Hannity or no Hannity: BUY GM cars (or Ford, or Chrysler)

[LuckyTheDog]

Why?

Jennifer Granholm, the Democratic governor of Michigan is in a tight race against Dick DeVos, the heir to the Amway fortune. It's a tight race because the fortunes of the domestic auto industry is devastating Michigan's economy.

I understand why some of you are in a snit about GM hiring Sean Hannity. I am not happy about it, either. But we should not respond with actions that play into the hands of a far-right billionaire who wants to be governor of an important state -- and perhaps use that position as a springboard to a presidential run.

[mom cat]

1. Since I cannot afford a new car anyway, I can't help bail out Detroit.

[LuckyTheDog]

4. Can't afford a car? no problem

Here is another fine (and far less expensive) Detroit product:

http://www.bettermadepotatochips.com/

[mom cat]

9. Yummy. And they even ship out of state!

[LuckyTheDog]

17. I love those chips

Of course, part of that comes from knowing that I live only a few miles from the factory on Gratiot Ave. But they are tasty.

[Blue_Tires]

23. thanks for that link

worth looking into!

[gulfcoastliberal]

2. The sad thing is, GM and Ford are shifting almost all production to either

Canada or Mexico.

GM is shifting to Canada cause of, you guessed - UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE.

Ford is shifting to Mexico so they can their workers $2/day!

Meanwhile, Toyota, Hyundai, BMW, and Honda are employing tens of thousands of Americans to build their vehicles in American factories. Go figure.

BTW, I own an Oldsmobile.

[JeffR]

3. There are much better reasons not to buy Detroit's crap

than Sean Hannity.

[LuckyTheDog]

5. Such hostility!

U.S.-made cars are far better than they used to be. Meanwhile, Toyota is developing huge quality problems. Give me a Chevy Impala over a Camry any day.

[JeffR]

7. To each their own, Lucky

I'm not hostile, just opinionated.

[michreject]

22. And I bet you have an opinion

about domestic companies moving jobs overseas, and yet support the foreign companies over the domestic companies.

I am a UAW retiree.

[JeffR]

26. Meant to respond to this much sooner - sorry

I don't support the foreign companies either, actually. Truth to tell, I believe the internal combustion engine should be banned, period. I ride a bicycle. If the weather's lousy, I get on the subway. But that's just me.

To the larger point, Detroit's automakers have let their consumers, their workers, and the nation down. It's a textbook example of American industry's dizzying decline from world-beating to world-beaten.

We can only be happy that some of these foreign carmakers are actually providing some jobs Stateside. Lord knows the Not-So-Big-Three aren't providing many jobs, except to Mexicans and Canadians.

[tabasco]

16. Huge quality problems. LMAO.

Of the 31 cars that earned Consumer Reports top rating for predicted reliability, 29 were Japanese and two were domestic models. There are no European models on that list. Of the 29 vehicles from Japanese manufacturers, about half -- 15 -- are from Toyota and its Lexus division and eight are from Honda. The two domestic models making the list are the previous generation Chevrolet Monte Carlo (redesigned for 2006) and the new-for-2005 Mercury Mariner.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/cr_car_reliability.html

[LuckyTheDog]

18. I stand by my statement

The newer American models are as good as any on the market. The Chevy Impala is one of the best.

[alarimer]

28. Better than they used to be is still not very good

Don't get me started on Dodge trucks which really, really suck. We have stupid problems with ours at work all the damn time. More maintenance needed than I have ever seen.

[sufrommich]

19. Like what?

Putting another American union worker out of a job?

[SammyWinstonJack]

21. !

:applause:

[Justice Is Comin]

6. Nope Jennifer has got the perfect scapegoat now as to why

sales are down. I wouldn't buy a GM radiator hose now. They can stick it.

[AIJ Alom]

8. I like the Pontiac G6. Nice and sleek and I've always owned a Ford Taurus

or a Chevy Caprice. I just like big cars with lots of room in the back !

And Jennifer Granholm is HOT !!! Then again so is Hillary Clinton ! I like women with big brains, sue me.

[jseankil]

10. I'm down with Supporting American workers rather than just talkin about it

good post!

[LuckyTheDog]

12. Thank you

The "Big 3" still employ tens of thousands of union workers here in the U.S. And there are tends of thousands more engineering and other white collar jobs at stake.

This is not game. Real people, with real families could get hurt. In Michigan, people are losing their homes. Hurting good people in order to "stick it" to Sean Hannity makes no sense at all.

[Thickasabrick]

11. I'll buy a Ford but Fuck GM for associating with Hannity. I hate

that asshole.

[LuckyTheDog]

13. GOOD answer!

If you want advice on U.S.-made cars, PM me. And no, I don't work in the auto industry. But much of my family does.

[1932]

14. Chrysler makes some nice looking, decent cars, and the Mustang looks good

Also, Honda's Ohio plant buys a lot of parts from second tier suppliers in Michigan, and doesn't Toyota have a Michigan factory?

[LuckyTheDog]

15. Toyota does engineering in Michigan

But Toyota does not have an assembly plant in Michigan.

[leanin_green]

20. When they can make a product that can stand up, then. . .

I'll buy American again. Until they unlearn this flawed concept of "planned obsolesence" in order to create more consumerism, then I can't support them. The only American I buy anymore is Old American(anything before 1970).

They've only brought this on themselves. Let them stand or fall by their own rules of competition. Make a better product that can compete with the Europeans, Japanese, and now even the Koreans, and I'll buy it. I bought American all the way up to 1993. Finally got tired of having to buy something every 4-5 years because it didn't hold up. So, I bought a '65 VW bus and never looked back. Just purchased a Mitsubishi and I couldn't be happier.

What can I say? American cars are inferior to their foriegn counterparts.

[leesa]

24. They need to build better products.

I have HAD Fords and Chryslers and GMs and they were all CRAP. I have had a Toyota for four years now and not a single problem, and everyone I talk to says they far exceed the American cars. Why should I support an inferior product when, for years, they have refused to upgrade their product?

Even now...their answer is to make Hummers!!!

[LeftCoast]

25. First, they need to build a car I would want to buy

Then, I might consider it. Right now, this is just a moot point. :shrug:

[alarimer]

27. No way

I will make the decision to buy a car based on the value of the vehicles, not whether it was made in USA (and these days who can tell really?) I really, really hate Dodges. They suck (we have several trucks and work and they always have something wrong with them.) Fords do not appeal at all (well I bought a Mazda and Ford owns 33% of that). GM- I would only ever consider a Saturn. The rest are pretty boring. In fact, this time I only considered "foreign" cars because of what I was looking for.

[spoony]

29. kick :)

Tried to recommend but I guess you can't if a thread is more than 24 hours old, so thought I'd at least kick it.

[and-justice-for-all]

30. Ford does not make anything worth a shit....

...Never liked Ford and never will. If I buy anything its more then likely going to be a Honda Civic or a Toyota.