The downfall of Domestic Production

[gloryaccordy]

Ahhh man owe I can't go paragraph for paragraph with you, but I half agree and disagree...it is literally a matter of time before we see whether the new crop of domestics own up to the imports though. My dad swears by CR so we've never had any domestics...he started with a Camry, then a Maxima, and now he's all about Infinitis...

In any case the Japanese have definitely proved they are capable...I just hope they don't rest on their laurels, because while I can say nothing of the reliability of a new domestic I must say some of them make a convincing case towards buying one. 15 years ago anything domestic that wasn't made for towing stuff was a joke, Corvette included...however now honestly, if they used aluminum blocks and did some better chassis tuning I'd really be hard pressed to choose, as I don't really like anything by the big Japanese 3 right now...

[owequitit]

Ahhh man owe I can't go paragraph for paragraph with you, but I half agree and disagree...it is literally a matter of time before we see whether the new crop of domestics own up to the imports though. My dad swears by CR so we've never had any domestics...he started with a Camry, then a Maxima, and now he's all about Infinitis...

In any case the Japanese have definitely proved they are capable...I just hope they don't rest on their laurels, because while I can say nothing of the reliability of a new domestic I must say some of them make a convincing case towards buying one. 15 years ago anything domestic that wasn't made for towing stuff was a joke, Corvette included...however now honestly, if they used aluminum blocks and did some better chassis tuning I'd really be hard pressed to choose, as I don't really like anything by the big Japanese 3 right now...

Well I wasn't really trying to argue, but if the domestics want to be serious about being serious, they need to make products that make people feel the way I do about Hondas. They need to hear stuff like that from their customers. The don't need to hear "Chevys are fast", or OHV is the only way to GO!" They need honest conviction from people who believe and have tried other things.

I like a lot of other cars, and there are many other brands that I would probably like to own, but I've had such good experience with Honda, that it is hard to not keep taking my business there.

The new Impala SS for instance. I actually really like that car. It is only a few clicks faster than say an Altima 3.5SE manual or an Accord V6 manual, and it is most certainly too powerful for a front driver. Yet there is still something insanely cool about it. I just know about all of the stuff the GM techs have to fix behind the scenes on brand new cars and trucks, and that makes me leary about buying one. Plus, even though it looks suitably luxurious in pics, everything is hard touch plastic that looks soft touch.

The domestics are scoring well on the initial quality studies, but that is only good for 90days. My car ownership will extend well beyond that, and when you have a limited amount to spend on cars, you want the most bang for your buck. The domestics will have to convince me that I can routinely take them over 200K with 0 issues before I will even consider them. Then, they will have to prove fun to drive, usability, drivability, comfort, and performance. But they have to get me in the showrooms first.

I have absolutely no doubt that the domestics can build a car. Hell they used to own the world. Problem is they got stuck in there era and rested on their laurels.

I don't think that the Japs are prone to that behavior. Nissan, Honda, and Toyota are pretty good evidence of that. They are continuously innovating and trying to improve.