Glyn M Ruck

The Ford Europe/Mazda design teams have done a better job than their USA counterparts for a long time.

Adam Opel Russelsheim is lucky to get out of the GM conglomerate.

samaritrey

The only cheap American car i would get would be the Pontiac g8 gt. but that is not even built in the usa. my father got an 08 fully loaded g8 gt for 26k new. that is a lot of bang for your buck. i actually love that car good drive train, looks pretty dam good and has a v8 under the hood whats not to like. oh and it has on star which is nice if you have family that worries a lot.

ashura

my first choice would be german, second japanese. the reason for my preference is that to me german cars generally seem to have more personality and a better road feel. japanese cars are almost there and you can't complain for the price.

andy_meng1024

I just realized I had a typo on the title of the thread "Jananese" instead of "Japanese". Can any moderator help me edit it? Thanks.

RedG

Nothing wrong with Ford Trucks, and hasn't been for decades. Besides, last I checked not a single Mercedes (or any european car company) dealership uses Mercedes (or any european brand truck) Trucks for delivery vehicles (save the dodge sprinter, which is rarely used)...I wonder why that is...

RedG

On the note of the OP:

I'd buy any car I'd like to buy. That said, the new Lacrosse is a beautiful vehicle. So is the Taurus SHO, Ford Flex, Ford F150, Cadillac CTS, Corvette. With of course the obligatory Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati for good measure.

E55AMGFan

Not to start anything but personally when I saw the new Lacrosse I got a bit upset, they stole rear tailights from the Lexus LS and even a bit of the 5 Series shape and copied the LS's bumper/exhaust layover. Nothing innovative about that. Just putting in my reply, I respect your views, to each their own.

LILBENZ230

I wouldn't say that Germans have a bulletproof reputation for quality/reliability (anymore, at least). The C-class in 2001 and 2002.. OMG. What a nightmare. And the early 2000s were not a good time for Benz in general.

And have you seen VW?

The new Taurus is an improvement over the last Taurus. That said, in SEL trim it gets spanked by an Accord V6 (which happens to also be cheaper). In SHO form, it gets spanked by a G37 (also, cheaper). It's a joke.

W203E35

Lambo is German. Audi bought it
Or VW - I think VW owns audi right?

TemjinX2

just like jaguar is indian and hummer is gonna be chinese lol.

FrankW

I'd buy whatever that suits my taste on cars. it can be japanese, german, american, or brits or watever.

FrankW

financial ownership has nothing to do with the origin of the car company. Lamborghini is as Italian as it can be. If financial ownership is used for differentiate origin people should start saying Chrysler is Italian. OR if people really want to argue they can say Pagani is really Spanish and not Italian because the founder is Spanish national.

Porsche AG now has majority ownership of VAG which owns VW, Audi, Lamborghini, SEAT, Skoda, Bentley, and Bugatti.

TemjinX2

actually vw is going to buy out porsche now. Their hostile take over got caught in the worst recession since the great depression, so the tables turned on them.

Porsche makes more money as a hedge fund then they do making cars anyways.

The ownership of the company does make a difference. For example one of the reasons lambo quality has improved because the car is engineered by audi while lambo still does the basic styling.

FrankW

didn't read much auto news lately.


it makes a difference in quality and engineering because they have much more resources to work with. This is also because prior to the change of ownership Lamborghini was really a dying supercar brand and they wanted to once again able to compete with Ferrari. BUT It doesn't make them German.

It's like calling Holden or Opel or SAAB "American" just because they're owned by GM. OR calling Jaguar "Indian" because they're now owned by some Indian company that has money. OR Rolls Royce "German" because BMW owns it.


it's funny and sad how the Axis of power all makes better automobiles some 60 years later than the Allies.

Glyn M Ruck

Ford trucks are shockingly built & unsafe - I concede they are tough & crude - that's all. Hope you saw Clarkson's take on the F250 - real crap. That's why the rest of the world buy Toyota utes & Benz, MAN, Scania, Volvo & the likes in the big ranges. They don't buy Ford F Series.

Mercedes Benz is the largest real truck builder in the world - I wonder why? - They have not concentrated on the throw away American market. It makes no sense for them & they battle to keep up with their order book. Car manufacture is virtually a sideline for Benz.

Jack_2001C240

I agree with most of the comments above. Japanese cars tend to be the most reliable. I own a 1990 Toyota Celica ST and 1990 Honda Civic EX both bought new and both are still runnig fine despite 19 years of New York City driving. Many repairs after they were 14 years old but still original drivetrain.

I guess I am lucky that my 2001 C240 hasn't had as many problems as other's on this forum. This car definitely makes me feel safer than the other 2 above.

