Posted on 01/19/2007 6:14:25 AM PST by eraser2005
"Are you saying the interior of riceburners is attractive?"
Well, I will. The interiors of Japanese cars are well put together and lacking in parts that come loose or fall off in the first few years, as well as having controls that are logical, fall readily to hand, and have good tactile feel. Also good-looking materials and decent design (with some exceptions). None of which were things that you could say about most American cars until recently, and still not for quite a few models.
"You need therapy to get over your anger issues with the Japanese and Japanese vehicles. Really."
Sure, everyone needs to be like-minded on this subject and love their Jap car. People who drive those things can't believe some Americans like American products.
Compared to the "GM Gray #1" plastic crap that GM's been churning out the last decade or so? For the most part, yes.
Why, for example, is the steering wheel offset 1-2" to the left in EVERY SINGLE ONE of the last generation GM full sized trucks and SUVs? And WHY did they make the dash out of such cheap plastic that it starts cracking in two years?
Ford at least seems to have a bit of a clue - they make their interiors out of more durable materials that don't scream "I BOUGHT MY PLASTIC FROM THE CHEAPEST CHINESE VENDOR EVER!!!!" Chrysler has good interiors as well, usually better than Ford's.
The Japanese tend to be mixed on their interior design, but they usually use materials that hold up more than 24 months and they're generally acceptable in terms of their design.
I drive mostly British cars these days. And when the *British* are making better, more reliable cars than the domestic products, there's something wrong.
Both of my Jaguars combined have been in the shop less than my neighbor with the 05 Impala. Or my neighbor with the 04 F150, come to think of it.
Well, I will. The interiors of Japanese cars are well put together and lacking in parts that come loose or fall off in the first few years, as well as having controls that are logical, fall readily to hand, and have good tactile feel. Also good-looking materials and decent design (with some exceptions). None of which were things that you could say about most American cars until recently, and still not for quite a few models.
So when I got in my buddy's Lexis and the window button fell out in my hand when I touched it, that's a quality interior? And logical is where the button direction is sideways for an up-down window function, that's logical?
GM is still doing their door locks with a left-right switch, how does *that* make sense?
No, what we can't believe is that there are still people who can't type a sentence or two with using derogatory phrases like "riceburner", "jap car", and so on. We buy the vehicles that we feel will best serve our needs for the money, and American mfrs have given us little enough reason to believe that theirs are it over the last couple of decades. Seems like you're the one that pops up on every thread criticizing American cars, or praising Japanese ones (and vice-versa, too) with "riceburner" this and "Jap" that, without making any real contribution to the discussion.
He can't bloody spell, either. I find it hard to take someone seriously when they make so many spelling errors.
"Not really - seen the latest employment figures? GM employs less than 200,000 people. Toyota alone employs almost that many directly."
Toyota employs about 32,000 people in the US. GM employs about 140,000. Even after their cuts, Ford will be around 90,000.
Where the heck are you getting your numbers? 200,000 employed at Toyota? That is almost an order of magnitude too high, unless you're counting their worldwide employment compared to GM's US employment (hardly a fair comparison)
FYI, Toyota spends more on that lobby than Ford.
AFA just picked the easier target. They'd look pretty silly boycotting a company that had skyrocketing sales.
Are you sure you didn't do a little bit more than "touch it"? ;^)
What kind of "Lexis" was this? How old? So that one car had a small issue - every GM I've been in in the last 20 years has had execrable interior materials and stupid control layouts (like the left-hand turn signal/wiper control/cruise control/God knows what else chromed lever about an inch in diameter and everytime you moved it it felt like you were breaking a chicken's neck - fortunately gone now, but hung around far too long).
Oh, boy, so do I. I grit my teeth and scowl every time I get in my 4Runner because I can't experience the pure joy of American-built cars. My Toyota purrs like a kitten, all the fittings and finish are in place and have never rattled/fallen off/come unglued and it's quiet as a church on Saturday night.
It makes me year for the days when I had American cars that resembled Pinewood Derby racers with their dodgy construction and death-by-a-thousand-cuts little failures.
Of course, I'm probably just falling prey to those nasty capitalists who produce a quality product at an acceptable price. Just gullible, I guess.
It should also be noted that GM has the world's largest library on human-machine interfaces and ergonomics, has over the last 50 years spent more money than anyone else to develop and extend this line of research, and even sells this information to other makers and companies.
The weird part is that GM themselves never seems to *use* this information.
Ironic post of the day.
I was actually counting Toyota's worldwide numbers - wanted to see if he'd catch it or if he was going to bluster. :-P
"Don't give me that. GM alone employs more Americans than all the riceburner companies combined."
Wow. That's irrelevant.
Chevy pickups are about 80% made in Mexico.
But, hey justify your support of the Democratic party via the UAW, anyway you want.
Me, I just but the best pickup for the jobs -- which are, alas, no longer Ford or Chevy --- and I've literally bought over a thousand Ford and Chevy P/Us over the last 10 years.
The Titans don't fall apart when abused by roughnecks.
That all I care about.
And that, in the end, *is* the ultimate question for trucks, isn't it?
They all suck with with that crap.
year = yearn
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