>>Come on, you knew what I meant. I'll never buy a ford, gm, or Chrysler EVER

My Ford Fiesta was half German and half English. I don't think it took the best from either country. Wiring and electrics were definitely English...

I know what you mean about English wiring.

My headlight switches should have been labeled "Off" "Dim" and "Flicker"

bigwill2, I'm sorry you've had bad luck with imports, but it's unfair of you to lump all "so called" imports together. As you see I'm on my fifth Honda, and have had virtually no problems with any of them. But would it surprise you to know that EVERY one of them was either built in Ontario or Ohio?

What bothers me are the flag wavers that criticize me for buying a so called "import", yet have no idea where their "domestic" vehicle was actually made. For example:

Chrysler PT Cruiser - Toluca, Mexico
Dodge Ram 1500 - Saltillo, Mexico; Lago, Mexico
Chevrolet Aveo - South Korea
Ford Aspire - South Korea
Ford Festiva - At various times: S.Korea, Brazil, Mexico, China
Late 80's, early 90's Pontiac LeMans - South Korea
Dodge/Plymouth have had a longstanding habbit of re-badging Mitsubishi product. (Arrow/Challenger/Sapporo/Lancer/Talon)
The "All American" Chev Equinox has it's motor and various other parts built in China.

And this was just doing a quick search. You are right, I wouldn't feel better buying any of the above "imports". I feel very strongly about putting money back into our own economy. At least I kept one local guy working for one more day, because of my choice to buy a domestic built car, instead of a domestic car built elsewhere.

newf, I'm in the same Honda boat - tires, brakes, muffler. That's it. But to say that you will NEVER buy a big 3 again is pretty short sided. If I found a 4 door Chev/Geo Prism cheap enough, I'd buy it! It's a re-badged Toyota Corolla from the California plant. (At the time, all North American Corolla's were being built in Ontario, or the sister plant in California)

In reply to:

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My headlight switches should have been labeled "Off" "Dim" and "Flicker"

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LOL!

Q - Why do the British drink warm beer ?

A - Lucas refrigerators

I'm thinking this thread has officially been hijacked.

Funny joke, by the way, John.

What gets me is that these vehicles are manufactured in different countries to take advantage of 'cheap' labor, but the vehicles are still overpriced. I would probably buy a vehicle from the big 3 depending on the deal I could get, and if I could sit in the darn thing. That brings me to a pet peeve of mine. I have a physical problem, you know the old multiple herniated disk thing and hard seats cause me nerve pain. There are very few newer vehicles I can actually sit in for an extended period of time. So, for this reason, when I need a vehicle I usually look for something with the most comfortable seats I can find, which means it will probably be an old clunker. I remember 'back in the day' when you could buy and Olds, Buick or Caddie and you wouldn't have to worry about comfort. It's been awhile since this has been true. Have you seen some of these vehicles? I can actually go to a dealership and look through the windows of the cars and tell if I could actually stand to sit in it. End of rant.

Ah yes....Lucas: Prince of Darkness.

I had never thought of the problem of back pain thru injury and comfortable car seats. I wonder if any of the prosthetics manufacturers have? Perhaps there is something out there that is near infinitly adjustable that fits a few generic seat dinensions that may be transferable from a limited range of vehicles?

But it is amazing of how the number of comfortable car seats has actually dwindled over the years.....I wonder if it's safety related or what?(too many design constraints limiting the available options?)

With an increase in ergonomics development you'd think there would be a corresponding increase in seating comfort