Is "Buy American" a factor in your purchase decision?

[TFord]

I always have and always will buy American

[Design1stCode2nd]

I just recently bought a car as I really needed something better for my family as opposed to just me. So that is why now I’m looking at the Camaro and other cars in the future as a second car just for me.

I wanted something family friendly (four doors), fast, AWD, under 35k preferably under 30k and with a manual transmission. What American car would have fit those criteria? Answer? None, and I looked.

[The_Blur]

Originally Posted by Blownhotrodder

Haha, you got a large number of imports coming here and making cars too that gives somebodies dad a job, which in tern sends their kid to private school and maybe they buy 3 cars too. I guess you just dont see that though, right? No thats right, when an import sells in the states they take all that money and send it back to the motherland.

When someone buys a BMW, they send their money to Germany. They may have employed some American workers, but GM, Chrysler, and Ford all employ more American workers. Just because someone's BMW was made by a few Americans doesn't mean that someone else's Silverado was made by any fewer Americans. Even if the entire Z71 line was made in Bangladesh, the money pays for offices in Detroit, executives who live in the Union, and all of those factories in America. When you buy a foreign car, the company invests the money at home. American companies invest their money in suppliers, offices, and personnel in the States. How is that hard for anyone to understand?

Originally Posted by chadrcr

With the current state of the economy, how do you think we should help the motherlands of all the 'imports'.
If possible, we should save ourselves first, because we will (and always have) been willing to help other countries. Think about what the flight attendant says: "if the oxygen masks drop, put yours on first, then help those around you". So, if the U.S. economy goes in the tank, who is going to save 'us'. If we 'Americans' do not find a way to keep 'our' money here..... stop buying more imported stuff than we export..... eventually Georgia may be a colony of China....

I posted this argument elsewhere. Basically, we can only count on ourselves. If we give money to Japan, they aren't obligated to give money to us. In fact, the Japanese, for instance, have tariffs that raise the sale price of US cars. We don't match those tariffs in the same way, so their cars are easier to sell here. The tariffs are designed to protect domestic investment. I know what you're going to say. "This is a free market and we should be able to buy the best products for the best price." You're wrong. This is called a mixed economy. The government is involved to protect its interests and the interests of citizens. The government has an interest in serving the public, and that is best served by collecting taxes and spending money on social programs, national defense, and all of the other things that make government a necessary part of society as we know it. If the government does not collect taxes, then it cannot serve the people.

I know what you're going to say to this, as well. "Why are you talking about taxes?" Big companies pay lots of taxes. Motor companies are some of the biggest companies in the world. They pay some of the biggest taxes as a result. Without that tax money in the budget, the government has to make cuts or make citizens pay more money to compensate. Do you who disagree with me want to pay more taxes? I didn't think so. Support American companies.

Originally Posted by Milk 1027

Is it a factor?
NO

It's the cherry on top.

That's okay. It may not be the biggest issue to anyone. We all take pride in our purchases. If anything, the fact that Milk 1027 is buying an American car without really prioritizing American cars actually proves my earlier point. American cars do compete in the global market. When compared to foreign cars, they are equally matched or superior in every category that matters. You can't tell me that a Cobalt and a Civic are totally unrelated cars. They compete, and they therefore have a lot of similarities. The differences are in the performance. If one has a few more square inches of cargo space, do you really care? Are you going to use every square inch? Think about it. Now think about how functional that space is. The trunk is a weird shape in every car. It isn't a perfect square, so that space is distributed weirdly. Just because a car has more space doesn't mean that all of the space is functional. Even if it was, you weren't buying a Cobalt or Civic for the cargo room. If that's all that mattered, then you'd buy a full-size van.

People take pride in their purchases because they want to feel that they made the right decision. They scan every advertisement in search of something that helps them justify their decision, and then they tell their friends how that stupid 4 square inches of cargo space really make or break the deal. Here's the blunt truth. Most of us and our families have bought cars for the wrong reasons. My parents bought this Impreza without considering an American product. Now, I drive a green wagon despite knowing that American alternatives did exist in 2002, and those alternatives operate just fine for the purpose of getting my passengers, cargo, and me to any destination safely.

Once again, I've ranted for too long.

[MrIcky]

This is fact-checking only, not fueling a debate. My understanding is that the Japanese are on a zero for zero tariff system in which there are no tariffs imposed because the car is sourced from America (I believe Japan has the same zero for zero recipricol with Europe as well).

