand Cherokee we recently bought is, technically, a foreign vehicle.


It was. Until it went into bankruptcy what- a year, two years ago now? Chrysler is owned partially by the US and Canadian Government, i think 30% by Fiat, and the rest by some UAW Trust Fund I think.

 

[tig1]

My first Ford was 58 Fairlane that my Grandmother gave me. I also owned a 69 Fairlane 2 door HT that I really liked. I had a brain fade and bought a 70 VW Square Back sedan new. Biggest piece of junk I ever owned. Kept it 3 months and sold it back to the dealer. At the time I didn't care how much it cost me, I flat out wasn't going to drive that thing. Had a couple of Chevys in the 70s and had some problems there, but went back home to Ford 26 years ago and feel comfortable there.

 

[JimPghPA]

Where was the keyboard for the computer you used to type the above post made?

 

[FloatingBrick]

I went all Ford all the time in the 90s. I got it from my grandfather, but it took about 10 years to sink in.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
Where was the keyboard for the computer you used to type the above post made?


E Machine made in China, and it works fine. I never said I don't buy products made elsewhere, but for some things I do like staying home with names I trust, like M1 and Ford.

 

[sw99]

My FORD was mostly built in Canada. My Ariat & Justin boots are made in CHINA... Is noting sacred anymore?

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: sw99
My FORD was mostly built in Canada. My Ariat & Justin boots are made in CHINA... Is noting sacred anymore?


Ford and Canada have been closely associated for a long time. Maybe Overk1ll can tell more about that. As for the boots, bummer.

 

[dtt004]

Hi.

I own only foreign cars. I've never owned American cars so I can't really give an honest opinion. However, some people I know have had great experiences owning American cars and others I know have had not-so-great experiences with American cars.

Same thing with foreign makes as well. However, according to me and a lot of people, there seem to be less problems (reliability wise) with foreign (specifically Japanese) cars. Why? I don't know. It could be the engineering. It could be the work ethic. It could be the corporate structure. It could be many things.

Lately, American cars have been increasing quality and are extremely competitive with the Japanese in terms of value, reliability, and performance. So the Americans simply need time to get a reputation of quality, something that can be lost in an instant (Toyota) but needs decades to institute (also, Toyota). haha.

Also, no offense, but I am not a fan of unions. This is something that is prevalent in the American automotive industry and I believe it does nothing for the satisfaction of the consumer. The foreign makes have been doing without unions, and churn out a higher percentage of minimal-problem vehicles.

I guess the question for most people out there, when they are ready to buy a vehicle, is: "What vehicle am I going to invest my hard-earned money in?" And well, most of the time, the answer seems to be Japanese. It's really simple for the consumer. 90% of them don't care about working conditions of the American workers. But then again...it's not their problem right? They just want a vehicle that turns on and runs and goes forever with minimal maintenance.

And ultimately, most of them find themselves in a Honda or Toyota dealership.

 

[Gene K]

I buy what I believe the best vehicle I can get for the money Im going to spend. On the other hand Im not automatically against American Vehicles and have bought two foreign vehicles in the last 30 years.

For the most part you can usually get more for your money with the US Nameplates than the Japanese Nameplates. Now the Koreans on the other hand are sometimes hard to beat (at least since they improved their quality and design).

When I can get a New Truck + $1600 in Extras, No Doc Fee and 0% for 72 Months at 30% Off Sticker its kind of hard not to buy American.

 

[dparm]

Just curious, would you buy one of the Japanese/Korean cars that was built in the US? Some would argue that the jobs are here but that's negated by all the money going back to Japan/Korea.

 

[motorguy222]

I too prefer American made/owned car companies.I have never owned a car that wasnt American made/owned and I dont know that I could buy one that wasnt.

My first car was a 1978 Ford Pinto.I still have it and hope to keep it.It went when others wouldnt/couldnt.It has approx. 125K original miles on it.I am I think the third owner.

While I understand that we live in a "global" economy,you can shoot yourself in the foot by buying things that are not American made/owned,this is a long term problem that hurts US manufacturers as the years go by.

I know that many jobs have been created by foreign car companies,my state is a huge example of this but at what real cost? How many people at Ford,GM and Chrysler lost their jobs because of the foreign companies? How many lost their jobs at companies that were suppliers of jobs to the American companies? These were jobs at American owned and operated companies.

We hear that some,if not all,of the foreign companies that are here use "domestic" products but is that really true? Most if not all of the foreign companies do use products made here but the products are made by other foreign companies that have come here to supply these companies.

As I stated above,my state is a good example of this,so is the town I live in.There are 3 foreign factories that would most likely not be here if were not for Toyota.The town north of where I live has foreign factories that supply foreign car companies.

There are several factories that most likely would have never came to the US if it were not for Toyota etc. being here.While these companies have created jobs,how many others have been lost because of such?

The foreign companies pay US workers but the vast majority of profits return to the companies homeland and are of no benefit to the US.It is in some ways a win lose situation but in others,it is a lose everything dilemma.

It is bad that there are some things that you cant buy American,especially when it comes to electronics,you have little if any choice other than to buy foreign.

There is also the cost,if you can buy American,the cost is such that it may be prohibitive compared to foreign products.

It is a situation that has hurt many American workers.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
Where was the keyboard for the computer you used to type the above post made?


E Machine made in China, and it works fine. I never said I don't buy products made elsewhere, but for some things I do like staying home with names I trust, like M1 and Ford.


Don't think he was addressing you.

Glad Nick works at a place that sells only made in America items so he has a job.

Bill

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Greggy_D
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
God Bless the USA! I've been driving since the 70's and only owned Ford, GM, and Chrysler vehicles.


Chrysler hasn't been an American company since 1998.


Let me take it apart. God Bless America. [Pretty simple]

I've been driving since the 70's, and only owned Ford, GM, and Chrysler vehicles...........[Pretty simple] I simply stated a fact, those were the three brands I've owned. Nothing more, nothing less. In fact I plan on buying another Chrysler. I don't think I'll ever own a Honda, Toyota, or Kia, for no other reason than I don't like them, and learned enough about them selling them that I'll pass on them. JMO.

While you might have correctly read between the lines, your assumption was incorrect.

Even though Chrysler is my newest vehicle, Ford is my favorite, and still the best. JMO