Do you consider Made in America when purchasing a car?

[H. Lecter]

The good news for American automotive companies is that their quality has increased, mostly due to unions losing power.

Has nothing to do with unions losing power. Not sure if you’re trying to troll but whatever. The increase in reliability has to do with things like quality stops throughout the assembly line. For example, if a person can’t complete the job in their station the line will stop until it can be repaired or someone attaches their name to release it. It still has to be repaired or when it gets to the end of the line when it’s barcode is scanned it will not be let out of the building until it’s repaired. Simple as that. Quality issues are usually vendor issues and not assembly in nature.

 

[BlueRaider22]

Has nothing to do with unions losing power. Not sure if you’re trying to troll but whatever. The increase in reliability has to do with things like quality stops throughout the assembly line. For example, if a person can’t complete the job in their station the line will stop until it can be repaired or someone attaches their name to release it. It still has to be repaired or when it gets to the end of the line when it’s barcode is scanned it will not be let out of the building until it’s repaired. Simple as that. Quality issues are usually vendor issues and not assembly in nature.

It's also advancements in technology.

For example, one technology is the usage of chemical bonding (adhesives) rather than welding. The new F150 for example essentially "glued" together in a lot of areas.

Another is the quality and precision of robotics.....

Or the improvements in building materials.......

Or improvements in engineering....

 

[Boyd_Givens]

I work in a trade that supplies the automotive industry. The big three pulled their work 20 years ago and went to Mexico and other countries. Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Subaru to an extent has put food on my family's table for years.

As for vehicles, I've had good luck for the most part until recently. My wife's '13 Altima dropped a transmission last month. The car had to be repaired at the dealership to a tune of $3800 after everything was complete. Nissan did send me a check last week for half of the repair on a car with over 90k miles so that eased the pain a little.

My GMC pickup with 48k miles is using a quart of oil between oil changes and GM says that is completely normal. I have 2 Jeep Cherokee XJs and they don't use that much oil combined. Ridiculous.

 

[ekywildcat]

Look into it. I'm telling ya straight up it's a Dodge Truck bed problem or was until recently. Look closely also because often the cabs aren't rusting at all.

Always loved the Mopar's, but the Dodge truck beds do rust right over the wheel well. Saw lot's of them, my brother has one. I think it's a case of the inner wheel well not draining, if I had one, I would drill a few holes at the top.

Love Toyota's now. Have a 2004 4runner bought new, 226,000 miles, brakes and oil changes and changed one of the VVT solenoids about 10,000 miles ago. Changed it myself. Frame is getting rusty though, hoping for a recall like the Tacoma's.

2009 Corolla my wife drives to work. 224,000 mile's. No issues. Great car, love driving it. Bought a new Rav4 back in the spring. It stays on the car port most of the time. It's my wife's retirement car.

 

[FusterCluck]

Always loved the Mopar's, but the Dodge truck beds do rust right over the wheel well. Saw lot's of them, my brother has one. I think it's a case of the inner wheel well not draining, if I had one, I would drill a few holes at the top.

Love Toyota's now. Have a 2004 4runner bought new, 226,000 miles, brakes and oil changes and changed one of the VVT solenoids about 10,000 miles ago. Changed it myself. Frame is getting rusty though, hoping for a recall like the Tacoma's.

2009 Corolla my wife drives to work. 224,000 mile's. No issues. Great car, love driving it. Bought a new Rav4 back in the spring. It stays on the car port most of the time. It's my wife's retirement car.

The Tacomas that got frame recalls were due to the frames being made in Mexico and shipped by rail to NUMMI in Fremont. The covering/coating that is applied to the frames to protect them was sandblasted off during transport thru the desert. They had that sussed by like 2006, only a couple model years were affected. I wasn't aware of any frame issues on the 4Runner. Wife just traded away a 2003 Limited in 2017. Thing was a tank. My 05 Taco has some spots, though.

Edit, just realized you were talking about the first gen Tacomas. My bad.

 

[SWFLwildcat06]

The final assembly for my 2018 F150 was in Kansas City, MO. However, 20-30% of parts are from Mexico.

I’m not so sure what really, if anything auto is truly American made anymore. I thought I had read before that the Toyota Camry and some suv/ minivan from GMC were considered the most American made currently.

 

[H. Lecter]

The final assembly for my 2018 F150 was in Kansas City, MO. However, 20-30% of parts are from Mexico.

I’m not so sure what really, if anything auto is truly American made anymore. I thought I had read before that the Toyota Camry and some suv/ minivan from GMC were considered the most American made currently.

Your F150 is on the list of most American vehicles
https://www.cars.com/american-made-index/

 

[ekywildcat]

The Tacomas that got frame recalls were due to the frames being made in Mexico and shipped by rail to NUMMI in Fremont. The covering/coating that is applied to the frames to protect them was sandblasted off during transport thru the desert. They had that sussed by like 2006, only a couple model years were affected. I wasn't aware of any frame issues on the 4Runner. Wife just traded away a 2003 Limited in 2017. Thing was a tank. My 05 Taco has some spots, though.

Edit, just realized you were talking about the first gen Tacomas. My bad.

I've read it had something to do with the coating. It covered several years, they replaced my BIL's frame and he was I know at least the second owner of the truck. His was an '06 I believe.

Yea, those 4runner's are great. Mine still runs and drives fine. I got a complete new dash about two years ago due to a recall for the pad cracking. Mine had a small crack. But from reading on 4runner forums, I'm not the only one with frame rust issues.