"Get Your Flag Decal Off Your Foreign Car!"

[Furcifer]

Amen, brother.

These are the people that slowly drove me out of the motorcycle industry. Dealing with them on a daily basis almost made me hate motorcycles.

I hear yah. I never got into the Harley thing. Bike maintenance is what it is without having a crappy one. And even when they make a nice quiet running comfortable bike, people seem to put straight pipes on them and monkey bars. WTF?

My dad had a Yammie V-Star 1100 Custom with 100K on it, ran like a top and never needed service before he traded it in on a FZ-1(touring) for almost what he paid for it.

Still from what I hear Harley's better these days, and the American/Jap gap that existed in bikes disappeared in cars 15 years ago.

Let's meet back here in 10 years when all the boomers sell off their hogs and Jap cruisers that sold for $10K are selling for more than Harley's that were $25K off the floor.

 

[quarky]

Harleys have improved. They had to. Pity is, the 'rice-burners' have now compromised their designs to mimic the Harley look and sound. The bikes are absurdly large and heavy. 1200cc isn't even a big motor anymore. The gas mileage on these new monsters is worse than most small sedans. Such a high price for the illusion of freedom and individuality.

 

[Bikewer]

I haven't been involved with motorcycles for a long time (though I do have a 2-stroke engine I plan to install in one of my bikes...).... I recall when one of the big motorcycle magazines did the first "superbike shootout" way back when. Featured the then-new Honda 750-4, the Kawasaki 500 triple 2-stroke, the big new 750 Triumph and BSA...and the Harley Sportster.
As I recall, the Harley came in dead last in all categories....

Of course, back then (early 70s) you could walk into a British MC dealership and see a cute little puddle of oil under each parked bike... "Normal", the dealer would say. Under each Japanese bike was....Nothing.
Then again, to digress even further.... When I took one of those "Warbirds" flights in an old Texan, I was advised to look at the tarmac under the engine before I got in the plane.
If I saw evidence of dripping oil, that was fine. However, if the runway was clean, that meant that there was no oil in the engine....

 

[Howie Felterbush]

Same thing with old Triumphs. When they quit leaking, they're out of oil.

Back in the day, British car salesmen would tell potential customers that a few oil leaks were important; they protected the underside of your TR7 from rust and corrosion. Kind of like a self-deploying undercoating.

 

[cj.23]

I have a Scarlet A on my car, but most people don't know what it means.

I would think immediately of Nathaniel Hawthorne and hoot you and wave in a friendly manner in the assumption you were proud of your adultery -- and wanted to tell the world! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Letter

Alternatively and far more boringly I would assume you were part of the Out Campaign, and proud to be an atheist. I just wonder if Dawkins et al were either a) completely ignorant of US literature, or b) just have a wicked sense of humour following the Rational Response Squad accusations against DAwkins of adultery, and were playfully teasing when they chose the scarlet letter for the "out" campaign logo.

Either way given the theme of HAwthornes book it seems highly appropraite - the shame is in the religious bigots, not in the woman who wears the scarlet letter.

cj x

 

[Uncle Otto]

"Buy American". If you go choosing the best product for the best price you must be a traitor to your country, and worse, to your own kind. Probably a Commie, too.

The hell of it is that these same people have no problem at all with filling their house full of foreign electronics, clothing, appliances, furniture, toys, cameras, phones, and on and on. People just single out cars because they're such an obvious, large, and high ticket item.

I drive a car actually built in the U.S., and made by one of the Big Three. Or is it the Big Two? Chrysler keeps changing nationality. Mine is a GM model. I have to replace my car soon, and I have no idea yet what the next one is going to be.

Not to get too far off topic----my personal experience with foreign vs domestic nameplates has been that the domestics ( but Chrysler seems to have terrible ratings) have pretty much caught up with the Japanese makes in terms of overall quality and reliability. Checking sites like Edmund's or Kelly Blue Book I found that horror stories about Japanese and European makes were just as common as the domestics. My father once told me--"you're taking your chances with any of them". Boy was he ever right. 10 years ago I bought a new Honda---turned into a right nightmare. Replaced it with a domestic----good move.

Just goes to show----they all make rotten cars sometimes.

 

[TragicMonkey]

The hell of it is that these same people have no problem at all with filling their house full of foreign electronics, clothing, appliances, furniture, toys, cameras, phones, and on and on. People just single out cars because they're such an obvious, large, and high ticket item.

And the houses themselves are frequently built with imported materials by imported workers.

 

[fitzgibbon]

Just goes to show----they all make rotten cars sometimes.

I guess my wife and I were ahead of the curve with having a problem Toyota. Bought a Camry when my Accord finally gave up the ghost. Bought a standard transmission version because both of had been driving stick for some time and felt more comfortable with one. Surprised the Hell out of the salesman and one in the colour we wanted had to be brought in from some distance away; guess most people prefer automatic with a Camry.

