12th Aug 2012, 09:17
Goods made long ago, appliances as you say lasted for decades. They were before planned obsolescence. It's now calculated as a throwaway. You say repair shops in towns where you could buy a new brushes for a vacuum for example. There was more steel in products.
I just bought a fan and a vacuum; very cheaply made. My thoughts are it's a result of foreign labor costs. We used to buy appliances made in America; now it's mostly China.
I have a 42 year old GM in my garage with a full frame, not a unibody. I have read of sagging and twisted frames on here. My car doesn't sag, and is worth 10 times what it cost in 1970.
I had some Toyotas in college that rusted apart in the Northeast. The engines and trans were still good; it is the unibody that was unsafe. It rotted to pieces. I don't think most are going to sink a lot of money in a Toyota; it is similar to the story above on appliances.
I disagree that America is building crap, and in 2012 I would buy a new Ford. I hit the 100k mark on Toyota, Nissan and Hondas, and pulled out my wallet for front end work, timing belts, heater cores, numerous brake jobs, failed A/C, power window, and even a sunroof motor. Import parts I found to be higher.
I did get a free Snapple and a car wash with Honda. But somehow figure I paid for them.
Anyway, test drive a 2012 Ford before you gripe. I love mine.
10th Aug 2012, 11:34
Sure, 1929 and early 30s is just the time to be buying as much as possible made overseas. Use to be soup lines, and now it's unemployment benefits. The import manufacturers here have only hired a small percentage; not what once was present here. It is a very good point about all the states that had manufactured cars, and the workers bought locally. I am seeing many other industries besides cars that are closing up and have downsized many people. Or merged and did away with half of them and reduced to one shift. Buy whatever you want, you ultimately will anyway. Just be prepared that in many areas of the country, there are many more thousands, once in manufacturing, that were buying homes, electricity and goods, that are now jobless. More home defaults, and most people in my area are not doing well at all. We lost 2 large domestic car plants, and our taxes went up and homes went down.