"Jack Cassidy" wrote in message
om...


My Chrysler was made in Mexico, my neighbor's Chrysler was made in
Canada.
The two Hondas across the street were made in Ohio. What is an
American
car?

Tex


At this point (since Japanese cars are rarely made there any more), it
seems
to be a question of design and tolerances, and that apparently makes all
the
difference in the world. You don't say which Chrysler you have, but
chances
are good that it'll be burning oil by its second year. All Chrysler vans
do
that, without exception, and relatively new Neons also smell pretty
nasty
when you're driving behind one. A Toyota won't do that until 200k miles
unless you abuse the bejezus out of it. I had a 1982 Tercel that reached
180k miles. On the day someone smashed into it at 70mph and killed it, I
cleaned my stuff out of the trunk before it was towed and found I had
the
same unopened bottle of oil I'd placed there on the day I bought it. The
car
ran clean as a whistle at that age, with compression better than spec
across
all 4 cylinders.

An engineer could explain why the American designers can't seem to do
this.

Yeah, and the Japanese stuff never breaks down right? A good friend of
mine
will not buy any other kind of vehicle other than a Toyota, always tells
me
how great they are, buy conveniently forgets to mention that his 2002
Tundra
V8 had to have that camshaft replaced at less than 10,000 miles and his
2003
Rav 4 spends more time sitting at the dealers repair shop than in his
driveway.
My wife's 92 Ford Crown Victoria had 159,000 miles on it when we traded it
in on a 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis and it didn't burn a drop of oil
between
changes. My sister in law has a 92 Chevy Astro van with a V6 in it that
has
over 377,000 miles on it and not had a major break down.
Back in the 1970s and 1980s there was a lot of junk manufactured here but
if
you haven't tried an US brand lately you might be surprised.

Jack Cassidy

I had a '92 Taurus as a company car that wasn't TOO bad, except for the
various wires that melted every so often, the hood blanket that fell into
the belts and self-destructed, the two power steering pumps that died in the
first 20k miles, and the CV boots which deteriorated by 30k.

Of course all cars break down. But, thus far, my experience with Toyotas has
been that there are no mickey-mouse problems which make you feel like you've
been taken.

Even if Chevys & Chryslers could guarantee no breakdowns, I'd still have a
problem with their wretched exhausts. When a two year old car smells like a
30 year old Blazer, it means something about its contribution to lousy air
quality. All the major makers use CNC machining and can adjust tolerances as
tight as they like. But, they choose not to for economic reasons.