Just walked over to look at my neighbors new Toyota Corolla. It IS a nice, well-finished sturdy looking car. And, it's the fourth new Corolla on my block in the past few months.
When I asked my neighbor "Why Toyota?" I got the usual answers; value, reliability, resale
Looking around my neighborhood, I see that less than one in six vehicles are American made.
Folks in my community are mostly seniors. They've grown up with Ford, Chevy or Plymouth. Why would they switch ?
_______________________ They will. The two mistakes that domestics made was to assume that the way they made cars the decade before(70s cars using 60s technologies, 80s cars using 70s tech) would satisfy consumers. The second mistake is the way domestics are handling legacy debt(pensions, financing of new plants, etc.). There is something Toyota and Honda are doing that allows them to put out stylish, reliable, and fuel- efficient cars that people crave, yet they probably have just as much an an obligation to pay retirements as we do.
We are catching up in the areas of style/reliability - slowly but surely. Problem is, everytime we take two steps forward in reliability, the imports take four. It's all about the money.
It won't be easy. GM pissed me off and I went elsewhere. Better or worse, I won't really know for a couple of more years, but had they taken care of me as a loyal customer, I'd be driving a GM car today. Will I go back? Hard to say, but I'm not planning to buy a new car for another three or four years. Let's just say I'm more inclined to look at a wider scope of automobiles today as others are offering very good packages.
Interestingly all of the reasons for this change have been known for decades. It is very interesting to watch how all the theories come true. The arrogans of the leader is such that they seem to be with their eyes wide shut. Even if it is happening in such a slow pace that it should have been relatively easy to change tactics. The pace is so slow that watching the grass grow seems to be fast in comparison. It is like watching a person standing in front of a slow moving glacier and not moving. It takes a long time to build up a good reputation. Rebuilding a tarnished reputation takes longer if it is at all possible.
I don't know how old you are but I grew up in one of those GM ONLY households. I'm 35 and until the last 6-7 years I didn't look at anything that wasn't GM. Now, I look at all the cars and I can't imagine buying a GM car anymore. 180 degree shift in only 6-7 years. I don't consider domestics as a viable buying option anymore. The staggering depreciation of the cars is enough of a reason to avoid them alone.
A brand new G35 is expected to hold 52% of it's purchase price in 5 years. A GM is far far far below that.
How long is the lifespan of a car? Many models of quality cars used to last decades. Most new models do not last many years. This may be changing again. Why should you need to change a car every two years? A car should be made simpler and easier to repair. There is no need to have a car made of so bad quality and so complicated that it is cheaper to throw it away than repair small problems. The Prius seems to be of a new kind of design and we only know it will at least last a decade without problems because they only started making it ten years ago. When you buy a car you should get to know how much it costs to buy, how long it will last, the resale value after 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years ... the average yearly cost to repair, how much it costs to run. I guess people are starting to think about this more.
Ford and GM used to make big cars. Now they make little tiny cars to compete with the Japanese. Trouble is most families of 5 or more want larger cars. If you have to buy a tiny little car you might as well buy the best which is a japanese car.
Not as first line daily drivers. A decade has always been a long time for a car to survive as a primary vehicle. Sure, many lasted 20 years, but they were winter rats or beat up, tired, worn out cars. The same is true of cars today. It's not hard to find 20 year old cars of any make today - no different than it was 40 years ago.
Bull.
Because people want to - not because they need to due to poor performance of the car.
And how do you propose to achieve all of the mandated mileage levels, the polution control, safety, etc. that the American public demands?
Correct - and there are no cars that meet that criteria today, any more than there were 20 years ago.
And it's only been in the US for what - 6 years? During that time, it has experienced no problems? Where do you get that information from?
Why do you care about the resale value out past five years? How in the hell could one even predict that?
Many people have thought about all of those things all along. Indeed there is a population that does not need to think about these things, but for most, those considerations (or most of them) have always been a factor when buying a car. There's nothing new or revolutionary in that.
20 year old cars were made 20 years ago. There are not very many of each brand left.
Most cheap model cars will not be around 20 years from now.
People do not in general move every two years. People would not be changing cars every two years if they had decent cars.
It is interesting to note that in Japan the trend is to keep cars longer. That trend is having effect on new car sales. Young males are also not using new cars as status symbol. The car companies are noting the market stagnating because of this. Because the cars are better you can keep the car longer. Good public transport is also giving people the option to have fewer cars around. One good initiative is to have cheap autos to rent in combinations with trains where you can rent the cars per hour.
This trend has already started.
Over the years there have been several luxury cars that lasted a long time. Some quality brands have made cheaper models. They have discovered that it has backfired and are stopping that practice. Quality car makers like Mercedes, Porsche, Volvo and some others have done this.
Look at the internet it is a good source of such info.
You can look at cars that are available and if the car maker is still around and making quality cars you will know. It takes a long time to build up a good reputation.
If you can't find plenty of 1980's vintage cars around then you're not looking at life around you.
Why would they be any different than the cheap model cars of 20 years ago?
You just keep making yourself look more and more out of touch with reality. You really don't understand much about what people want do you? For pete's sake - there's just about no car out there today that does not last two years, yet people keep trading them in as people always have - because they like to be in new cars. God man - get a grip on reality.
You are so full of it. Any car can be kept for years. There is no association between keeping a car more than a couple of years and some mythical better quality.
Oh - and please do - tell us precisely what trend this is. What cars are being manufactured simpler and easier to repair?
It is a bit strange that you seem to be so full of resentment towards anything I say. It must be wrong even if you agree.
I found it interesting to read the other day that in Japan Toyota is having trouble because of just what I said. Thesales are gong down in the groups of young males who do not want to buy the newest cars anymore in the numbers they did before. Cars are not as much in anymore.
No - there is no resentment towards anything you say. It's more that you are all over the map. When challenged after making a sweeping, unsubstantiated comment, you jiggle off in another directions, bringing up something totally and completely irrelevant to the point at hand - as if you're using that as support for your position. That makes you a moving target that really cannot be conversed with consistently.
But... that has nothing at all to do with this discussion. This is an unrelated point that you introduced the other day after not supporting your earlier unsubstantiated statements.
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