What is a better buy? Domestic or Foreign cars? My car buying experience is fairly limited, but my thinking is this: I would always like to buy second hand cars, maybe 2 years old, and keep it until it gets too costly to maintain rather than swap it out every 2 or 3 years. All maintenance would be done by either the dealership or a reliable garage.
Some people have told me that the domestic smaller (cheaper) cars are not too good for reliability, but the middle market is pretty good. At the moment I am driving a Mercury Grand Marquis, and my choice was governed by the fact that most cop cars and taxis are Ford Crown Vics, and therefore they must be good and reliable.
Years ago in England I bought an old Camry, and the exhaust replacement was 4 times the amount of the equivalent domestic (and most popular) car. Is this true of America too? (I am a fairly recent immigrant) Some of the Japanese/Korean cars look really cheap to buy, but what are they like to maintain at a dealership or garage? Is it a false economy to buy foreign when you take into account maintenance for around 8 years or so?
Your opinions are greatfully received, and thanks in advance.
You're asking an understandable question but I think we need more details on what exactly you're looking for. If you're looking for a replacement for your GM, you're pretty much looking at either a CV or GM again as those are the only cars left in that class. If you just want a "car" give us an idea of your priorities. Space? Performance? Cost? Maintenance/repair cost? Economy? What kind of weather do you drive in and do you prefer FWD or RWD in poor weather?
my GENERAL thoughts...
I'm not a big fan of American cars. I like performance and handling, and I don't care at all about space, so long as there's room for two and a reasonable amount of luggage. American cars feel like appliances to me, they're generally larger than they need to be, and just don't inspire that feeling of confidence in their longevity.
I DO like German cars. They tend to handle excellently and most have decent pickup. They do cost more to purchase and maintain, and require more frequent service/minor repairs. But with proper maintenance you can drive most of them damn near indefinitely. However, I am a little disappointed with the cars coming out of Germany over the past decade or so - they seem to have fallen into the trap of "over-contenting" their cars with lots of electronic doodads that will undoubtedly be a nightmare to troubleshoot and repair when they eventually go bad.
I don't own Japanese cars but I can understand why people buy them. They generally have a better reputation for durability than American cars, but unlike German cars that you can keep as long as you want, there comes a point, 10 years down the road or so, at which the car just isn't worth fixing anymore. I think that this is probably because of the restrictive inspection laws in JApan that mean that pretty much nobody keeps a car longer than that anyway - so who cares if it self destructs at that point? That said, they will probably be good, reliable transportation up until that point. Their dealerships generally have the best reputation of all for taking care of in-warranty problems promptly and without hassle. Hyundai I'd lump in with the Japanese - they seem to be making good quality, inexpensive cars these days. Mitsubishi is an exception. You couldn't pay me enough to drive a Mitsu after all the horror stories I've heard. The Japanese have ALWAYS had the same "over-contenting" I was complaining about re: the Germans above - they originated the concept.
I wouldn't worry about exhaust replacements anymore. PRetty much any decent car should come with a stainless steel exhaust these days, but check to make sure before you buy.
Now the above is a GROSS generalization and please don't base any car purchasing decision on the above alone, let us know what you're looking for.
From my limited point of view it looks like the domestic manufacturers have taken note of the higher prices on foreign parts and marked their stuff up accordingly.
Personally I have always been a big "buy American" person. I will even go so far as buying a product that might not be quite as good if it means supporting Americans because I need Americans to support me but these days it is hard to tell... That shiny new American Chevy is probably made in Mexico while the Honda is made in the US.
My best advice is to look at the offerings of the big players and buy the one you like best. I would not buy anything from the smaller names because I know so many people that have gotten burned by them (Kia, Daewoo, Mitsubishi, Hyundai).
I'd agree with Daewoo and Mitsubishi, I had a Daewoo as a loaner once when my GTI was in for service, it was awful. Mitsubishi has a notoriously poor reliability record. But Hyundai is getting a very good reputation, I know quite a few Hyundai owners that are very happy. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a current Hyundai product, assuming the prospective buyer was happy with the styling and the way it drove.
Actually I am not planning to buy right now, my GM is 6 years old so I hope I have a few years left. I am the opposite of Nate in my choice of cars. I like the big, heavy feeling of the GM and the sedate drive suits my old lady style :) My commute to work is a dream, I don't bother even to change lanes (but I do keep up!) and I am very relaxed when I get there. The only downside - snow! My first experience in snow was horrendous - a blizzard in night time Chicago rush hour with snow falling over 2 inches an hour - ploughs and salt trucks could not keep up in the traffic. Factory fitted tyres, no traction control either. Even the slightest touch on the gas produced a sideways slew of the back end. I was a wreck after! Now I have Blizzaks and they are much much better. So I could go with RWD again.
And the big thing that my American husband laughs about? England doesn't have V8 cars. I love the sound of that big engine!
I also agree with Steve regarding the 'buy American', and will always try to if I can after having seen a perfectly good British car market go down the drain.
I have already decided on my next car - a Dodger Charger! V8 of course. I hear it is a wonderful car, and people are smitten after having test driven it. I'd still drive it like an old lady though :) and I could sit in the driveway in neutral going vroom vroom with the gas pedal ......lol
Who can tell? You can buy a Ford made in Japan and a Toyota made in the US? Which one is foreign? Which one is Domestic?
If you like buying second-hand cars, you have it much easier because you can look for maintenance records both for that model and for the specific car you buy.
Look for cars that have good maintenance histories. If one model is very well-known for breaking timing belts and exploding, don't buy it. And then, when you BUY a car, make sure it comes with a log saying that preventative maintenance has been done properly on it. If the original owner didn't keep a log, how do you know it was maintained properly?
There are winners and losers both domestic and foreign. You might consider picking up the annual car issue of Consumer Reports. The textual write-ups about the cars are usually useless, but I have found their long term maintenance ratings to be dead on with my personal experiences. Pick something that still looks good back through five or six years of experience and you will probably be satisfied with it (at least maintenance-wise).
The Crown Victoria was considered one of Ford's most reliable vehicles, I think it was chosen by police depts. mostly because Ford was one of the few companies willing to build police cruisers.
I used to think that parts were cheaper and more available for domestic brands, but then I bought a Ford Escort and learned otherwise. For example, an electrical connector for a temperature sensor was $30 at the Ford dealer, but a nearly identical part was only $8 from Nissan. And half the time I took the car in for warranty work, I had to make two trips because the needed part wasn't in stock, sometimes at none fo the dealers in the area.
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