However, Japan imposes taxes based on an engine-size formula where vehicles are taxed increasingly based on their engine size. Most American cars imported to Japan are de facto taxed as luxury because American cars typically run a full liter higher in the same vehicle footprint?

You have the basic OP question, but then we have drifts into side arguments that are WAY more complicated then the answers here. For instance there is a poll on this site where we say what if the Camaro was a V6 only. Well if the performance Camaro was a turbo'd 6 or something, the Japanese market would likely save about $5,000 per vehicle. That means our market demands are restricting our ability to be competitive overseas. You (not you specifically, but generically) being unwilling to change may be part of our issues. I believe much of Europe does the same tax by engine size scheme.

Also, this directly bears on the value of the dollar. America was actively trying to devalue the dollar against the Euro and Yen to increase American Exports and there was a public outcry and people started buying gold. It's all in the tank now so it doesn't matter.

Again, I'm not trying to make a fight here- I'm just trying to get it out that there's a lot more to some of these arguments then people realize.

But yes, buying American is a factor in my decision making process.

[The_Blur]

Originally Posted by MrIcky

This is fact-checking only, not fueling a debate. My understanding is that the Japanese are on a zero for zero tariff system in which there are no tariffs imposed because the car is sourced from America (I believe Japan has the same zero for zero recipricol with Europe as well).

However, Japan imposes taxes based on an engine-size formula where vehicles are taxed increasingly based on their engine size. Most American cars imported to Japan are de facto taxed as luxury because American cars typically run a full liter higher in the same vehicle footprint?

You have the basic OP question, but then we have drifts into side arguments that are WAY more complicated then the answers here. For instance there is a poll on this site where we say what if the Camaro was a V6 only. Well if the performance Camaro was a turbo'd 6 or something, the Japanese market would likely save about $5,000 per vehicle. That means our market demands are restricting our ability to be competitive overseas. You (not you specifically, but generically) being unwilling to change may be part of our issues. I believe much of Europe does the same tax by engine size scheme.

Also, this directly bears on the value of the dollar. America was actively trying to devalue the dollar against the Euro and Yen to increase American Exports and there was a public outcry and people started buying gold. It's all in the tank now so it doesn't matter.

Again, I'm not trying to make a fight here- I'm just trying to get it out that there's a lot more to some of these arguments then people realize.

But yes, buying American is a factor in my decision making process.

I didn't specifically investigate the Japanese tariff system, so this is good fact-checking. I can, however, safely say that the EU imposes what political scientists call "tariff walls" around its territory. In effect, the outsiders of the EU pays tariffs while insiders pay no tariffs at all. I can't specifically recall if this includes only euro-using countries, but I'm certain that countries in the EU that do not use the euro would still be better off than the US when it comes to European tariffs.

[a6pk2go]

I HAVE OWNED 2 1969 CAMARO's (a Black with Gold Stripes 350 4 speed , a Blue 307 auto which I had my uncle built me a really nice 350 and they seemed to be my favorite cars I have ever owned and were the most fun to drive. SO HAVING THE CAMARO COME BACK (like the 69's) WAS THE MAIN REASON FOR ORDERING ONE.

I have owned a 1973 Chevy truck and it was a rust bucket. I have owned a 2002 Chevy Silverado and loved it also owned a brand new 1984 Ford F-150 and loved it. I like Ford trucks more because of their body style and are easy on gas. I will never own a Dodge.

I owned a 65 Mustang (Hi-Performance 289 with a 3 speed) and hated it.

I owned a 1967 VW with a 1968 transaxle (four lugs back, five on front) and could have gotten killed in it after wrecking it on ice (first car. song playing when wrecked was Momma told me not to come).

I have owned three Monte Carlo's and loved all of them (1974,1997,currently 1998).

I also owned a brand new 1986 Toyota Tercel (fully loaded) and it was good when my family was young (all it needed was gas, tires, and oil)

I owned a 1967 Fairlane 500 (got a good deal on it) wrecked.

I brought a new 1981 Buick Regal and loved it.

I owned two 1964 Impala's and loved them.

BTW, as you can see I LOVE me some GM products a lot more than foreign cars but the only one I had fit me at the time. I would normally always buy US cars.