The Cars.com American-Made Index [2011]

Cars.com ^ | 06/27/2011 | Kelsey Mays

[Hunton Peck]

Of interest to those in the market for a new ride, who want to buy American.

[Chi-townChief]

You have to wonder how they calculate this kind of stuff.

[BobL]

The UAW cars (i.e., the ones to stay away from if you don’t want to help finance Obama’s re-election) on the list are the GMs, Fords, and maybe Jeeps (not sure).

[Palter]

Ford might be UAW, their choice; but they didn't take a dam bailout.

I'll never buy a bailout brand.

[arderkrag]

Thanks, but I only buy used. Good to know what parts are primarily made here, though.

[Chi-townChief]

I tend to go with used Pontiacs.

[Chi-townChief]

It remains clear that Japan is still not to be trusted for a long, long time >>> The author, a leading Japanese statesman, asserts in this book that the balance of power has shifted and that Japan will no longer play polite sister to the US in world affairs. He claims that Japan could instantly overturn US military superiority by selling its crucial computer missile chip to the USSR. He therefore stresses that it is time for the US corporations to listen to Japanese advice on achieving long-term economic strength instead of relying on trade sanctions to bale them out. He is also convinced that America's racial prejudice, which resulted in dropping the atomic bomb on Japan and not Germany, remains rampant and is a persistent cause of friction between the two countries. This book therefore helps the reader to understand a changing world in which Japan moves towards economic and technological supremacy. A long-time member of the Japanese Parliament, Shintaro Ishihara is the award-winning author of several literary novels and the President of PEN Japan.

That was back in '89 but still represents a word to the wise.

[BobL]

“I tend to go with used Pontiacs.”

We all make decisions...I used to love Pontiacs, but I will NEVER buy another UAW car again. They gave us Obama, and I’ll do my little part to help them get on the unemployment line.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

We rented a Chevy Malibu last week in Seattle for a drive into the Cascades. What a sh*tbox.

[Chi-townChief]

Yeah - I’m not sure what to go with next. I won’t buy any Chinese, German, Japanese, or Korean crap and GM has the 0bama problem and Chrysler is hooked up with FixItAgainTony so it may be Ford by default.

[Hunton Peck]

Same here on buying used. Someone one else can obsess over all the wind noises and other phantoms. I’d rather just get in and start drivin’.

[BobL]

Yea, it does sound like you’re quite limited. Ford is still preferable to one of the government companies...although not preferable enough, in my book.

[Hunton Peck]

I’d like to see a union-made index, too, but haven’t found one.

[Hunton Peck]

“I’d like to see a union-made index, too, but haven’t found one.”

Wait! Here’s a union-made index now:

http://www.bctgmlocal19.com/consumer/index.html

[Hunton Peck]

Here’s a cache of that page, in case the union decides it’s attracting too many of the wrong kind of people (me, for example) and takes it down:

Union-Made, U.S.-Made Cars, Vans, Pickups

Listed here are 2000-model year cars. Light trucks and vans that are assembled in the United States by employees working under United Auto Workers (UAW) contracts. Models that are assembled only in the U.S. are listed separately from models that are assembled both in the U.S. and another country. Makes and models not listed are imported or assembled in the U.S. by nonunion workers. The list is adapted from information supplied by the UAW.
CARS UNION-MADE IN THE U.S.
Buick

LeSabre
Park Avenue

Cadillac

DeVille
Eldorado
Seville

Chevrolet

Corvette
Malibu
Prizm

Chrysler

Cirrus
Sebring Coupe

Dodge

Advenger
Neon
Stratus
Viper

Ford

Mustang
Taurus

Lincoln

Continental
LS
Town Car

Mazda

626

Mercury

Cougar
Sable

Mitsubishi

Eclipse
Galant

Oldsmobile

Alero
Aurora
Intrique

Plymouth

Breeze
Neon
Prowler

Pontiac

Bonneville
Grand Am
Grand Prix

Saturn

EV1s
Saturn
Saturn LS

CARS UNION-MADE IN THE U.S. AND IMPORTED

Chevrolet

Cavalier

Ford

Contour
Focus

Mercury

Mystique

Pontiac

Sunfire

Toyota

Corolla

LIGHT TRUCKS AND VANS UNION MADE IN THE U.S.

AM General

Hummer

Cadillac

Escalade

Chevrolet

Astro
Blazer
Express
S-10 pickup
Venture

Chrysler

Town & Country

Dodge

Dakota
Durango

Ford

Econoline/Club Wagon
Escape
Expedition
Explorer
Ranger

GMC

Jimmy
Safari
Savana
Sonoma pickup
Yukon

Isuzu

Hombre

Jeep

Cherokee
Grand Cherokee
Wrangler

Lincoln

Navigator

Mazda

B-Series Pickup +
Tribune+

Mercury

Mountaineer
Villager

Nissan

Quest

Oldsmobile

Silhouette

Pontiac

Montana
Trans Sport

Toyota

Tacoma pickup

LIGHT TRUCKS AND VANS UNION-MADE IN THE U.S. & IMPORTED

Chevrolet

Silverado/Chevy pickup
Suburban
Tahoe

Dodge

Caravan/Grand Caravan
Ram Pickup

Ford

F-Series pickup

GMC

Sierra pickup
Yukon XI

Plymouth

Voyager/Grand Voyager

How to be Certain It’s Union-made in the U.S.A.

If you’re looking at one of the new cars, light trucks or vans that are both union-made in the U.S. and imported (see above), you can determine where it was assembled by checking two labels each new vehicle sold in the U.S. is required by law to display.

Simplest and quickest is the “Parts Content Information” sheet that usually is posted on a window.

It lists, among other things, the location of the “final assembly point” of each vehicle.

The second label to check, the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), is more difficult to read.

The VIN is stamped into a small metal plate attached to each vehicle’s dashboard on the driver’s side, often near the juntion of the dashboard and the windshield.

If the first character of the 17-character VIN is a 1 or a 4, the vehicle was assembled in the U.S.

Here is the meaning of some of the other first characters of the VIN:

“2” Canada; “3” Mexico; “9” Brazil; “J” Japan; “K” Korea; “S” England; “W”; Germany; “Y” Sweden; “Z” Italy

[nascarnation]

11 years out of date, FWIW

[Hunton Peck]

It’s the best I’ve found so far. Anything more recent is probably circulated only where non-union-members are less likely to find it (there was a link to another such list from DU to a UAW page, but that’s been taken down).

It’s kind of interesting, though, how much the union-made list is skewed toward high-end vehicles and not “working-class” ones like the F-150 or Dodge Ram.

[BfloGuy]

It remains clear that Japan is still not to be trusted for a long, long time

What-are-you-talking-about?

I don't think it "remains" clear at all. In truth, it was never clear. The Japanese have proven themselves to be one of our very best allies -- probably just behind the Anglosphere countries.

I think I'd give this worry up.

[BfloGuy]

It remains clear that Japan is still not to be trusted for a long, long time

What-are-you-talking-about?

I don't think it "remains" clear at all. In truth, it was never clear. The Japanese have proven themselves to be one of our very best allies -- probably just behind the Anglosphere countries.

I think I'd give this worry up.

[SVTCobra03]

“The UAW cars (i.e., the ones to stay away from if you don’t want to help finance Obama’s re-election) on the list are the GMs, Fords, and maybe Jeeps (not sure).”

My Shelby GT500 was made in Flat Rock Michigan. I don’t care if it was made by Orcs. There is nothing else like it and besides, Ford did not take bailout money. Zoom-Zoom.