LJWorld.com weblogs Stop Me If You've Heard This One
Posted
by Roedapple
December 11, 2011 at 10:16 p.m.
Buy American Made . . . If You Can Find It.
The Federal Government, in its infinite wisdom, has determined an automobile must have a minimum of seventy-five percent American made parts (which include Canadian but no mention of Mexican) to qualify as a "domestic" vehicle. With this information in hand I proceeded to determine a proper replacement for each of my three current modes of transport.
My F-250 (assembled in KC) came in at a comfortable 90% made in USA. Next up, the Explorer rated 85%, still not so bad. Would you believe the Taurus (Assembled in Chicago) is only 70% American made? Not even a domestic automobile by US government standards. Hmmm . . . so, what do I buy for the spouse when trade-in time rolls around?
Well, the Toyota Corolla and Avalon, and the Honda Ridgeline and Pilot all come in at 75%. The Toyota Camry hits 80%, and the Toyota Seinna goes 85%. The Mazda Tribute is tempting with an 90% number but I think I have the answer, and can still stay with my favorite brand. Ford Econoline vans come in at a whopping 95% American Made! She may not like being mistaken for the plumber though . . .
Ford Van from web source by RoeDapple
and 14 others
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beatrice (anonymous) says…
Buy her a Harley.
Did_I_say_that (DIST) says…
2011's Most American Cars Per Percentage of Parts:
1. Ford - Sport Trac: 90% Made in US
2. Mercury - Mountaineer: 85% Made in US
3. Ford - Explorer: 85% Made in US
4. Dodge - Dakota: 84% Made in US
5. Dodge - Avenger: 83% Made in US
6. Volkswagen - Routan: 82% Made in US
7. Dodge - Grand Caravan: 82% Made in US
8. Chrysler - 200 Sedan: 81% Made in US
9. Toyota - Tundra, Sequoia and Camry: 80% Made in US
10. GMC - Savana: 80% Made in US
11. Chevrolet - Express: 80% Made in US
12. Dodge - Nitro: 80% Made in US
13. Honda - Accord: 80% Made in US
14. Chrysler - Town & Country: 80% Made in US
15. Jeep - Wrangler 4 Door: 79% Made in US
-------------------------------------------------------------------
2011's Least American Cars Per Percentage of Parts:
1. Honda - CR-Z, Fit and Insight: 0% Made in US
2. Suzuki - SX4 Sedan & Hatchback: 0% Made in US
3. Subaru - Forester & Impreza: 0% Made in US
4. Mazda - 2, 3-4D, CX-7, MX-5 Miata and RX-8: 0% Made in US
5. Mitsubishi - Lancer Evolution, Lancer/Sportback and Lancer Relliart/Sportback: 0% Made in US
6. Nissan - 370Z Coupe, Cube, GT-R, Leaf, Murano, Quest, Juke and Rogue: 0% Made in US
7. Infiniti - EX 35, FX 35/50, G37, M37/56 and QX56: 0% Made in US
8. Lexus - CT200h, ES350, GS350/460, GS450h, GX, HS250h, is, isc/isf, lfa, ls460, ls600h, LX570 and RX HV: 0% Made in us
9. scion - tC, xB and xD: 0% Made in US
10. Toyota - 4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Highlander HV, Scion iQ, Land Cruiser, Prius, Yaris H/B, Yaris S/D: 0% Made in US
11. Volvo - C30, C70, S40, S60, V50 and V70: 1% Made in US
12. Hyundai - Tucson: 1% Made in US
13. Suzuki - Grand Vitara: 1% Made in US
14. Hyundai - Azera, Elantra "MD," Elantra Touring and Equus: 1% Made in US
15. Kia - Sportage: 1% Made in US
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/americ...
RonHolzwarth (Ron Holzwarth) replies…
What? Rolls Royce is not on the least American made list?
rockchalker52 (anonymous) says…
When the missus gets her new van, could you send her over to check out my water heater? She can park in the garage, I'll move the Honda & VeeDub outa the way.
I miss my F150.
labmonkey (anonymous) says…
Roe-
I am glad to see you are looking at this factor, which means you are a part of the solution and not the problem in this country.
headdoctor (anonymous) says…
What a crock. The solution would have been for the US automakers to actually run their business like it was a business and not turn out high priced unreliable junk in the first place.
RonHolzwarth (Ron Holzwarth) replies…
That's so true. Sometimes I scour cars.com for various brands of automobiles, and look at how many miles the cars offered for sale have on them.
Hondas and Toyotas routinely have well over 200,000 miles on them, while a Ford with over 150,000 miles on it is a rare item. Except for the pickup trucks, they do get up to higher miles.
funkdog1 (anonymous) replies…
ding ding ding ding ding!!! winner! winner!!!
Liberty275 (anonymous) says…
Buy a Government Motors Volt, but make sure you always carry around a package of hot dogs so you can have a weenie roast when it catches on fire.
headdoctor (anonymous) replies…
Yup. Just a modern version of the Vega with a higher price tag and more batteries. In the last 40 years GM hasn't produced much more than 4 decent models that were all refaced to fit the various GM name plates.
RoeDapple (anonymous) says…
Hi bea! I've been tellin' her for years that his and her Harleys would look great parked on her side of the garage! I still get her world famous, second grade teacher staredown no matter how good I think the idea is.
autie (anonymous) says…
When she gets done over to 52's with the hot water tank, send her down here. I gots a toilet tank that needs the guts replaced. Make sure and tauk to her about the blind spots and them mirrors too.
