Decided to go with Kubota.

[GA WTDeer]

Your's might have been assembled in mexico, but the F-150 is over 80% American content. They have American assembly plants, too. Canada, as well. I think it's good that we produce overseas as well as in the US. What's better is many parts & services are US.

Not one japanese built car or truck contains 80% US content. http://www.levelfieldinstitute.org/docs/lfi-domestic-content.pdf

I have nothing against Japanese and wouldn't hesitate to buy Japanese again, but I think the American alternatives aren't as bad as some of you seem to think.
We can debate this all day-but I think we can all agree that the thread was started by someone who was just looking to stir things up.

Now Builder, I think you fanned the flames a little with the American V/S Japan quotes. This whole thread was just his opinion, not fact. I think most people here just flat out love tractors and stories. Now I am going to have an American beer followed by a German.... Clay

 

[gemini5362]

OK I will stir a bit too. I love my chevrolet duramax. It does everything I could ask a truck to do. It is comfortable rideing and even has pretty good fuel mileage. However. I have looked at american sports cars and to be honest I could not find any that I felt matched my Porsche. The closest thing of course is a corvette but it just did not handle as well as the porsche does in my opinion. I will keep looking and when they make a sports car that I like as much as my Porsche I will buy it.

 

[Builder]

OK I will stir a bit too. I love my chevrolet duramax. It does everything I could ask a truck to do. It is comfortable rideing and even has pretty good fuel mileage. However. I have looked at american sports cars and to be honest I could not find any that I felt matched my Porsche. The closest thing of course is a corvette but it just did not handle as well as the porsche does in my opinion. I will keep looking and when they make a sports car that I like as much as my Porsche I will buy it.

What does a Mustang or Corvette cost compared to a comparable performing Porsche these days?

1/2 as much?

 

[gemini5362]

What does a Mustang or Corvette cost compared to a comparable performing Porsche these days?

1/2 as much?

Depends on what you consider comparable. a 911 which is comparable in acceleration and top end in addition to being superior in handling is about twice as much.

a cayman which is a superior handling car but does not have the horsepower so is not equal in acceleration about the same.

a boxster which in my opinion also handles better but once again not the 1/4 mile speed is a bit less.

 

[Builder]

Depends on what you consider comparable. a 911 which is comparable in acceleration and top end in addition to being superior in handling is about twice as much.

So how is the American product a fair comparison to a porsche when it costs 1/2 as much?

Seems like to me the American product is a far better value.

 

[art]

I've found some companies put there heart and soul into a product that they believe is superior and more then likely is. Then there are companies that watch Wall Street to much!

There are twists to everything and as far as I'm concerned I want the best long term value to me for my investment and wall street doesn't have anything to with that other then possible resale. The problem with that is what I see as good merchandising does cost money and I'd rather take a lower every day cost to own by having the right machine to do the work and not worry about the resale.
For the sixty plus years we've been selling machinery we get a lot of people that are still using it and some even that that was made in this country you have to have the parts custom made. The best machine is the one they believe is right for them, if not it will never be right.
There is no machine that is built or has been built that is perfect for everyone! Just some are closer then the others!

 

[Taiser]

Quality standards on American vehicles now equal japanese counterparts.

Sorry...

BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAA...

Man I haven't laughed like that for a while. No offence but they are not even close. Don't get me wrong they are getting better. I have friends with domestic dealerships. Right now as per defects for 100 cars, the domestics are about where the Japanese were in 1996-98 depending on brand. That's no small feat compared to where they were but they were pretty much forced there by competition. Another for instance is the cruisers we get for work (Impala's, Suburban's, Expeditions, Crown Vic's etc) all wind up going back to dealer within weeks for problems (the last impala we got blew a tranny with 50 km...yes FIFTY km on it).

My 1992 Acura is in mint shape, runs like a top and you could lick the engine block. My sister's 1995 Cavalier is probably at the scrap yard now, with half the mileage, the last time I saw it you could not even see the engine block for all the dirt and oil on there...and yes she maintained it well. She got rid of it two years ago after the second engine blew.

Then people scream about the price of japanese parts only to be corrected that all those prices are with tariff's put on by our governments after the Domestic auto makers started lobying and crying that they could not compete with the reliability and prices the japanese were putting out.