About a month after we got it, my wife parked the car on a slightly inclined parking pad at a convenience store and went in. After she went in, the parking brake let go and car drifted into the side of another car. Nice police off-duty officer who happened to be in the same mini-mall ascertained that the parking brake was properly applied. Toyota's people swore up and down that my wife didn't know how to apply a parking brake and their product was bulletproof.

When the Camry died (10 years in), we bought another Hyundai (Hyundai Excel & Accent have been our 2nd cars and quite reliable).

We'll never give Toyota the time of day again.

 

[I Ratant]

Same thing with old Triumphs. When they quit leaking, they're out of oil.

Back in the day, British car salesmen would tell potential customers that a few oil leaks were important; they protected the underside of your TR7 from rust and corrosion. Kind of like a self-deploying undercoating.

.
British Airways delivered some RB-211 motors using a Vickers Viscount to the Tristar plant in Palmdale.
We went out to look the thing over, and noted that one motor must be out of oil!
Way back when, there was a movie being promoted, "The War Lover", with a B-17 which had been used in the film on tour.
Saw it on a stopover at DC National. Under each motor was a large puddle of oil... and.. skid marks from the kids that fell trying to walk across the puddles.
Inside there was a 55 gallon drum of oil with hand pumps and lines going to each motor! Needed to get the antique thing across the pond from Engiland.

 

[quadraginta]

Same thing with old Triumphs. When they quit leaking, they're out of oil.

Back in the day, British car salesmen would tell potential customers that a few oil leaks were important; they protected the underside of your TR7 from rust and corrosion. Kind of like a self-deploying undercoating.

And of course we mustn't forget Lucas electrical systems.

A friend of mine was a professional mechanic. He was one of the go-to specialists in the area for older British vehicles. He had two t-shirts he frequently wore. One said "Lucas, Prince of Darkness", and the other, "The reason the British drink warm beer is because they have Lucas refrigerators."

He ultimately abandoned a lucrative career as a second generation mechanic, and went to work in a cabinet-making shop. About the only thing he willingly puts a wrench to anymore is a collection of classic Datsun 510s he and his friends enjoy.

 

[fitzgibbon]

I try to buy local where and when I can but that isn't always the easiest thing beyond a certain price point. Anything of any great cost these days is an international product to one degree or another almost without exception.

But economic nationalism costs; not an easy sell in the Walmart-world mindset.

Canada has just signed on the bottom line for 65 U.S.-built fighters and a maintenance contract that'll likely near-double the purchase price. These to go along with the last batch of fighters we bought from the States back in the day (and the ones before that and the CF-100s before them; don't get me started on the CF-105]).

If the lowest price for a give suitable object is your benchmark, sooner or later some pipsqueak country is going to undercut your domestic manufacturers. Then you're confronted with the decision of whether you resort to protectionism and foist a higher unit cost on your population for whatever that widget might be or do you accept the inevitability that technological manufacturing is a moving target and sacrifice the domestic manufacturers (and their voting employees) of said widgets.

While the States has long-espoused a belief in free trade (the war chant of the War of 1812 was "Free Trade and sailors' rights"), the dispassionate reality is that it's been "free trade so long as my voters aren't affected". I'm wagering that within a generation, responding to a growing number of voters in manufacturing districts whose jobs've been off-shored courtesy of Walmart and the like, the States leads a charge into protectionism.

Not everyone does something which can be protected by International Intellectual Property Rights Agreements. Those people still vote and cherished political stands are remarkably malleable when being turfed from office is a looming possibility.

 

[Elizabeth I]

I once had a TR-3 car. I loved that little car, and my husband kept it running by an amazing amount of dedication to constant small repairs (we bought it used and it was quite a bit more than two or three years after its original model year.) One day it simply quit and the mechanic we had it towed to said the only thing under the hood worth saving was the engine block.

 

[Uncle Otto]

And of course we mustn't forget Lucas electrical systems.

I know two guys who had older British cars with Lucas wiring in them and they echo your sentiments. One was an older model Jaguar, and I think the other was a Triumph.

 

[Accidental Martyr]

Not to get too far off topic----my personal experience with foreign vs domestic nameplates has been that the domestics ( but Chrysler seems to have terrible ratings) have pretty much caught up with the Japanese makes in terms of overall quality and reliability. Checking sites like Edmund's or Kelly Blue Book I found that horror stories about Japanese and European makes were just as common as the domestics. My father once told me--"you're taking your chances with any of them". Boy was he ever right. 10 years ago I bought a new Honda---turned into a right nightmare. Replaced it with a domestic----good move.

Just goes to show----they all make rotten cars sometimes.

