Ameri-Guilt

i say do whatever your heart tells ya man, i love my ford and kinda chevys i know its wrong in so many ways, but they give our people jobs and the world go round so yes if i didnt have my new toyota i would buy a new f150 or whatever i wanted

 

It's your money, buy the better product.

When America starts making a product that has the same level of quality and reliability and doesn't try to rake me over the coals on price,,, I'll buy American.
For now I'll stick with my Toyota, Hyundai, and my Yamaha.

 

I would gladly trade my Tacoma for that new Ford SVT Raptor, That thing is sweet! The grill is ugly but the truck is amazing!

 

Its interesting hearing where everyone stands...

Im kind of in the middle. BUT i was very impressed a few months back when i rear ended a F-150 at about 5 mph... I have the stock bumper on my 08 toyota, and he had the stock steel rear bumper on his f-150. I put a HUGE dent that was about 4 inches deep and 2 feet wide across that rear bumper while the yoda had absolutely no damage at all. Just one missing pop rivet on the bottom of the bumper skin. A couple little black marks that buffed out too. Very impressive...

Though about asking him "build ford tuff eh?" but it just might have been asking for an ass kickin.

 

hhhmmm, OK! we'll go with that for the time being.

 

I agree with MANY of your points timmer. Although I am still for at will work any day of the week. Large unions can make it hell for employers to properly manage their businesses. I am not by any means saying there shouldnt be unions though.

EDIT: I forgot to add that I have personally toured the entire Arlington factory and was quite impressed with what i saw. At the same time though, I didn't walk out of it thinking everyone was busting ass. I walked out thinking maybe i should have one of these jobs.... If it was my operation i would want to see some more hustle. JMO and in no way am I or have I been trying to take a stab at anyone.

 

I dont think anyone is saying that the unions are at fault for the poor quality, we are saying they have drivin the cost of doing business up so much that the big three cannot turn a profit. Its just one more week link in a long series.

To the OP; I too am inthe service and I sleep pretty damn well at night with my Taco in the driveway. I think its downright foolish to buy an inferior product just becuse it is made in the USA. I will say however that if quality is even and price is CLOSE, then I will generally choose the American product. Just buy the best product that fits your needs/wants at your price range. If there is a tie in quality/price, go American. However, we all know the Colorado/Ranger/Dakota are NOT conmprable to the Tacoma. And unless your towing a 10000 lb trailer, then I would think the Tundra will suit you well for most boats/campers.

 

The Arlington factory is the perfect example of how the union workers can screw up a well designed product. They have a reputation for problems.

The Tahoe came out in 1995 and was originally built only in Janesville, WI. When the last Impala rolled off the Arlington line in 1996 the plant was converted to build the Tahoe as a second source.

Quality out of the Wisconsin plant was excellent. Could not say the same for the Texas plant. Quality control was so bad that the company I was working for bought several Tahoes out of a dealer in Indianapolis (we're in Florida) in order to get Wisconsin sourced trucks.

Same design. Same engineering. Same machines on the line. Different groups of unionized workers. Quality in one. Crap in the other.

 

Take a look at this link to compare the UAW to toyotas workforce.

http://nospeedbumps.com/?p=606

 

haha I had probably had one of these Tahoes (04' from the Arlington plant), and it went to the dealer 4 times in the first 3 months I had it. I was pretty disapointed, but not aware of the situation you just stated. Very interesting..

Like i previously said, I am for At Will Work.

 

Interesting discussion. My original idea of getting something different is pretty much a mute point. Dealers around the general Indy area will not give me $hit for trade in value. Not to mention that even with the "special" pricing Toyota, Ford, and GM are offering the large vehicles are ridiclously priced. At this point we're holding on to what we have. If we can't find a camper light enough to be pulled with the Sienna then we'll wait until gas goes back up to $5/gallon and buy a used Seqexpedihoe.

 

I just bought my Tacoma and one of the reasons is because it was made in California. You have no reason to feel pressured to buy a Detroit label, look at the domestic content label in the window and you will be surprised. The Tacoma is more "American" than a typical Dodge Ram, particularly if it has a Hemi (all Hemi's are made in Mexico). The Tundra has higher domestic content than a typical Detroit based truck.

It depends on if you want to employ more production workers or have the profits go to a few Execs at the top. Car manufacturing is more complicated now than it was a few years ago. Our govenment counts Canada as domestic in the domestic content calculation but it at least will give you a point of reference. Hope this helps.

 

When I was a long haul trucker I hauled parts into The big 3 plant in Detroit, Canada and also the plant in Arlington. And I have to say the union workers in all these places were the hardest folks I have ever dealt with in my life. I was a union worker in North Carolina for 5 years and before I left that job I quit the union and was the only non union hourly employee in the plant.

When the union was started it had good intentions but over time it has become such a mess run by power hungry money grubbing assholes that they have ruined the whole purpose of a union. I have very little sympathy foe the UAW employees i truly believe most of them have voted them selves out of jobs.

 

Sounds like you have had some interesting experiences. I don't believe any of the non-Detroit based car plants are unionized, if there are any its not many. From what I understand most workers at Honda and Toyota in this country are very happy and there is generally no desire to unionize. I personally feel well run companies will never be unionized, there would be no reason to.

Enjoy your Tacoma, life is good!

 

Before you get rid of the yota and bye "american" check and see where all the parts and trucks are made and assemblied

 

Yeah, I'm gonna go with unions shooting themselves in the foot & pricing themselves outta the game. Big fat joke about "American" cars when little to none of it really is American made & on top of that the quality isn't there. Gimme a break already. Make something of quality in America, sell it as American, don't be retarded about it & people will buy it. Love the whining about shit shuttin down because it's overloaded with greedy overhead nonsense while pushing out useless overpriced garbage trying to guilt people into being patriotic & buying the garbage instead of something actually made here of higher quality without the obscene waste & mismanagement regardless of it's name. Want people to change, give them a fuckin reason to that is of some use to them, not lame empty just because limpdickery.

 

If your tacoma is like mine it was assembled in Cali so it is partially American. It gave americans a job. At this point I glad that american's can benefit from foreign producers. So don't feel bad because you wanted a reliable truck that isn't a full blood american truck.

 

I also had a 95 toyota pickup and sold it for a Ford f250. I also got rid of the corolla and bought my wife a wrangler. After 4 yrs I couldn't take it anymore so I sold both and got the 2008 (in 2007) tacoma and my wife her Honda Odyssey. If they could at least copy their quality then maybe I would buy american

 

OP: you are HIGH.