Mainly a American, European, Asian vehicle owner?
- Thread starter ZZman
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Mostly Japanese brands for me. I’ve had multiple Toyotas, Hondas, Nissans and one Subaru. The only American brand I’ve owned is Ford and that’s been many years ago. I grew up in a Ford family. Never owned a European or Korean vehicle.
Fords have been the most reliable and trouble-free, hands down.
Close second is GM/Chevy
I have never had good luck with Chrysler/Dodge products.
Japanese vehicles have made me walk home as much as the Chevys have.
I have never had a Ford product leave me stranded.
Close second is GM/Chevy
I have never had good luck with Chrysler/Dodge products.
Japanese vehicles have made me walk home as much as the Chevys have.
I have never had a Ford product leave me stranded.
I was born in 1979. My parents brought me home from the hospital in a 1980 Chevy Malibu.
Having grown up in the '80s and always been interested in cars, and paying attention to the differences between brands, my opinions were, of course, shaped by my experiences.
My folks weren't "car people". To them, a car/vehicle was simply a way to get from "Point A" to "Point B".
As I said, when I was born, they had a 1980 (or thereabouts) Malibu, and a Honda CVCC of around the same vintage.
I can still remember, when I was about 4 years old, hearing an engine noise start to come from that Malibu (a knock, possibly?), and, even then, knowing that something wasn't right.
We also had issues with the 2-speed Hondamatic in that CVCC. Personally, I never would have gone with the automatic in that car. Probably would have been superbly reliable with a standard gearbox.
Anyway, as most of you know, the late 70s and the entire decade of the 80s was a horrible time for American autodom. We had that Malibu, the CVCC, then an '85 Plymouth Voyager, then another Voyager (this time, an '87 model), then my dad bought an '87 Tempo as a 2nd car (that was the worst car we ever had). Then we had a 1990 Dodge Caravan (I learned to drive in this, I think).
Meanwhile, my dad's parents, who were actually "car people" (my dad's father was a Mopar mechanic and service manager), had made the switch to Toyota, Honda and Nissan. And, to a kid, the comparison of those Chrysler, Chevy and Ford products I was familiar with, the difference was night and day. Even as a kid, I could see and feel the difference in quality and refinement. The doors on the grandparents' 1990 Accord felt and sounded like a vault when they closed. The interior of that car, and a 1990 SE-V6 Nissan Hardbody pickup they owned, were oozing and dripping with refinement, as compared to the cheap, shoddy American cars of the time. As a matter of fact, I think Nissan has gone backwards in their quality since the glory days of the early 90s.
So, I became a fan of Japanese cars. I never had much experience with Euro stuff; nobody in our family ever had anything European.
So, when I started buying my own vehicles, I've always bought Japanese.
I've had a 1987 Maxima (V6, 5-speed), a 2004 Accord (I4, 5-speed), a 2007 Tacoma (V6, autobox), and a 2016 WRX.
Out of those, the Tacoma and the Accord have been the most trouble-free (I only kept the Accord for 3 years). The WRX has been fine so far except for a 3-month stint at the dealership for them to diagnose a noise that turned out to be an exhaust leak (the factory left a nut off an exhaust header stud, allowing the hot exhaust gas to eventually erode a hole in the gasket).
I've been most impressed with my Tacoma. I bought it new in June 2007 and it now has over 198,000 miles. I've done every oil change myself and have always used some form of Mobil 1 (regular, initially, then some of the old Truck & SUV formula, and, since around 70K, the M1-EP variant). I do OCIs around 10-12K (I've posted a few here). I just changed it last night for the first time in a year (about a 9K OCI). It uses zero oil between changes. I have not had to replace any major components. I did have a U-Joint (the far aft one) start to squeak when in reverse at around 75K, and I went ahead and replaced all 3 while I had the driveshaft out. Easy job; there are only 6 bolts holding the shaft in, and I borrowed a press from Auto Zone to press the bearings out. A solder in the overhead compass/temp display failed. I had a friend re-solder it...problem solved. The latch on the center console broke a few years ago. At the time, Toyota didn't offer a replacement part, but, yesterday I discovered that, now they do. I had to replace an idler pulley around the 100K mark because it was making noise. THAT'S IT! Air still blows cold, original alternator, starter, pumps...no major component replacements. Interior still looks new.
For me, Toyota's reputation for reliability has proven to be accurate.
