Honda, Toyota, or Lexus?

But that's not what he said at all. You may have inferred it but he didn't say (write) it...

He wrote "BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan and Toyota have factories in the US and employ US citizens and pay US taxes.", which is all true. Nowhere does it say "Japanese cars are entirely made here in the US, and all the money from their sales stays here in the US".

FWIW, I think Mercedes also has a factory in the U.S.

On 4/5/2008 8:44 PM M.M. spake these words of knowledge:

In fact, Mercedes, Honda and Hyundai all have factories in Alabama.

RFT!!! Dave Kelsen

So do you think there is any foreigner anywhere who owns a share and collects a dividend from GM or Ford? If so, not all of the money stays here in the US.

If you want more of the money to stay in the US, buy HMC and TM.

This statement made it part of the discussion:

"Oh, but buying a Toyota or Honda is just fine, eh? Did you not know that those are Japanese-owned car companies? You think the money stays here in this country when you buy a Toyota or a Honda?"

The fact remains that these companies employ American workers and pay American taxes. While the actual net profit may go to foreign countries, the this is less than the actual cost of manufacturing the vehicle, so "some" of the money is inaccurate, as in reality, most of the money stays here.

I'm sure that specific models may be made in specific factories, as this would be more cost effective for inventory and assembly.

Toyota and GM have a joint venture in Fremont, CA (NUMMI), where they manufacture the Pontiac Vibe, Toyota Corolla and Tacoma (all use the same frame). Pretty interesting to see all three of these go down the same assembly line together......

I never stated that all of the money stays here, that is an assumption on your part.

We have both an Avalon and an Accord in our family. I am surprised at how much more I like the Accord. It has more room. The ride and "driveability" are much better. And it is less expensive. If you haven't yet, drive your Avalon to the Honda dealer and then test drive an Accord. I think you will like Accord.

Good luck!

The only thing I really don't like about our Accord and TSX is that both have high levels of road noise on certain road surfaces. The Toyota/Lexus products are much better in this regard.

A recent road trip included several hours at the end of a long day on some highways in West Texas which have very coarse pavement. The noise was maddening.

So depending on your driving style this might be an issue.

It never bothers me on trips of under two hours, but when you get into a

6-12 hour marathon day on the road like I do several times a year then road noise is very tiring.

John