I am afraid that "profits go" statement is an old and tired saw by those who do not understand globalization. In addtion to factories, Honda also has a design center in California and Acura design center as well. The Accord and Civic coupes are actually designed by Americans. Toyota and Honda both invest in the local communities in which they operate factories and in the American stock market. Ask the people of Marion OH and Georgetown KN about Honda and Toyota and they will tell you that both companies are good citizens in their respective areas. Also you may not know this but Toyota and GM jointly own a factory in Freemont California. This factory originally built both the Toyota Corolla and the Geo (Chevy) Prizm and currently builds the Corolla, Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe. When Chrysler was under German(Mercedes)ownership for the last several years, where did you think the profits went? Not beating up on you here Cant Stop, just want you to think a little bit deeper.

As for my own choices here is why I picked the cars I did. In 1996 I did not have a lot of money for a car. I wanted a stylish, safe (ABS and Airbags) economical 2-door. I checked out the Dodge Neon, the Chevrolet Cavalier and the Ford Escort LX 2 and the Honda Civic 2 door. I had arround a total of 14K to spend. The three Detroit products had cheap hard plastic interiors, huge panel gaps, and engines that sounded like they came from a tractor, not a car, The Neon had a 3 speed transmission. The Ford was not even available with a sunroof I could have had any of those three new for the money I spent. Instead I looked at 1994(used) Civic EX 2 door. I had good luck with Prelude I owned previously so I tested this one. It too made some noise on takeoff but it was much more refined and it had a variable valve timing engine(something Detroit failed to use until 3 or four years ago) Once it reached highway speeds it went rather quiet. Wind noise was muted, and the four speed auto shifted with confidence. The body panels were tightly assembled and the dash consisted of soft touch plastics with very small assembly gaps. I sold the car in 2003 for 4500.00. It had 123,000 trouble free miles, was still solid, and everything worked just fine.

In 2003 my income was significantly higher and I needed more of an interstate car,something large and roomy. I looked at the Pontiac Bonneville, The Lincoln LS, The Chrysler 300M, The Mazda Millenia, The Nissan Maxima, The Volkswagon Passat, The Toyota Avalon and the Acura 3.2 TL The Oldsmobile Aurora and the Lexus ES 300. After doing a lot of research, reading comparison tests, and test driving each of the cars extensively I went with a used TL. It had a deft combination of performance, smoothness, quality, comfort, style, and reasonable (for its class) fuel econonmy. Of the rest I really liked the Aurora a lot, but then I learned GM was pulling the plug on Olds and I was hesitant to buy a car from a brand going out of business (good move, the people who bought these new, cannot give them away) The "Bonne" with its outdated 4 speed auto and antiquated 3800 engine felt ponderous and not paticular quick. The control switchgear could have been made by Fisher Price. The 300M was thoroughly nice but I had read numerous negatives on its reliability. I still have the TL at 108K miles I have been very happy with the car.

Since I have relocated to a large city I will be in need of a smaller car in the next few years. Something not as lavish, better on gas, and easier to park. I also want a hatchback. I looking to pay around 15K. The front runner is the Mazda3. In terms of driving experiance and quality it has the edge on its competion, which consists of the Dodge Caliber (ugly interior that screams CHEAP!) THe Chevy HHR, which has only a 4 speed automatic (Unacceptable in this age, of 5, 6 and seven speed autoboxes) and looks like it was penned in the 1940s. I will test them all.

I want Detroit to win, but they need to win because they make the best driving, most visually appealing, and highest quality product for the money. I believe that the folks at GM can do some great engineering. They need to distill that down through the line though at every level.

If any of you have an American car that you really love and believe in the quality of, take a minute and thank an import buyer. If it were not for us, Detroit would still be building ugly, crappy barges and cheaply made econo cars. Detroit's recent improvements ( Malibu, CTS etc) are the result of being forced to compete with some very good Honda, Nissan and Toyota cars out there.