Liberty_One (anonymous) says…
The idea that buying American cars is good for the economy makes as much sense as thinking that growing your own food is good for the economy. Trade is a good thing and not to be feared.
acornwebworks (Kendall Simmons) replies…
Nah. Not a good comparison.
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. So how the heck do you think there's no "trade" involved in the manufacturing and buying of cars just because they and their components are made solely in your own country?
Antonym (anonymous) says…
White Econoline vans are the number one vehicle of south of the border painters.
gccs14r (anonymous) says…
Get your Econolines while you can. They've been discontinued. Ford is retooling the KC plant to build the Transit. Not the Transit Connect, the regular Transit. No word on whether there will be a diesel option, but you will have a choice of either FWD or RWD. FWD has a lower load floor, which will be good for delivery services.
infidel (anonymous) says…
The Cars.com American-Made Index. They disqualify models with a domestic parts content rating below 75 percent, models built exclusively outside the U.S. or models soon to be discontinued without a U.S.-built successor.
Rank Make/Model U.S. Assembly Location Last Rank
1. Toyota Camry Georgetown, Ky.;Lafayette, Ind. 1
2. Honda Accord Marysville, Ohio; Lincoln, Ala. 2
3. Chevrolet Malibu Kansas City, Kan. 5
4. Ford Explorer Chicago —
5. Honda Odyssey Lincoln, Ala. 6
6. Toyota Sienna Princeton, Ind. 10
7. Jeep Wrangler Toledo, Ohio 9
8. Chevrolet Traverse Lansing, Mich. —
9. Toyota Tundra San Antonio 8
10. GMC Acadia Lansing, Mich. —
If your shopping for a new ride, there is a place on the sticker that says % of American parts and where is was built.
infidel (anonymous) says…
I was amazed to look at a package of fresh garlic at Checker's the other day, only to see it was imported from China, doesn't seem to fresh to me if it has traveled from China to Lawrence.
blue73harley (anonymous) says…
It is getting harder and harder to tell what is actually American made. The latest labeling gimmick is to state, "Made in the USA" followed with the fine print "with components sourced globally". I bought a fence bracket that had this sticker on it! It was just a piece of flat iron with a couple of bends. So I guess the steel came from China and it was bent here? Same deal with a pair of Vise Grip brand pliers that i bought at Home Depot.
RonHolzwarth (Ron Holzwarth) says…
I read something that was supposed to be a true story quite a few years ago, when many things sold here were made in Japan.
A Japanese tourist was in a souvenir shop here in the USA, and was looking for something to take home to Japan from the USA. But, he had a complaint: The only thing he could find in the store that had not been made in Japan was the clerk!
headdoctor (anonymous) replies…
The Chinese have the same problem in China. A few years back the family we were host to wanted to bring something back actually made in China. Just about everything they looked at was made in the USA or elsewhere. The items they found made in China were of poor quality or missing pieces. Even the booze was distilled and bottled in Japan.
LadyJ (anonymous) says…
Funny this should pop up now. At 40,000 miles, my GM car would not turn off. The ignition was stuck with the car running. Had to drive it to the dealer and leave it, running. It was a very expensive repair since the ignition had to be replaced. Thing is, this happens a lot on my model, the internet is full of complaints and dealers admit it. GM is well aware of it. The replacement ignition has been redisigned so it supposedly won't happen again, it's just going to cost you around $500. The government won't force a recall because it's not a safety hazard, it just won't turn off. Don't you just love it?
jonas_opines (anonymous) says…
Of course, far more American laborers over the years have been displaced by technological advancement and automation than offshoring and outsourcing could ever hope to compete with.
Where did the machines that put those American made cars together come from? Were those also American made?
If a car runs, I don't care where it comes from. Americans are no more automatically deserving of livelihoods than anyone else on this planet.
tange (anonymous) says…
I always buy Pangaean.
/ not gonna let a little continental drift limit my shopping options
RoeDapple (anonymous) says…
Oh, by the way bea . . . it's my understanding that 15% of Harley Davidson's parts are made out of country. If you factor "assembled" parts, (American made but assembled elsewhere) the numbers approach 60%. So much for The American Icon
RoeDapple (anonymous) says…
Aaaanndd . . . MotorTrend has named the 2012 Ford F-150 "Truck of the Year" !
headdoctor (anonymous) says…
I have no doubt that you can get higher mileage out of US built vehicles but at what cost? 200,000 miles out of one is a good thing but not at the cost of another engine or 3 $1900 transmissions on top of normal maintenance to get that distance out of them.
RoeDapple (anonymous) says…
Although I am not a fan of Chrysler products, I know a sales rep for a machinery manufacturer who drove a Dakota pick-up 860,000 miles before the transmission gave out. He then purchased the truck from his employer and repaired it. He has since driven it an additional 75,000 miles and intends to "drive it until there is nothing left". Except for the transmission he claims only brakes, a few alignment parts, u-joints and tires have needed replaced, all considered normal maintenance. Oh yeah, he's a big guy, says he replaced the drivers seat twice.
RoeDapple (anonymous) replies…
The Dakota . . . German engineering but 77% American made parts.