A previous American car I owned was a 1981 Buick Regal, bought new by my parents, that I traded in for the 2001 C240 after almost 20 years of service. This car did have assembly problems. I realize 1981 was a bad year for GM quality, but the car still lasted 20 years with a lot of repairs I admit.

jstaneff

My experience of the last 40 years .... yeah, 40 ...

I've owned several American cars. Mostly not very good cars. The last 3 were SUV-ish, including my current Jeep Wrangler. Fine for off-road, and if you roll it, just tip it back on its wheels and drive home. Total it, not much loss. They are "throw away" for the most part.

I've owned several European cars, including German, Swedish, French, Italian, and maybe something else. Generally not bad cars, but be careful. The Italian cars seem to need a lot of maintenance, and at least one German car had very weak suspension mount points (bounce off a curb and the car might be totaled!).

I've owned 4 Hondas, but no other Japanese cars. These were interesting. The high end ones (2 of them) were excellent. The low end (the other two) were POS. The first one I bought got wrecked 4 times, and was ready for more. Solid, reliable. But some of the others couldn't wait to be sold.

Since I keep 3 cars in the garage, I try to keep a variety. Now one is German, one Swedish, and one American. Next to trade might just be the American!

holycaoAMG

Personally, i take German any day, BUT i will admit japanese imports arent fall behind from their rival counterparts.

After reading this thread, i actually took the time to appreciate what Honda has really done for me in the past; great reliability and the down right designation for everyday use that German cars, or any car manufacture for that matter, cannot match.

I agree, German cars give off the personality, feel, handling, comfort, and that makes ALL the difference.

As for American cars?...

91RS

Japanese - I don't think they're as good as everyone claims they are and I think they all look the same. There are a select few Japenese cars I like such as the M45 and TL (old body style, new body style is hideous), but for the most part I don't like them and think they're overrated.

German - I've always liked BMW and Mercedes. I'm glad I finally got to own one. Not a fan of any VW at all though.

American - I'm a big GM guy. I like Ford a little bit and I do agree they're getting better. I just cannot get my head around why anyone likes Chrysler though. Some exterior designs are good (300 and Challenger), but every car they make has the same crappy interior (300, Charger, Magnum, Challenger, etc.). GM has been doing things right for much longer than people give them credit for, but the management just ran so many things into the ground.

LILBENZ230

How are they overrated? The Camry looks nothing like the Accord to me, for example, and both look a damn sight better than the Malibu/Fusion/Taurus.

This is the point I always make about this stuff. Domestics may now be able to honestly advertise reliability that is on par with the Japanese. But, for myself and lots of others on this board, it takes more that JUST reliability to make a car make sense. It has to be a combination of things and domestic car companies cannot seem to get the right combination.

Ford/Chevy/Chrysler might can say their cars are screwed together just as tightly as the likes of Honda/Toyota/Nissan. What they can't say is that the materials that are screwed together look/feel as good - cause they never do.

Glyn M Ruck

And by screwed together you might mean won't fall apart - but fit & finish is still poor.

HIRO63

I think that its where you live make really different. I live in Japan but I dont think all great about Japanese cars. Yes there is good ones out there but its just domestic car. Like if you take as safty I think German cars are great! When you crash we fell that you are safe but for Japanese cars not safe. US cars also I feel more safe.

I own C63 and Express. I have this Express for 6 years but no problem at all. Its a great car.

In Japan US cars are really popular amoung young guys. Everyone do what we call in Japan "US Tune up".

If I rank it German , US, Japan.

US has great cars I think.

LILBENZ230

The idea that Japanese cars are unsafe is ridiculous and unfounded. The excellent crash scores from Honda and Toyota (familiar with these) begs to differ.

TemjinX2

interesting point of view from someone from japan i'm assuming from the context of his post. Maybe...everyone dislikes there own domestic cars??

We just need someone from germany to post about there feelings about german cars.

splinter

Nonsense. :)

Ford is the only remaining marginally profitable concern amongst the former Big Three.

Our President saw fit to dismiss the privately-held GM CEO while granting a substantial portion of its ownership to the UAW. Chrysler, whose financing is controlled by the private equity firm Cerberus, has also pleaded for – and received - massive taxpayer subsidies in order to even make good their payroll. The government’s largess has temporarily forestalled several ‘too big to fail’ businesses from going **** up. Never mind their contracted suppliers who they’ve stiffed through various bankruptcy machinations. It’s a tough time to be in the automotive retailing business.

Have naïvely been surprised to witness the relatively large number of Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles while visiting the fatherland. They absolutely own the heavy duty truck and for-hire market share there. Hard for some Yanks to fathom given their minimal penetration here. Their Sprinter is of no use to splinter. Until they certify and import a decent tradesman lumber wagon to these shores, my lowly GMCs will have to continue to paying for themselves.

Damn thankful to be able to jump behind the steering wheel of an antiquated - albeit suitably modified - AMG during the weekend though.