01-30-2011, 01:33 PM
Randy's hit the nail squarely on the head. Brand loyalty, in an obtuse-sort of way, is what lead to the years of mediocre (or worse) stuff coming out of North American automakers' plants. Three of my first four cars were Chevs, one pretty good (usually, your first car is remembered as good) 
, one that could have been great (but GM didn't have the foresight to make it so) and one that seemed to impress a lot of people - I was one of them, but not for long.
The fourth one was a Kharmann Ghia, a fun car to drive but, after the engine blew, not one that left me too impressed. My old man, who re-built the engine so I could get rid of it, call it "Hitler's Revenge", a moniker also used on a Beetle owned by my wife.
In all honesty, though, hers was very reliable, although a little coolish in the winter. 
I, always loyal to Chevy, went to look at the then-new Vega.
It seemed pretty nice to me at the time (shows you what I knew) but, was a little pricey and I decided to shop around a bit. I ended up at a Datsun dealer (mostly to look at the new 240-Z) but ended up driving away in a new Datsun 1200. It had, standard, all of the features which I wanted on the Vega (all offered as options) and cost over $1200.00 less. The only option offered was an AM radio, which the dealer threw in at half price. 
I put almost 400,000 miles on that car over the 17 years that I owned it and it remains the best $2200.00 dollars that I've ever spent. A fun car to drive, too, and gave me 43 mpg while I drove the living daylights out of it.
Not too long after that, everyone in my family was driving a Japanese car (all still made in Japan at that time).
In the years since, I've had several North American cars and trucks, some not too bad, and many Japanese cars, all very satisfactory, as is my current ride.
In today's "global economy", your typical "North American" car could be built in Europe, Asia, or South America, and even if it's built here, many of the parts aren't. It's your money and it's up to you to decide who gets it. Brand loyalty exists for me only because the brand earned it - if they drop the ball, I'll go elsewhere.
If I were going to buy a North American car, as Charlie notes, I'd certainly consider the Focus - my son drives one and is very pleased with it. His has over 250,000 km on his and it seems well-engineered. The new (in North America) Fiesta also looks like a good one.
Wayne
, one that could have been great (but GM didn't have the foresight to make it so) and one that seemed to impress a lot of people - I was one of them, but not for long.The fourth one was a Kharmann Ghia, a fun car to drive but, after the engine blew, not one that left me too impressed. My old man, who re-built the engine so I could get rid of it, call it "Hitler's Revenge", a moniker also used on a Beetle owned by my wife.
In all honesty, though, hers was very reliable, although a little coolish in the winter. I, always loyal to Chevy, went to look at the then-new Vega.
It seemed pretty nice to me at the time (shows you what I knew) but, was a little pricey and I decided to shop around a bit. I ended up at a Datsun dealer (mostly to look at the new 240-Z) but ended up driving away in a new Datsun 1200. It had, standard, all of the features which I wanted on the Vega (all offered as options) and cost over $1200.00 less. The only option offered was an AM radio, which the dealer threw in at half price. I put almost 400,000 miles on that car over the 17 years that I owned it and it remains the best $2200.00 dollars that I've ever spent. A fun car to drive, too, and gave me 43 mpg while I drove the living daylights out of it.
Not too long after that, everyone in my family was driving a Japanese car (all still made in Japan at that time).In the years since, I've had several North American cars and trucks, some not too bad, and many Japanese cars, all very satisfactory, as is my current ride.
In today's "global economy", your typical "North American" car could be built in Europe, Asia, or South America, and even if it's built here, many of the parts aren't. It's your money and it's up to you to decide who gets it. Brand loyalty exists for me only because the brand earned it - if they drop the ball, I'll go elsewhere.
If I were going to buy a North American car, as Charlie notes, I'd certainly consider the Focus - my son drives one and is very pleased with it. His has over 250,000 km on his and it seems well-engineered. The new (in North America) Fiesta also looks like a good one.
Wayne