I am aware of that, in fact if I had to do it over again I would buy a Sonata. I bought my part loaded Camry V6 3 1/2 years ago for 22k and that was hardballing to get 100 over invoice. For that amount of money today you can get all the options on the Sonata, traction control, 6 disc, leather seats, moonroof, the hole deal. And Hyudai has a better warranty to boot. The plant in Alamba, has nothing to do with it, no disrespect, but I heard alot about how Hyundai sought out German engineers and such to make the Sonata because the previous hyundais from the 80's and early 90's were just junk. To boot Hyundai has the second most efficient fuel mileage car the Accent behind the much more expensive hybrid Preius. Sorry I don't have links for you to look up.
LOL, when dad was working he had flashy sports cars (Toyota Supra, had three of them) and when he traded he drove around in an old Toyota Cavelier (rebadged Chevrolet Cavelier, same car). Maria
I have a Toyota and a Ford. Both bought new and meticulously maintained. Without question the FORD has been the better vehicle with regard to repairs, reliability, ride, etc. The toyota does get better gas mileage but the ford is a diesel truck and for the size of the vehicle is outstanding. This bashing of American vehicles looks like we're getting close to a long term buy in Ford soon. I doubt I'll buy another Toyota. I've had 3 but the last one is OK not great and not super cheap. US auto manufacturers need to build a 3-cylinder diesel-electric hybrid and mass produce it and they would again rule the automotive world.
Actually I am not real sure about the part about the tighter specs. I read an article recently about how Japanese manuf. actually use looser specs and are good at making things work when things go wrong. Americans just want tighter and tighter specs to solve everything, which raises the price and reduces the flexibility.
Duard, you are taking it into another direction and you are right, diesel is far more reliable and superior to gas engine, but you know that. You are comparing apples and oranges my friend. Let's run a Toyota Tundra against an F-150 both gas combustion with auto trans, you know who will win that easy. Ford makes a weak tranny, ask my two friends that had rebuilds without towing before 80k! My corolla has 167k on the same tranny! Sorry but truth hurts, no offense. I should get back to trading. That said if I am going to buy American GM is better the Ford IMO. But hey I am biased as the next guy.
You complain of "apples and oranges" then proceed to compare tranny reliability in a fwd Corolla to a pickup? Pretty funny. Everybody has their own stories anyway. My Ford truck has 200,000 miles on the original trans with no problems.
Well, that was my point. We kind of got sidetracked here with all the "I know a car that drive X miles and still running" talk. The point was that US carmakers were able to make 20+ years ago cars that run "forever" with low mpg. But that is not good business for either the carmaker (who wants to sell a new car for the average American in every 3-4 years) or the energysupplier>>>gascompanies. Low mpg cars use LESS gas, thus make LESS profit for Sunoco, Shell,etc. Now we are going to get into politics here, but let's suppose the government back in 1985 would have enforced an obligatory mimimum of 25-30 mpg for automakers? Then we wouldn't have Hummers, but we also wouldn't be in Iraq and maybe 911 could have been avoided, because we hadn't gone to Saudi Arabia. So again, the point is, the technology was/is there, just the willingness to use it hasn't been...
I really love nice cars. I have several that I am always working on. For going to and from the post office, the supermarket, the drug store, etc I drive a Toyota Tundra Truck. From a mechanical standpoint it is simply a superior design. Period. On Saturday & Sunday however, when I want to have some fun, I get into a 87 Corvette Convertible, pay a hell of a lot of money to put gas into it, and then I run the hell out of it. I love it. Even though mechanically speaking it is a piece of crap. Next month the gun metal grey Ford GT that I ordered so long ago is going to arrive, and I expect to pay more for car insurance than anyone in history. It will use so much gasoline that I will have to lease an offshore oil well. It will also hit 60 miles an hour in less than 4 seconds. I plan on sleeping, eating and being buried in it..... Good luck in the Markets Steve
News: "On the same day that the U.S. House voted resoundingly to lift the 25-year ban on offshore oil and gas drilling, it also rejected a measure that would have boosted the minimum average gas mileage of American cars." Right on track...