dakota44

Just hope the Chinese cars never show up. A lot of them in Peru. You can buy a Chinese car in Peru similar in style as a Corolla and fully equipped for under $11,000 U.S. including the 19% tax. They are absolute crap...but hey..people bought Yugos.

dc koop

I wont give you an argument there. I owned three Fords in the 70s and 80s which were little more than buckets of bolts. But GM and Ford have come a long way since then. Japanese cars have had their own problems including a class action lawsuit by Honda Accord owners relating to serious problems with the auto trans on their 2001 models. Then more recently the seat belt problems and sudden acceleration on some Toyota models.

dc koop

Oh yes the Yugo Rated by Consumer Reports as the worst car they ever road tested. There was also a model produced by Hyundai which appeared on the market here in the 1980s. Cant remember the model name but in the span of about 5 years the junk yards were piled high with them

dakota44

That would have been the Hyundai Pony. A real trash bucket.

morpeth

Funny, for the average Mexican person they would be better off as a territory of US, and I think it would be interesting what percentage of Mexicans in a referendum would join the US in a minute ! Imagine a Mexican government putting its people first !

dakota44

I bought a 69 Mustang Mach1 new off the showroom floor. My 6 month history with that rat included...
Alternator wasn't plug into the wire loom. Barely made it to the dealership after work the first day before it died.

A week later the rear package tray had an inch of water from the rain. Two after it was supposedly fixed...another inch of water.

The the chrome on the trailing edge of both door windows fell off..followed soon after by all the chrome like trim on all 6 of the vertical tail light lenses.

The..went over a bump and the drivers side of the dashboard flew up 6 inches...seems the neglected to bolt it into place.

Then every time I went over a bump the cross braces for the struts would cause a twisting of the firewall and a resulting pop sound like when you squeeze a tin can and let it bounce back.

Then the ultimate...cracking noises from the fastback because the spot welds were breaking.

Sad thing was I loved the car but just had to get rid of it. I was literally in the service department 3 or 4 times a month

johnwoo

That's not what Consumer Reports say or JD powers, or what car buyers are saying by way of what they are buying.
Just look around you and see how many American cars you see on the roads.
Pick up trucks perhaps, that's what is keeping them alive.

Giantaxe

Do you think Mexicans live in caves or something

Giantaxe

My trusty German car is now well over 200k. I hope it keeps going for a while yet, but I've been pondering what to buy next and quite frankly for the type of vehicle I'm looking for, the Japanese options are way better both in terms of driveability and in projected reliability. So I could well end up with a US-built vehicle, just not one from a US company.

dc koop

I've never gotten as far as Mexico City but I've seen some towns and villages. Not exactly third world but definitely not prosperous by any stretch of the imagination. Ceiling fans seem to be the main method of cooling the air. There are some passably good hotels along the Baja coast which have AC and there are newish developments of condos which also are AC, the latter being owned by Americans

dc koop

I bought a new Honda Accord last year. No complaints, a very nice car all round. I wanted to buy a Chevy Malibu which I liked very much and it was as nice to drive and as well equipped as the Accord and about a hundred and fifty dollars cheaper. My wife insisted on the Honda and there are some issues in married life that a husband will never, ever win on.
I didn't even consider a Toyota Camry simply because they now have those large big black, gaping plastic radiator grills and about as ugly as it gets. Even their Lexus line is cursed with the same

dc koop

My condolences from a fellow sufferer. I owned a Ford Granada, an Escort and a Ford Tempo. The Granada had a carburetor problem and it would sometimes flood causing the engine not to start. The Escort was only a tad higher than the awful Pinto and it was soon turned over to my daughter who was in college. The Tempo had a transmission leak that could not seem to be fixed even when still under warranty. The automatic transmission was also the worst I've ever experienced All three had the loveable and endearing habit of sudden engine cut out and in the worst possible places, fast lane on a busy freeway and on a narrow twisting high altitude mountain road. I've never owned a Ford since.

That said Ford are now producing some good pickups and the new Ford Fusion is highly recommended by Consumer Reports. There's still a ways to go until all their models can measure to Toyota and Honda but the worst years are definitely behind them

Giantaxe

I suggest you get out a little more.

Ebonhawke

The difference in operational approaches between GM/Ford and Toyota means that Toyota will usually cost more than a similarly equipped Big 3 vehicle. While they make the same products with similar processes, their philosophical approach to manufacturing vehicles is radically different.

Toyota's focus is on long-term quality, while maintaining competitive cost. GM is focused on lowest cost, while ensuring that parts meet minimum quality standards. That lower cost comes at the expense of long-term reliability.

Watch TV commercials for automotive vehicles. GM/Ford/Chrysler will always tout aspects about their low prices, while Japanese/Korean/German companies will tout quality and reliability.

As others have said, if you take the cost of ownership over the duration of time you own the vehicle, you likely will see a significant difference between GM and Toyota, and the difference in initial cost between the models has been either significantly closed, or surpassed entirely.

dc koop

Why? And on the subject of American companies employing cheap Mexican labour what does it benefit the Mexican worker? Sure he has a job but he's not enjoying anything like the standard of living his American counterpart does nor is he protected by the same safety standards or union benefits. He's being exploited in the pursuit of greed and the corrupt Mexican government does nothing to correct this. As far as they're concerned he has a job and if he's able to buy enough corn and beans to feed his family that's all that matters. Meanwhile I'm sure Mexican politicians must be raking in literally millions in bribes from US companies to not rock the boat.