Having grown up in the '80s and always been interested in cars, and paying attention to the differences between brands, my opinions were, of course, shaped by my experiences.
My folks weren't "car people". To them, a car/vehicle was simply a way to get from "Point A" to "Point B".
As I said, when I was born, they had a 1980 (or thereabouts) Malibu, and a Honda CVCC of around the same vintage.
I can still remember, when I was about 4 years old, hearing an engine noise start to come from that Malibu (a knock, possibly?), and, even then, knowing that something wasn't right.
We also had issues with the 2-speed Hondamatic in that CVCC. Personally, I never would have gone with the automatic in that car. Probably would have been superbly reliable with a standard gearbox.
Anyway, as most of you know, the late 70s and the entire decade of the 80s was a horrible time for American autodom. We had that Malibu, the CVCC, then an '85 Plymouth Voyager, then another Voyager (this time, an '87 model), then my dad bought an '87 Tempo as a 2nd car (that was the worst car we ever had). Then we had a 1990 Dodge Caravan (I learned to drive in this, I think).
Meanwhile, my dad's parents, who were actually "car people" (my dad's father was a Mopar mechanic and service manager), had made the switch to Toyota, Honda and Nissan. And, to a kid, the comparison of those Chrysler, Chevy and Ford products I was familiar with, the difference was night and day. Even as a kid, I could see and feel the difference in quality and refinement. The doors on the grandparents' 1990 Accord felt and sounded like a vault when they closed. The interior of that car, and a 1990 SE-V6 Nissan Hardbody pickup they owned, were oozing and dripping with refinement, as compared to the cheap, shoddy American cars of the time. As a matter of fact, I think Nissan has gone backwards in their quality since the glory days of the early 90s.
So, I became a fan of Japanese cars. I never had much experience with Euro stuff; nobody in our family ever had anything European.
So, when I started buying my own vehicles, I've always bought Japanese.
I've had a 1987 Maxima (V6, 5-speed), a 2004 Accord (I4, 5-speed), a 2007 Tacoma (V6, autobox), and a 2016 WRX.
Out of those, the Tacoma and the Accord have been the most trouble-free (I only kept the Accord for 3 years). The WRX has been fine so far except for a 3-month stint at the dealership for them to diagnose a noise that turned out to be an exhaust leak (the factory left a nut off an exhaust header stud, allowing the hot exhaust gas to eventually erode a hole in the gasket).
I've been most impressed with my Tacoma. I bought it new in June 2007 and it now has over 198,000 miles. I've done every oil change myself and have always used some form of Mobil 1 (regular, initially, then some of the old Truck & SUV formula, and, since around 70K, the M1-EP variant). I do OCIs around 10-12K (I've posted a few here). I just changed it last night for the first time in a year (about a 9K OCI). It uses zero oil between changes. I have not had to replace any major components. I did have a U-Joint (the far aft one) start to squeak when in reverse at around 75K, and I went ahead and replaced all 3 while I had the driveshaft out. Easy job; there are only 6 bolts holding the shaft in, and I borrowed a press from Auto Zone to press the bearings out. A solder in the overhead compass/temp display failed. I had a friend re-solder it...problem solved. The latch on the center console broke a few years ago. At the time, Toyota didn't offer a replacement part, but, yesterday I discovered that, now they do. I had to replace an idler pulley around the 100K mark because it was making noise. THAT'S IT! Air still blows cold, original alternator, starter, pumps...no major component replacements. Interior still looks new.
For me, Toyota's reputation for reliability has proven to be accurate.
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- Dec 30, 2006
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Mostly Japanese here:
Datsun 280Z
Oldsmobile Delta 88
Oldsmobile Toronado Trofeo
Nissan 300ZX Z31
Mitsubishi 3000GT
Mitsubishi 3000GT
Nissan 300ZX Z32
Honda Accord Coupe
Datsun 280Z
Oldsmobile Delta 88
Oldsmobile Toronado Trofeo
Nissan 300ZX Z31
Mitsubishi 3000GT
Mitsubishi 3000GT
Nissan 300ZX Z32
Honda Accord Coupe
I feel like I don't need to state my preference, but I will.
I've owned 3 Nissans. Everything else has been European, with the exception of dad's old Chevy. It's vehicle 26 and it broke the chain.
I've owned 3 Nissans. Everything else has been European, with the exception of dad's old Chevy. It's vehicle 26 and it broke the chain.
