[Timgt5]

Due to the rising Yen, the big three Japanese auto makers are having diffiiculty here in America, Toyota reported the first operating loss in its entire history.

The president of Honda recently told the Japanese Prime Minister, that if something is not done soon regarding the exchange rates, that Honda would relocate in it's entirety to the United States, not just the factories but the corporate headquarters as well.

In affect, Honda would be become as American as Chevrolet or Ford!

I will keep everyone posted if I here more, this could potentionally mean a lot of jobs created.

TJ

[gimmeice]

Thanks for the info, I like Honda which is probably because they just built a huge factory in my town, creating many jobs. I really like the way Honda operates, they had to cut productions recently and instead of laying anyone of they cut everybody down to a four day work week, with the option of taking voluntary unpaid days off. This method seems a lot more fair then lay offs.

I had read both articles on both of these things
morejobs would be great
i like they took the 4 day week
to keep jobs
muffy

[splitimage]

Honda has a manufacturing plant here in ON and they make great cars. I'm still driving my 10 year old civic and nothing short of catastrophe will pry me from my car. Great mileage. Great handling, and it's a bit of a tank when it comes to accidents.

I love Honda.

--splitimage

[Timgt5]

I have owned 3 Hondas, a Prelude (87), fun car fun to drive, a 94 Civic coupe, very dependible and a 2000 Acura TL very smooth, swift and roomy. I have enjoyed them all.

[cantstopcrying]

Sure, they create jobs which is wonderful....where do the profits go--out of this country. If Americans didn't buy Honda's, it would be an American car factory that was built in your neighborhood, not a Honda factory. Of course, Honda isn't as old as GM or Ford, so they don't have the history therefore they don't have the mistakes. At least Americans are working, even if it is for a foreign company.

[Timgt5]

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.

[Timgt5]

One more point to make, since I bought all three Hondas used, all the money I spent, stayed in the local North Carolina economy, not a dime went to Japan. I always find new cars to be a waste of money. You lose, 2-3000 five minutes after you buy one. I know of no other product that drops in value so much. By buying a 2-3 year old well maintained used car I am saving 3-4K or more up front and the car still has 80 percent of its useful life still left in it. In the end each time I spent less in total cost over the life of the car. As for the warranty, I buy cars that score above average relibility in CR over a 5 year period and so far I have been very lucky on repairs (or lack therof. TJ