Damaged Goods
I posted yesterday's article about Buying American not to make anybody feel guilty or like a putz, but just to dispel so many of the rumors that surround domestic cars. It was the best summary of the arguments I had seen and I guess I hope that the next time you need a car you at least give the domestic guys a chance. It's impossible to live in the Detroit area and not know somebody (or multiple somebodies) who works for one of the "Big Three" or is affected by the hardships afflicting the auto companies right now. A lot of people outside of Michigan don't realise the economic problems through which Michigan is suffering right now. I guess the rest of the country is experiencing economic upturns of late, but they haven't found their way to my cute little mitten-shaped state. We're all struggling here to make it and the stress level is high. If anything were to happen to GM or Ford, Michigan would be in even deeper trouble as it tries to cope with the loss of a tax base and thousands and thousands of people would be finding their way to the unemployment offices. It would be a disaster, just as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were disasters, just not of the natural phenomenon type. I doubt if the unthinkable happened that it wouldn't end up affecting the entire country in some way.
posted by Kathleen @ 8:51 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Hmm... tough one. I've had a few makes in my time on the road, Pontiac, Chevy, Nissanpieceofcrap, and most recently consecutive Hondas. I am SO in love with Honda. I had my old Civic for over 10 years and never had a problem at all. I've had the Accord for about three years. Same story. The Nissanpieceofcrap, well, I had to replace pretty much every part on that thing in the brief time I had it (two, maybe three years).
Where I live, there is a factory for pretty much every car company out there, so either way I seem to help keep local people employed, and I'm all for that.
I see the faltering Michigan economy every day in the actions of my customers. Less people than ever buying music and many more desperately trying to sell off anything they have of value. Some mornings I have people waiting in my parking lot to sell me CDs/DVDs, etc. as soon as I open. At least once a week I hear from a customer that they or their spouse has lost their job. This state is in for a rough period in the coming years. And the "you're either for us or agaist us" mentality is a completely understandable defense mechanism that I am seeing more than I have since the early 1980's. We do make good cars here...of that I have no doubt. 3 Mustangs, a Probe, a Taurus and a Sable that I have owned attest to that.
If it's not a Ford, I don't want to drive it. I thoroughly believe in what you're saying ... not only with car companies, but trade agreements are killing us as well.
The problem I have is, we bought a Dodge Caravan in 1993 and had to trade it in in 1995 because it was so terrible. The car we traded it in for was a Honda Odyssey, which is still going strong today. But I get your point.
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