Buy American

As a Jeep owner I'm not thrilled that Fiat owns it,you can see their influence in the new Cherokee Lite.But in all honesty Mercedes owned them before that and no one said much. Was more disappointed on how the interiors have gotten cheaper over the years. My 95 Cherokee at around 115k has a mint interior,the 98 Grand at 160k has had armrest cracks and cracks on the vinyl sides of the seat bottoms at 4-5 years old,and my 01 70k Cherokee the same. I have never had this happen on any other car I have owned.

Tough one Dave, last 2 Fords I bought were built in Mexico or Canada. The new JGC we just purchased was built in Detroit.

I will defend the Buy American stance as much as I can but there are some times when it just doesn't apply like it did 40 years ago. I would struggle to buy a car that was imported here unless it was something exotic but that's not really in my future so I don't concern myself with it. The Jeep still feels American to me for now and I'm glad it's built here, especially in Detroit. Yes the motor comes from Italy but my last Ford had a Mazda engine in it.


As to Gary's concern on Jeep quality. I had a 2008 Liberty and it was pretty utilitarian, stripped down, plastic dash, arm rests,etc. No frills, even the windshield defrost could barely clear frost. The vehicle did it's job but was really a noisy, uncomfortable, inefficient piece of crap. Now if you look at jeeps offering of it's replacement vehicles there is no comparison in quality of build and interiors. The quality is a carry over from mercedes(even though they milked every penny out of the company and ran) and the comforts are from fiat. The interior on our new JGC is amazing and if you look at an Overland model it has a hand stitched leather dash, door panels, etc. The workmanship is outstanding.

If you want to buy a car built in America take a look at what the folks in Alabama and South Carolina are building. If you have bought a Mercedes, chances are it was built in Alabama. Most US market BMWs (depending on the model) are built in South Carolina and I believe North Carolina as well. Now the profits go elsewhere but those cars are built by real Americans that contribute to the economy. With respect to Chrysler, I think the brief Mercedes ownership did great things for the finish quality and image of the brand. Chrysler has come a long way in the last 5 years. Compare similar models between 5 and 10 years old, it's hard to do. The advances in technology, interior options, I can go on. Ford and Chevy have all stepped up their game because I think we (the general public) got used to mediocre products. The big three has recognized that the US market wants a quality automobile and will pay for it if available. Riley is right, the global economy has changed things and it is hard to define what makes a US company with a large scale manufacturing component such as an auto maker. This conversation makes me think of those old pace picante salsa commercials where the cowboys sitting by the camp fire are enjoying chips and salsa. They read the label and gasp that it’s made in “New York City”.

I have always owned Toyotas because of their dependability and interior finish quality. Plastic or not, it just looked way better then the competition in my opion. However, I am in my mid 30s so maybe its a generational thing. My last two trucks never had any issues and quite frankly took a beating. My Toyota Tacoma was a commuter and that thing ran like sweatshop sewing machine. Gotta do regular maintenance though! I currently drive a 2010 FJ Cruiser Trails Teams Edition and commute 80 – 100 miles a day. It has over 80k on the clock and I have not done a thing except change the oil, service the 4WD and rotate tires. With that said, the advances in our "US" automakers products would make me consider alternatives the next go round. Specifically the Jeep Grand Cherokee, what a spectacular looking vehicle. Great interior and exterior styling. Ford and Chevy both have a great line up as well in the full size truck department. It is my opinion that Detroit will enter the world stage again, and very soon, with their midsize and full size product lines. Europe and Asia can have the compact market in my opinion because that is what they have always done. Why are Cadillac’s, Buicks and Chrysler full size cars so revered in all parts of the world? They have reresented quality and luxury. I’d take a new Caddy, Buick or Chrysler 300 any day of the week if that suited my needs.

I don’t usually comment in the open forums but since I am a gear head I thought I’d put a few words out there.


Cheers folks

81nautique wrote: As to Gary's concern on Jeep quality. I had a 2008 Liberty and it was pretty utilitarian, stripped down, plastic dash, arm rests,etc. No frills, even the windshield defrost could barely clear frost. The vehicle did it's job but was really a noisy, uncomfortable, inefficient piece of crap. Now if you look at jeeps offering of it's replacement vehicles there is no comparison in quality of build and interiors. The quality is a carry over from mercedes(even though they milked every penny out of the company and ran) and the comforts are from fiat. The interior on our new JGC is amazing and if you look at an Overland model it has a hand stitched leather dash, door panels, etc. The workmanship is outstanding.

I feel the same, the stuff the us auto makers were making was pretty much garbage save for exceptional drive trains in things like trucks and some suvs not that they were economical by any means. I think the fitment of parts was on par but the finish chosen by many was vey plastic and cheap feeling for many years. Given in the early 90's when plastics were becoming more widely used in construction that was a new wave but I feel they all got caught in their ways and kept on keeping on that route well after it had over stayed its welcome.

I am glad the market is trending back to feeling better about spending more money on a better quality product so that we the consumer are benefiting by means of higher quality vehicles to chose from.

It's such a wash these days on American made or not because most overseas companies usually employ a large amount of us workers. Fine by me. I feel the same about owning a Chevy or Ford as I do a Toyota truck.

My heart lies with Mopar. My truck has had more issues during its warranty period than I feel it should have but from working directly in dealerships I learned that vehicles aren't created equal. Some will nickel and dime you to death and others will run trouble free for xxxxxxxx miles. Doesn't matter the make it's just a mechanical piece of equipment that something will fail on or something may not.

I will say it and I have before, I love Mopar but the vehicles Chrysler built from about 2000-2011(exception of the new ram in 2009) was pretty horrible IMHO. The v8 stuff was good but poor economically and the v6 technology was garbage.

I think the best thing that could have happened is the new truck breaking ground on the new interior look/fit/finish and fiat coming in to make quality higher (or so I assume).

quinner wrote: the competition foreign created was a good thing for an industry that was getting lazy and complacent

Exactly.


I will remain silent on the K car comment ha.

Born in Detroit on Michigan & Livernois, my Mom lived next door to John Hoffa, Jimmy's brother and babysat his kids. My Dad retired from GM's experimental group. My Dad received a Presidential Citation after WWII for his work on the Manhattan Project. - I know what made in America means.
Without the manufacturing capabilities of Michigan, Ohio. and Pennsylvania none of us would be here today.
In the 80's auto companies started designing wiring harnesses here and manufacturing them in Mexico City. Now the steel is reclaimed in China.
Its so hard to believe manufacturing on a global scale is profitable. The EPA stands in the way of America manufacturing. If the EPA would use the same criteria for imports sold in the US as manufactured in the US we would be on top of our game globally. A manufacturing dollar is a strong dollar. What we have is a consuming dollar, a throw a way dollar - so sad. Planed obsolescence.
My brother and nephew both work for Chrysler, my brother is a die engineer and my nephew is a designer. My bro travels to China several times a year to QA stamping dies.
They both say no one in the company is coming up behind them, there jobs (in the US) will evaporate when they leave, retire, go on to another job or whatever.

It's so sad to see - but made in the USA - not in the auto industry
I'm not brand loyal and pound my chest when it comes to the United States of America but I know our systematic dismantling of American manufacturing is the beginning of the end of the country I'd die for.