EARLY ASESSMENT OF NEW KIA SPORTAGE

[swsig]

Here are a couple of articles from cars.com that address the Made in U.S.A. question:

https://www.cars.com/articles/2023-...ndex-which-cars-are-the-most-american-467465/

https://www.cars.com/articles/2023-...ex-what-about-the-least-american-cars-467588/

If you want to buy 100% American, go with Tesla. If you want an internal combustion vehicle, start with Honda products. The "most American" vehicle from a traditional U.S. manufacturer is the Lincoln Corsair. And good luck finding a convenient Lincoln dealer these days.

 

[lihpster]

My father worked for a State Agency, therefore his work rig had the agencies logo on the side and the license plates said publicly owned. At that time it was a Nissan 4X4. As he was coming out of a store, a couple of guys in an F-150 started giving him **** about the State buying foreign cars. My dad told them, "It's made in Tennessee." "Yeah, out of Japanese parts!"
He then told them to pop the hood on their "American" truck. After he pointed out about 20 parts that had "Made In _____" on them, they were shocked. And after he explained the, at that time, large purchase price difference between a Nissan 4X4 and a Ford, they started to see the value. When he explained that, as a Game Warden, he had to take his rig some gnarly places and the Nissan never let him down, compared to the Dodges and Fords he had been issued in the past, one of them asked if there was a dealership in town.

 

[Tom S.]

Here are a couple of articles from cars.com that address the Made in U.S.A. question:

https://www.cars.com/articles/2023-...ndex-which-cars-are-the-most-american-467465/

https://www.cars.com/articles/2023-...ex-what-about-the-least-american-cars-467588/

If you want to buy 100% American, go with Tesla. If you want an internal combustion vehicle, start with Honda products. The "most American" vehicle from a traditional U.S. manufacturer is the Lincoln Corsair. And good luck finding a convenient Lincoln dealer these days.

Don't all Ford dealers handle Lincolns?

 

[pharmer]

My 2022 Nissan Frontier was made in Canton, Mississippi. 1st non-American (actually 1st non-GM) I've ever owned. Twice the horsepower of the Silverado it replaced and gets 7 more mpg. At 70 you can whisper, in the Chevy you ain't making 70 without knowing about it, shouting over the noise. Yeah it sucks sending the profits overseas but I bet folks in Canton are doing better for building Nissans. Joe

 

[Huskerguy]

Having come from the auto industry, I stick with American made vehicles from American companies. Granted, it's getting harder to do, but I'll do it for as long as I can.

In my early years I was in auto collision. Worked at a GM dealership and swore I would never drive anything else. Over the years I worked on every make and model out there and eventually the "foreign" cars came around and I found they were super easy to work on but still a true blue GM American buyer.

No more. It really started when we would use lasers and computers to measure the frames/unibodies of vehicles. At this time I was teaching auto collision in a college. American cars were well known to have very sloppy tolerances and it showed. Asian were much tighter at the time and European models outdid them all.

I lost my enthusiasm for American vehicles long ago. We have a Camry that is our get around town car and is the most trouble free car I have ever had. Bought a new Subaru in 2017 and it just hit 54K miles. It is a good vehicle but there are things I do not like about the Outback. Also have a 17 Ram half ton we just love to take to the farm, great value when compared to GM or Ford when we were looking.

Looking at customer satisfaction also is telling and the US automakers are in trouble. The overall best vehicle I ever owned was a 2004 Honda Pilot. That baby never missed a beat and drove like a dream and wasn't breathing hard at 125K.

 

[charlie sherrill]

My 2022 Nissan Frontier was made in Canton, Mississippi. 1st non-American (actually 1st non-GM) I've ever owned. Twice the horsepower of the Silverado it replaced and gets 7 more mpg. At 70 you can whisper, in the Chevy you ain't making 70 without knowing about it, shouting over the noise. Yeah it sucks sending the profits overseas but I bet folks in Canton are doing better for building Nissans. Joe

I had a friend of mine that inherited some of the Canton property where the Nissan plant was built. After owning it for a couple of years he was approached by a man wanting to trade the Canton property for less acreage near Hattiesburg. My friend made the trade thinking the Canton property was only good for farming. Hind sight is 20/20. He lost a lot of money on that deal because some of the property he traded for was deemed wetlands and it wasn't worth near as much money as the Hattiesburg property.

 

[charlie sherrill]

I mostly drive vans because my hobbies sometimes include driving a van load of stuff to a show or carrying a van load of stuff home that I bought. I've had several including Fords and Chevrolets. I bought a 2017 Toyota Sienna with 2000 miles on it in 2017. I've done normal maintainence, new brakes, and new drive belt. I've got 140,000 miles on it and it still drives like new and is a very comfortable ride. It's paid for and I hope to drive it at least three more years. This seven years is the longest I've ever kept a vehicle and it is a joy not to pay a car note. I've been saving what I would have been paying for a note for my next future purchase. My Dad used to do this. He would save the money and pay cash for a new ride and start saving again.

 

[LVSteve]

My 2022 Nissan Frontier was made in Canton, Mississippi. 1st non-American (actually 1st non-GM) I've ever owned. Twice the horsepower of the Silverado it replaced and gets 7 more mpg. At 70 you can whisper, in the Chevy you ain't making 70 without knowing about it, shouting over the noise. Yeah it sucks sending the profits overseas but I bet folks in Canton are doing better for building Nissans. Joe

I bought one of the first 4.0 Xterras in 2005. The only issues I had were with the windshield washer bottle (I had two develop leaks) and an aftermarket thermostat that I had fitted. I also had the radiator/transmission cooler replaced before something went awry. It turned out the originals used an aluminum cooler inside the bottom of the radiator and they would crack with age and heavy vibration. The replacement used a brass cooler.

I sold it after nearly fifteen years, and it was rattle free with excellent paint, good door seals and no dropped hinges or anything like that. Solidly built truck.

 

[LVSteve]

In my early years I was in auto collision. Worked at a GM dealership and swore I would never drive anything else. Over the years I worked on every make and model out there and eventually the "foreign" cars came around and I found they were super easy to work on but still a true blue GM American buyer.

No more. It really started when we would use lasers and computers to measure the frames/unibodies of vehicles. At this time I was teaching auto collision in a college. American cars were well known to have very sloppy tolerances and it showed. Asian were much tighter at the time and European models outdid them all.

Sloppy? They were continually messing with the frame on GMT800 Tahoe to the point that some exhaust shops here refused to even try and fit aftermarket systems as quite often nothing lined up. Then there was the body and all the shut lines. Sure, they weren't as bad as my '96 Firebird, but they were nothing to be proud of compared to say a Camry. I know, I had a 2001 Z71. Its successor was a 4.0 Xterra, with panel gaps almost half that on the Chevy. That was me done with GM trucks.

 

[venomballistics]

I had a 2000 Buick Century, obtained very used with close to 200k on the clock. Wife and I put on over 100K more. It's longevity made me a fan of Buick. So we got a 2011 Regal I already touched on some of it earlier in the thread, but the Regal made me a fan of Subaru. Starting with an 06 Forester, it is twice the car the Regal ever was. When the Regal made another suicide attempt, I got a 2023 Outback XT so the missus would have the Forester to drive. This thing makes the Buick seem like a sorry attempt at a vehicle ... well honestly it is a sorry attempt given its ridiculous legacy of unreliability.
We drove from NE to WI without the wife needing to stop. that was a first among all the cars.