After 20 years of American cars, I've bought a Prius

I hear you. My parents always had cars made by American companies, and I've had only Chrysler/Jeep cars in my 17 years of ownership (12 years with my current Jeep). I'm 1.5 months into my wait for a new Prius!

 

Welcome to PC dud2001,

I hear you. Here's how we rationalized: We had two Explorers up 'till the late 1990's (edit: Eventually trading one of 'em for a Range Rover ... Gawd ~ talk about "out of the frying pan & into the fire ... ). Then, we found out why folks were calling them exploaders. And then there were the roll-over issues ... and the mileage. Then our daughter's Chevy Cavalier ... etc. Then we find our "U.S.A." car companies are outsourcing to Mexico & Canada, and Canada is outsourcing motors to China, etc. Meanwhile, Toyota starts building factories here in the U.S.A. ... hiring U.S. citizens, even as the "Big 3" are shutting down factories & laying off by the 10's of thousands. Toyota is building more & more hybrids here in the U.S.A. too. It's no wonder there are no more 'big-3' ... in the U.S. as Toyota is #1 world sales. Meanwhile, the GM board tries & tries & tries to push Hummers, Suburbans, Yukons, Silverados, Tahoes, etc ... as what the public demands, even as they continue to stack up on their back lots. The GM CEO's salaries rival companies that are doing great, as they plan for "tomorrow". How do american companies plan? They offer cheep gas if you buy their land barges, or even free gas ... never mind that you'll have a hard time selling it used for $1,500 in 4 or 5 years. I wouldn't have believed things could go so haywire at the corporate level.

 

my uncle was a millright for Ford... he is considering a Prius too. now that is news simply because he gets like a 35% discount of any Ford vehicle... that is a LOT of money

 

Congrats on your new Prius purchase.

 

Remember that the Big 3 actually asked you to buy a hybrid [from someone else] if that is a product you really would like them to manufacture. In 2005 when the Prius was taking off but gas prices hadn't yet skyrocketed, CEO's of GM etc said "Our customers don't want hybrids, they want SUVs and all we can do is manufacture what they want." Thus if you buy one of their cars they think you are telling them "Yep, this is the exact car I wanted." No matter want you tell them verbally, you literally have to buy a Prius before they *really* believe you really did want one.

Doug

 

My family is for American Cars too.. Ford. GM... In 2004 i purchased my prius... then one day they changed in their 2002 cadillac for a Lexus RX400h and never looked back.

 

I too, have always bought American. (over 30 years)
However even Saturn closed their TN plant and are building most of their cars in Mexico. AND they don't have what I want with a manual trans...
SO I'm getting a prius even if it means my Veteran b-i-l is mad at me.

 

I understand and concur, I lived in Cleveland 57/ 58 and worked for GM. I didn't like the writing on the wall and got out of Auto towns and big cities. In 1961 I bought my first foreign car and have never looked back since. I have only had foreign cars since then. Mainly for Economy, quality, & uniqueness. An interesting book came out in the 60 s (I believe) called " Some like Chariots" at that time GM and others were telling us, "Americans don't like small cars" How history repeats itself. GM and others did not learn from the fuel crisis of the 70's so why should they learn now. When the American car manufacturers were reeling in millions they were fearful of throwing a few million on the dice table, for fear of losing! What is comical and maybe normal, none of these CEO's CFO's etc. had anything to do with the original Entrepreneurs. They are all dead. There is hope tho, take time to look at the Aptera. GM,Ford and Chrysler will probably wet thier pants over this one! Planning on this one is ALL AMERICAN! I hope it stays like that.

 

How can you be off topic when you started the post?

 

dud2001,
Like you, my loyalty for 35 years, was to American manufacturers. As a small business we usually have between 12-16 vehicles in our fleet at any given time. When gas bills approached $5,000. per month, it was time to make a smart business move. In January, we traded 4 GM gas hogs for 2 Prii, and one Tacoma. Added a 3rd Prius in May.

As our vehicles are lettered with our logo, it's easy to see we've made some changes in our fleet. A few weeks ago a retired GM employee called to let us know how disappointed he is in our company because we bought Toyota. He said it would be in the union newsletter and that union members won't patronize our business. He argued that the small Chevy pickup is comparable to the Tacoma. Maybe, but only if you don't care about quality or resale value.

Fortunately, one of my polite employees talked to him. I would have told him that after getting screwed by GM for 35 years, I decided to give somebody else a chance.

His phone call almost convinced me to trade the remaining GM trucks on Toyota trucks, but I'm a little more open minded. When the time comes, I'll still go for the best vehicle. I'm hoping beyond hope, by the time I'm ready to trade, GM has their collective head out in the sunshine and is building a quality truck that gets decent mpg.

The Big 3 spent a lot of years trying to combat the foreign cars by "marketing" guilt, implying it was un-American to buy a foreign car. I can't think of anything more un-American right now, than the greedy Big 3 who ignored the facts and lined their pockets selling big SUV's. They still don't have a clue.

Time wounds all heels.

 

Well, I have to wonder if it's a symptom of the 25% high school graduation rate in Detroit.
Isn't it like 50% or something for the rest of the U.S.?

 

Congrat's on your purchase.

My opinions on the matter mirror yours.

Welcome to PC!!!!

:welcome:

 

I like that line!

 

Just because GM / Ford CEO's have gone hawire, doesn't necessarily mean that a low high school graduate rate is the cause of their demise. There a some talented CEO's that never finished college ... as well as dumb college graduates. When I received facial acid burns in 1987, my plastic surgeon told me, "I could train a monkey to do the actual procedure". Meaning talent doesn't necessarily come from a diploma.

That said, I wrote to GM as well as told my local GM dealer that my next car WILL be GM, even though I fear its quality, but ONLY if it's pure EV. Still, I'm hoping the Aptera hits the market first.

 

For the record my experience parallels the OP... every car I have owned since I started driving over 30 years ago was American made until the Prius - I switched for the same reasons. When American automakers get in touch with reality and produce quality and innovation like the Prius, I will consider them again. Having said that my wife wants a Mustang LOL

 

The good news is that burning less gasoline is far better for our health, our economy and our nation... than buying an "American" car - whatever that means these days.

Ironic that one of the most patriotic things I'm doing is driving a car made in Japan (our Rav4EV) and leaving our gas car (The Prius) parked in the garage.

 

Hey, the club is larger than I thought. I bought my 2003 Prius in April 2008, with 100,000 miles on it. Getting my toes wet. Driven American, preferring Chrysler, but a period of AustinHealey 3000 driving told me ...there was something else...Parenthood intervened/station wagons...
Now, very pleased with decision... learning about how it all works... very nice sense of camraderie in this website. HOpe it stays that way, for the clublike feeling, without dues...
Like democracy, easiest club in world, with high dues...
But worth it to 'leave the place no worse than we found it'' by doing each of us... our bit to preserve it.
Thanks for listening...and yes, that "guilt" thing... Remember Lee Iaococca and how he "saved " Chrysler and took no salary?... WELL< he did get all his salary when he saved the company...and Chrysler NOW Still has NO hybrid cars underway...
Corporate America has dwelt too long on bottom line, did NOT invest in R&D, very short-term in thinking... oh, and golden parachutes for top folks...