Mostly European and Japanese. I do own a Ford Expedition because I need to tow a race car and haul the family. The Expedition is good at that, but even my relatively high end model (King Ranch) feels pretty cheap and has some dumb quality control in places.
I used to be a Japanese only owner, but have changed my tune over the past few years.
Brands and number of cars I have owned
Pontiac (1 - Firebird)
Toyota (2 - tercel and Sienna)
Honda (3 - 2 civics and accord)
Dodge (1 - caravan)
Brands and number of cars I have owned
Pontiac (1 - Firebird)
Toyota (2 - tercel and Sienna)
Honda (3 - 2 civics and accord)
Dodge (1 - caravan)
Vehicles I have personally purchased:
Honda (motorcycle)
VW
Jeep (AMC)
VW
Mazda
Chevy
Dodge
Chevy
Dodge
Chevy
Jeep
Hyundai
Hyundai
Dodge
Ford
Scion
Honda (motorcycle)
So primarily US based companies, 2 European, 4 Asian cars, 2 Asian bikes.
Honda (motorcycle)
VW
Jeep (AMC)
VW
Mazda
Chevy
Dodge
Chevy
Dodge
Chevy
Jeep
Hyundai
Hyundai
Dodge
Ford
Scion
Honda (motorcycle)
So primarily US based companies, 2 European, 4 Asian cars, 2 Asian bikes.
I have only owned Japanese cars. 2 made in Japan, and 1 made in Canada. My father was the one who linfluenced my Japanese brand purchases. He bought a Dodge Ram in the early 90s that had rod Knock and burned tons of oil in the first 40k miles. After that he only bought Japanese cars. He told me to only buy Japanese cars. But since talking to other owners, I am not so against buying American. I probably won’t buy a FCA product, but am not so against a Ford or GM product. If I were to buy a new car now, it would probably be the Focus ST manual transmission. I like that car a lot.
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All of my vehicles have been American brands, except for one ... a Hyundai, which was built in the USA.
100% North American (although all Canada-made cars and trucks, except one Mexican Dodge RAM, one Milwaukee made motorcycle) until recently, but my first and only Asian vehicle is a Japan manufactured Mazda, which I really like. They all reflect a certain character, which isn't surprising, but the takeaway is a well made vehicle is a well made vehicle, and junk is junk. You can get either if you really want.
All of my cars have been Japanese. Mostly Toyota with a couple Nissans. I have regretted the Nissans, but not the Toyotas.
Originally Posted By: ZZman
I have owned a few Toyotas, a Opel and a Datsun. But probably 80-90% of my vehicles have been American. How about you?
Don't you consider the Opel to be American? It was part of GM until just a few months ago. The Saturn Astra was just a rebadged Opel Astra, and they didn't even change the name, and there are a few more like that, mostly Buicks now (Regal, TourX, Cascada, etc). Ford Europe is largely a separate company from US Ford. Do you consider a 70s Capri or Fiesta to be American or German?
How about the Buick Opel by Isuzu?
Originally Posted By: ZZman
I have owned a few Toyotas, a Opel and a Datsun. But probably 80-90% of my vehicles have been American. How about you?
Don't you consider the Opel to be American? It was part of GM until just a few months ago. The Saturn Astra was just a rebadged Opel Astra, and they didn't even change the name, and there are a few more like that, mostly Buicks now (Regal, TourX, Cascada, etc). Ford Europe is largely a separate company from US Ford. Do you consider a 70s Capri or Fiesta to be American or German?
How about the Buick Opel by Isuzu?
Originally Posted By: ZZman
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Don't you consider the Opel to be American?:
I considered it European
I think they're designed mainly in Europe, but Opel is owned by GM.
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Don't you consider the Opel to be American?:
I considered it European
I think they're designed mainly in Europe, but Opel is owned by GM.
Three Toyotas , three Hondas, two Fords, one VW(sorriest) and two Chryslers(sorry and sorrier)
I've owned only the 4 cars listed below in order. The Chevrolet was a hand-me-down from my parents after it was already elderly.
My parents during my lifetime:
1 Willys
6 GM (1 with bad engine)
1 AMC
1 Ford
3 Chrysler (1 with bad transmission)
1 Subaru (with bad engine)
1 Toyota (made in Kentucky)
My parents during my lifetime:
1 Willys
6 GM (1 with bad engine)
1 AMC
1 Ford
3 Chrysler (1 with bad transmission)
1 Subaru (with bad engine)
1 Toyota (made in Kentucky)
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