True, but my experience has been just the opposite. Worst car I ever owned was a GM. Pretty much everything that could go wrong with that car did. I had a Honda Civic that I drove for ten years with no major problems. We sold it to a co-worker of my wife who still drives it to work every day. I wouldn't have gotten rid of it then, but my wife can't drive a manual transmission. We then bought a used Honda Accord (automatic) and have had no problems with it. It's too bad you got a bad Honda, we've been very pleased with ours.

 

[Uncle Otto]

True, but my experience has been just the opposite. Worst car I ever owned was a GM. Pretty much everything that could go wrong with that car did. I had a Honda Civic that I drove for ten years with no major problems. We sold it to a co-worker of my wife who still drives it to work every day. I wouldn't have gotten rid of it then, but my wife can't drive a manual transmission. We then bought a used Honda Accord (automatic) and have had no problems with it. It's too bad you got a bad Honda, we've been very pleased with ours.

Well that just goes to prove what I said-----for any make or model you can find anecdotal stories about nightmare cars that are not supported by the manufacturers. My point was that buying Japanese is no guarantee of anything. I traded the bad Honda in on a Buick---best move I ever made. The Buick was a wonderful car. The Honda was a 6 cylinder travesty in how not to produce a car. The sorry part is that the Honda wound up on a used car lot someplace, and somebody else got stuck with the damned thing. I mean I only had it for 18 months, and I couldn't wait to get rid of it. It was that bad. I should have lemon- lawed it but I couldn't spare the time and expense back then.

 

[RSLancastr]

Diesel!! My beloved GTi MkVI???

I didn't realise that grille was plastic until that happened. At least it was easily replaced.

Your duck picture reminded me of this:

Sometime around 1978, as I was accelerating onto the freeway one day, a seagull came flying out of nowhere and WHAM! right into the front grille of my car. I saw the body rolling around behind me in my rearview mirror.

Around thirty miles later, I was exiting another freeway when (presumably) another seagull came flying out of nowhere and WHAM! right into the front grille of my car. Again, I saw the body rolling around behind me in my rearview mirror.

Never before nor since have I hit a flying bird while driving. but it happened TWICE that one day, in the same trip. When I got to my destination Ichecked the car to see if somehow a sign saying "Seagull Grim Reaper" or "SEAGULL DOW JONES DOWN 200 POINTS" had somehow been stuck to it.
None had.

 

[I Ratant]

We came back to Palmdale after spending the day testing the Autoland system at San Jose airport.
Lots of flying in the pattern, close to the water in SF Bay.A seagull had the bad luck to have run into one of the nose landing gears doors when the gear was down. The airplane door was damaged beyond repair!
Hitting something living at 175 mph or so is bad both for the hittee and the hitter.
And roadrunners lose when crossing the road in front of cars.

 

[Accidental Martyr]

Your duck picture reminded me of this:

Sometime around 1978, as I was accelerating onto the freeway one day, a seagull came flying out of nowhere and WHAM! right into the front grille of my car. I saw the body rolling around behind me in my rearview mirror.

Around thirty miles later, I was exiting another freeway when (presumably) another seagull came flying out of nowhere and WHAM! right into the front grille of my car. Again, I saw the body rolling around behind me in my rearview mirror.

Never before nor since have I hit a flying bird while driving. but it happened TWICE that one day, in the same trip. When I got to my destination Ichecked the car to see if somehow a sign saying "Seagull Grim Reaper" or "SEAGULL DOW JONES DOWN 200 POINTS" had somehow been stuck to it.
None had.

Reminds me of this:

 

[Tormac]

Saw this one today on a Dodge pick-em-up..... A rabid "buy American" type, I suppose.

40 hours a week, I drive a Chevrolet Impala police car. It has a little sticker on the window that says, "proudly made in Canada".
I believe the Ford Focus is currently produced in Mexico, as are a number of other models.
To add further cognitive dissonance, Honda, Toyota, and Kia (at least) all have manufacturing plants right here in the US....
And all the big "American" manufacturers are invested to some degree or another with other foreign firms.

Folks need to wake up and realize that though "Buy American" is a catchy slogan, it is after all a world economy.

I wonder if the truck owner took the decal off since Fiat purchased control of Chrysler.

 

[I Ratant]

I know two guys who had older British cars with Lucas wiring in them and they echo your sentiments. One was an older model Jaguar, and I think the other was a Triumph.

.
Friend had an Austin-Healey.. his first car after college. Physics major. Makes bombs now.
He learned about automotive maintenance in the parking lot.
He had a standard rubber glove modified to fit over the distributor with the wires from the coil to the plugs lead out thru the fingers.
Lotsa humidity in Maryland.
But my Plymouth Valiant suffered from the same malady, shorting out on the real humid days, until I replaced the cracked distributor cap.