Last I heard the Honda plants do not have unions and are happy workers making good coin, meanwhile Chrysler is for sale because of costs, and they IMHO have the best choice of vehicles out there. Have you seen the cost projections for some of these companies???? They would have sank years ago if it was not for bankruptcy protections and such...that's our TAX dollars bailing them out! No thanks, I buy what I get for the bang for your buck theory. Japanese put out a new model version every four years, like clockwork. How often is a domestic car revamped? Again they have gottem better but if it were not for the Japanese coming to town, I'd still be able to buy a Dodge Omni right now!

Oh and here is a quote from Topix: Your town. Your news. Your take. about the sales of the Nissan Titan someone says was not good!

"Nissan Motor Co. announced today U.S. sales for June of 92,213 vehicles, up 23% compared to the same month last year."

So much for the Titan not doing well, check the specs on the other Japanese truck manufacturers too, they are all doing well. They are certainly not selling as well as the domestic trucks, BUT they are getting their foot in the door, just like they did in the 80's with their small cars AND they are making solid impressions on everyone that owns them. The Japanese don't look at 1/4 fiscal year profits, they place themselves in the running for the next 10 year projections.

It's a global world, our industries better wake up. God forbid the Chinese start building decent cars, and don't say it will never happen. We said the same thing of the Japanese in the late 70's early 80's!

Here's a good article on where the American, Japanese and Europeans Car manufacturers now stand!

Domestic vs. import

 

[Builder]

And I've owned 2 japanese cars, one Honda and one Nissan and they were both junk. Honda transmission grenaded at 50K. Then again at 90K.
Just sold one of my Ford Superduties. Got 7&1/2 yrs of commercial service from it without a problem.

My wife owns an '07 Volvo XC90. A beautiful car, but after only 6 months, the A/C broke during a 90* temp trip to the beach (engine is made by Yamaha of Japan, Denso elec system), the wipers broke and the catalytic converter shield is hanging down about 2" off the road.

My new '07 GMC Duramax is excellent. Only one very minor noise the dealership has bent over backwards to fix.

Your Acura/cavalier analysis is laughable. ... I mean..... you'd have to be deranged to expect a $10,000 GM econobox to outlast an Acura luxury flagship car, right???

Last quality survey I read had Cadillac in 2nd place behind Lexus. Not bad.

The Titan is only doing well partly because it's new and all the japanese car/truck people that have to have one went out and bought one. I'd guess sales will level-off. Personally, I think the Titan looks like an urban pimp-wagon, but I'm just an old dinosaur American truck guy, not a big 20" chrome wheel bling-bling guy.

I know American cars & trucks probably won't be around in 20 years, but I'll continue to drive them and even if they do break down, I'll feel good knowing I did my job to support American industry.

Peace-out.

 

[Builder]

I am not confident "made in America" means quality or service.

Nor do I. It doesn't always gaurantee quality and I don't want to portray that as my opinion.

I think some guys here get all flustured when someone says "I like to buy American made products". It's not an inference of superiority, it's a buying preference based on helping my culture & people preserve its' national pride. Nothing more.

However, I will dissent when someone says everything Japanese is better than American.

 

[gemini5362]

So how is the American product a fair comparison to a porsche when it costs 1/2 as much?

Seems like to me the American product is a far better value.

Builder did you not take my remarks a bit out of context. I said a porsche 911 which is comparable with a corvette on acceleration and top end was twice as much. It also handles a lot better and it might be put together a notch better but it should be for twice the money. I also said the other porsches I named handled a lot better than the Vette but did not have a monster big engine and does not have the acceleration of a vette. They Handle a LOT better and they are in the ballpark as far as price goes. You can actually get a stock boxster for about 5 to ten thousand less than a vette and in my opinion which is strictly an opinion you get a lot better car for your money. It just wont snap your neck back when you take off. On the other hand you dont have to slow down near as much for corners. The stock boxster is rated at 159 mph top end I do not know what the vette is rated but I do not think it is much more than that and if it is who cares. The other thing about the porsche dealership at least the one I use is the service after the sale. I have owned several makes of cars and I own 4 different cars now. NONE of the dealerships I use or have used can even come close to the Porsche dealership in customer service. But I need to get out of this conversation before someone asks me how it relates to tractors. If you want to finish talking about this please feel free to email me