I might go back to American cars later. Its ok to mix it up. The hypocrites are those that sound all patriotic but buy everything imported. True, many American jobs are created by selling Japanese cars in America. However, the bulk of the money you pay for the car goes to Japan and it affects the trade deficit.

Sorry if I hurt your feelings lady blue. I am sure your father is a good man but these guys in NY gave me a hard time before I got what I wanted. The funny thing is I was a psychology minor in college and I know plenty of the tactics they so cleverly tried to employ on me.

I decided to go with a Japanese car

Traitor! Worse, it might keep on running for years and years so you won't be tempted to get rid of it, and your bad decision will hang over your head all that time.

p.s. I've had my Suzuki now for 8+ years--the longest I've ever owned a car.

Originally Posted by bluestater

I agree, but you jumped all over me, and now you're whistlin' a different tune. Maybe an apology is in order? I'm just sayin'... I have a Hyundai Elantra, and (knock on wood) I love it. Before that, I had a Toyota Paseo that I drove to Washington, then to Connecticut, and then back to Chicago, with an oil leak. It didn't matter what I did to that car, it never stopped.

And for the record, buying a Toyota does support the American auto industry, it just doesn't support the car places that are headquartered in America. Your purchase supported the salesman (who are not all sleazy - my father is a car salesman), the porter who prepared your car for delivery, the receptionist who answered the phone or pointed you towards a salesperson, the finance person who made your deal, the used car manager who gave a price for your trade-in, and the factory workers who put your car together, (I think those cars are made in Tennessee) not to mention the various factories who made the different parts for your car. These is no such thing as an American car. The auto industry is global.

Toyotas are made in Georgetown, KY. About 60% of the parts are shipped in from Japan from a variety of Japanese companies. About 20% come from Japanese companies elsewhere in teh word and about 20% from US based companies, many owned by Japanese based companies. For example the window glass is made by AGC Automotive in Kentucky a US subsidiary of Asahi in Japan. I can tell for a fact that AGC has a minimal margin on the glass. They also make the glass for Mercedes, Honda, BMW, Chrysler and many of the GM cars. Other US components include the the seats and dash panels, anti-lock brakes, tires. About the only pure Toyota (and Honda for that matter) imported parts are the tranny and the engine.

With most any product, the bulk of the cost in from labor. Toyota could reduce the overall cost of production by importing the cars, but they won't because the US has caps on the number that may be imported. The cap for Toyota is 45,000 vehicle imports.

Also, Toyota and Honda do not have UAW contracts. All of their plants are non-union and the employees have never had much interest in unions since the benefits are pretty darned good.
With the value of the US dollar in decline, the foreign based companies are not likely to pull a lot of cash out of the US right now.

Big, I'm surprised you didn't go for the Camry Hybrid given the price of gas.

Hybrid comes only in 4 cylinder 158 horse power. Too weak.

Caps on the number of Japanese cars. What happened to free trade there?

We normally like free trade only with those countries we can dominate with our dollars (e.g., any pais south of El Paso).