Want to see the market heat back up??? Drive American!!!

I would love to drive American if I could find a car that was reliable and held its value. It is not about driving a car because it is American, it is about the quality of the product. Maybe we need to learn something about building cars.

The last  GM car that I owned in support of the American car industry was a lemon and I ended up in the hole to get rid of it. New engine at 80,000 miles.

GM would not even stand behind their product.  I think I would tell your clients especially if they are from GM to build a better car and then Americans would buy them.

Anne

I tried.  I purchased my first foreign company vehicle in 2005.  However, when I last shopped for a vehicle, the same SUV based on features, size and power was priced on average $1500 to $2000 more for the American vehicle. 

If American companies and American workers want to compete, they need to start competing.  Americans who buy foreign vehicles are fed up with subsidizing union members' benefits that far exceed those of the American automobile buyers.

The $2,000 I saved for my vehicle paid my health insurance last year. 

Picking your style of automobile is similar to picking the area of town you wish to live in!  We are of the mindset that quality overrides quantity.  I'm not syaing that American made automobiles are not of quality but as stated above everything anymore is outsourced.  We all have a little bit of "foreign" in us so to speak.  I am of Irish and Italian decent but am true American all the way!  I drive a Nissan and have for many years.  They are a better built and more reliable automobile! By the way...what do you drive!!!

Very interesting post!  I am anxious to see how far this goes

Great post, however i am sure you will hit a nerve with it. I will only buy American cars and I think the quality has come a long way over the past decade or so. We all need to buy more American made products, not just cars. It is the right thing to do.

Have a great weekend and happy selling!!

David, Drive American and Buy American! Our economy needs it.

Good Post!

Wow, Great post David.  I for one also refuse to drive foreign cars.  I hate to hear about "I bought an American car in the 80's and it only lasted 80,000 miles.   The 80's????  I had a friend who insisted on only buying Toyota because the last American car that they owned was a Dogde Aspen back in the 70's.  Isn't this 2008?  I have a Chevy Tahoe with 150,000 trouble free miles that replaced a Chevy Blazer that had 300,000 miles on it with no rebuilds EVER.

As for the comment Finally, the unions have hurt  MI by their wages, benefits etc... That is why so many parts etc... are being built overseas.    THIS MAKES ME ILL.  The unions are fighting for a living wage and safe working conditions and the companies want to take all of the profits.  The unions are not the reason that the auto industry is going down, it is the folks who drive the foreign cars that are more responsible than the unions.  The last time that I looked, the people working overseas building foreign cars are NOT buying real estate in Detroit and the folks that are losing their jobs in Detroit are the ones that are suffering.

In a previous life I was a union representative for the United Steelworkers local 6787 in Indiana.  We worked in the steel mills and saw the effects of UNFAIR foreign competition.  The foreign companies do not have EPA issues, standard of living, SAFETY PRECAUTIONS, and fair working conditions so they can build them cheaper but NEVER pass the savings on.  The fat cats get fatter and don't care who gets in the way.

I would suggest that the UNION bashers take the time to meet a father who just lost his job due to it going overseas, meet his children who depend on him and see if that changes your mind.

As far a automobiles, I challenge anyone to show me how a new car from Japan is any better in 2008 than a new car from Detroit.  As a matter of fact, in the late 80', Detroit used the technology from Japan to make the American cars just as good if not better. 

BUY AMERICAN CARS BUILT BY AMERICANS!!!!

Talk about a post strikinga nerve!!  wow!!  I am surprised that there only 17 comments so far!

All I will say is that I am thrilled here in America we have choices!

wow! So many people missed the point. I drive a Chrysler Pacifica and my wife drives a Toyota prius because those are the cars we liked. We live in California and my car choices do not have a direct effect on my market place and this is only the 2nd American car I have owned.

David was saying that in Michigan, you should not drive a foreign car and complain about the local economy! I could not agree more. Just try and take the local GM mid level executive out to see property in your Nissan.....  Good luck to you.

I live in Sonoma county and I am sick of any business that has "wine country" in the title but I don't share that with those businesses. I don't drink at all and I still make a point to understand the wine industry because it is a major part of the local economy. I would be the first one to suggest that a Sonoma County wine is far superior to a Napa wine or a french wine and it has ZERO to do with the actual superiority of the wine (which is highly subjective), it has more to do with pride in my local area and my local economy.

Would you go to the local cheese shop for advice and then tell them "Thanks for the advice, I am now going to go order from cheese.com with your great advice"?

I root for my kids high school football team over other high schools too! How wierd is that. If i lived in Michigan, as a mortgage professional, I would drive an American car and so would my wife.

Thanks for the thought provoking