20th Jan 2007, 22:08
Where on Earth do people like commenter 11:05 get the idea that domestic owners have to replace engines and transmissions?? Our 50 year old Pontiac has NEVER had an engine or transmission replaced, nor has our 31 year old Buick. In fact, no domestic we have ever owned EVER had an engine or transmission replaced (several of which were driven over a quarter of a million miles).
We are a family of car enthusiasts and have owned everything from a vintage VW beetle to a Lincoln Town Car. The only cars we ever had ANY problems at all with were 2 Japanese and one German car. Domestic cars are made of stronger materials and if cared far will FAR outlast ANY import except Mercedes diesels. That's why there are ZERO Japanese cars that have racked up a million miles, while there are a number of domestics that have (Ford and Cadillac to name two). And the quality of domestics has been going up for DECADES. No domestic currently sold is by any stretch of the imagination unreliable or of poor build quality.
On the other hand one has only to look at the NUMEROUS recent problems plaguing Toyota, Honda and Nissan to see that import quality has gone nowhere but DOWN. Nissan almost went under due to the disastrously unreliable Titan and Armada, Honda has been overwhelmed with defective transmission woes, and Toyota??...well, gee, where to begin?? How about defective brakes, faulty air bags, sticking accelerators, steering problems, peeling paint, oil leaks, coolant leaks, and premature engine failure just for starters??
20th Jan 2007, 22:37
I wrote the original comment about the metal used on cars, and I know more about metal and "gauge" than anyone that responded to my comment. The gauge of metal, (such as 24 or 26 gauge) represents the 100th's of an inch that the metal is in thickness. The point was that the metal used is automobiles is not different in gauge enough to be significant in any way. A Honda might very well rust sooner than another make, (probably not), but will still be running for another 150,000 miles after a GM or Ford has long since gone to the graveyard. This is a fact, in case someone out there does not know this.
20th Jan 2007, 23:11
How does you telling us that a Honda will "be running for another 150,000 miles after a GM or Ford has long since gone to the graveyard" make it a fact? I'm sorry, but this is NOT fact. This here is wishful thinking. I love how you can try and tell other people that a car will outlast another just because of the make. IT HASN'T YET! You cannot tell us that it will last when it hasn't stood the test of time! The domestics have already been proven.
20th Jan 2007, 23:17
Another point, so what if the "gauge" of the metal is similar, that's dealing with same TYPE of metal. There are many DIFFERENT metals used in vehicles, some stronger than others, and in Honda's case, FLIMSIER. TEST, I took a fender from my old pickup truck, and one from an old accord in a junk yard. NOW, this was a while ago, and not with the intention of proving anything, but I planned on shooting them. With my 12-gauge shotgun I could not penetrate the fender from my old truck. The little Honda's? Right through it. I could also not bend the fender from my truck, while the Honda's was reletively easy. You see, just because the gauge of metal is the same, doesn't account for the fact the one metal is different than the other, and stronger. Example: Cast iron vs. Aluminum.
21st Jan 2007, 06:17
My younger teenage son sat on the right side/hood of my wife's brand new Accord (his weight 120 lbs) and produced a sizable very noticable dent in the hood. Not excusing him, but I did the same thing years ago sitting on domestic cars with groups of kids at college after classes. And the hoods and trunks were not damaged. I'd also rather have I Beams again from the factory in the side doors not just air bags on a side collision and thin sheet metal. But then the extra weight of that would require an even smaller motor for economy.
21st Jan 2007, 08:16
The domestics have NOT been proven to be anything, but junk, for approximately the last 35 years. Those before that were better, but they've been crap since the mid 70's.
Honda, however, HAS been proven for many years to have virtually indestructible engines, and drivetrains.
As far as SHOOTING AT MY VEHICLES!?, (or removed body panels), I'm not sure what your little test proved, but I'm not going to buy a domestic because of it.
I guess if I were to break down in one, I might be safer if someone with a 12 gauge shoots at me from a specific distance. I'd rather drive the Honda, NOT break down, and get away.
And I get the idea about domestic vehicles needing rebuilds way more often than imports from a little place called REALITY.
21st Jan 2007, 09:10
You can say it, and you can even believe it with all your heart, but that doesn't make it a fact. This is only an unfounded opinion based on blind loyalty to a certain brand. You may think you know something about metal gauge, but it is a FACT that sheet metal used in some cars is thinner than in other cars. You see, the difference between FACT and BELIEF is that I can demonstrate that the sheet metal used in an old American car is thicker than the sheet metal used in a new Toyota. On the other hand, you BELIEVE that the metal is the same thickness. However, the FACT of measuring them with a micrometer will prove that your BELIEF is incorrect.
21st Jan 2007, 13:22
Several years ago we were trying to help a friend push his Civic out of a ditch he had inadvertently backed into. One of the guys helping was trying to apply sideways pressure to scoot the rear of the car over a little. He put his back against the rear side quarter panel to push and the entire panel literally just CAVED IN!! I can imagine the damage something as substantial as a CAR would do to it!!
21st Jan 2007, 14:59
What is it with you people and thinking that if you own an SUV, you don't use it! Yes, some people USE THEM. I am one of them. To be exact, last year I put 21,608 miles on it, IN THE MOUNTAINS, on gravel roads, stuff that will throw you through the roof. I bought a house in the hills, and most of those miles were spent hauling gravel, pulling trees around, yanking them out of the ground, etc etc. This thing has been abused throughout it's life, through mud holes, snow, ditches, hell I even launched it through the air coming 'round a corner and out of a ditch. And still, the metal work remains perfect, the paint is stil perfect, tranny, engine, everything.
And another thing, what happened to my original comment? It was warped and blended with some of my other comments.
20th Jan 2007, 19:19
Thank you 13:46!