DoPeY5007

Nanotech9

BWAAAAAhahahahahahahahahahah.

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NuTs62

thanx dopes for choppin my license plate out i want to remain anonymous!

[BH]Thorn

Dopey remember that pic you sent me of the Escort with the fake mods/cardboard grill/fake NOS etc? This reminds me of that.. that guy should have put one of those Ferrari emblems on his hubcaps and he probably could have added like 1mph to his speed

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Speedfreak

Maybe that is all of the Ferrari he could afford?

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CoolSpeed

Apex

Wow, the SF emblem. High end.

ribitch

i like the american pride plate holder, yet the car is a rice burner, and the ferrari badge is from italy. Nice pride buddy.

Sorry, but I think we should all buy american. Support the companies based here. If you like VW, I have no problem with them either, since I know they have a headquarter in Auburn Hills Michigan with Audi

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Tommy Boomfiger

i would love to buy american, as soon as the quality becomes at least par with japanese and german cars. when i can get a car that can give me what a bmw 3 or 5 series can give me in the same class id be glad to buy american. american cars are definately getting closer and closer to thier competetors, but there is still a long way to go. thier business philosiphies were for a long time to make cars that only last for so long before it is no longer worth fixing up so that they can sell more cars. this also helped the economy because people had to buy a car every few years.
i guess you wont have a problem with BMW as they have a hq in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey and Mercedes has one in Montvale, N. J. dont forget that chrysler is actually a german company especially since almost all the management has been replaced by germans from daimler. i know honda and toyota have thier own hq's here. im wondering how you feel about the following cars: land rover, aston martin, jaguar, mazda, volvo and saab? all of those are technically american brands (all those are owned by ford except saab which is owned by gm, and im sure there are others). i respect your decision to support american industry, but the automotive business has changed considerably over the last 10 years or so. not only do american companies own many foriegn brands, but many american cars and parts arent even made here which is taking jobs away from american workers and putting more money into the pockets of the fat cats running the companies. in my opinion, the worst offender of this is gm. most of thier cars are made outside of the country while ford and daimlerchrysler are keeping at least some of thier cars here. DC is even building benzes in the US. along with mercedes, bmw, toyota, honda, nissan, mazda and mitsubishi all make cars in the us. just saying buy american is much easier said than done.

ribitch

vw - i would never buy one. They have a large 24 million dollar building in the detoit area. It is the U.S. headquarters, used for research and development. They are also a large contributor to local charities as well as a major contributor to the 9-11 efforts. Thats more than I can say for other companies(see below)

land rover - they are ugly as sin, never would buy one
aston martin - if i could buy one, i would
jaguar - i like them, wouldnt buy one
mazda - nope, still a rice burner
volvo - just a bunch of over priced boxes (except the convertible)
saab - ugly as sin

One of the main grudges I have against Japanese auto manufacturers is their unwillingness to help out our economy and victims, even though we have done the same for them in other situations. The following is a list of major auto manufacturers and septemeber 11th related contributions. Notice the similarities between japanese companies. European companies donated, but companies like Honda didnt.

September 11th Contributions
last updated 2-11-02:

Audi - Nothing. Audi's web site states "Audi News: Always up to the minute."

BMW - Nothing despite other press releases/postings since 09/11/01. BMW's web site states "The news service from the BMW Group: fast, informative and comprehensive."

Daewoo International - Nothing.

Daimler Chrysler (includes Dodge, Jeep, Mercedes-Benz and Plymouth) - $10 million to support the children and victims in addition to other donations from their employees, dealers and suppliers.

Fiat - Nothing.

Ford Motor Company (includes Aston Martin, Jaguar, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury and Volvo) - $1 million to the American Red Cross, matching employee contributions to the American Red Cross and 10 Excursions to the New York Fire Department. The company has also offered emergency response team services and office space to displaced government employees.

General Motors (includes Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saab and Saturn) - $1 million to the American Red Cross, matching employee contributions and a fleet of vans, trucks and SUVs.

Honda (includes Acura) - Nothing. Honda's site states "If you're looking for the latest developments taking place at Honda, you've come to the right place" and "Informative. Timely. Credible. The latest news on Honda can always be found right here?" No press releases/postings since 09/04/01 when the release boasted "American Honda Motor Co., Inc. recorded its second best sales month ever in August ?" My search included: hondamotorcycle.com (other press releases posted on this site since 09/11/01), honda.com, honda2001.com, world.honda.com, acura.com and honda.co.jp.

Hyundai Motors Group (includes Kia) - $300,000 to the American Red Cross.

Isuzu - Nothing.

Mitsubishi Motors - Nothing. Mitsubishi-motors.co.jp site states "The latest news about Mitsubishi Motors." I also searched mitsubishimotors.com.

Nissan - Nothing despite other press releases/postings since 09/11/01.

Porsche - Press release with condolences posted on the Porsche web site on 09/12/01, but no contribution.

Subaru - Nothing despite other press releases/postings since 09/11/01.

Suzuki - Nothing.

Toyota (includes Lexus) - Press release with condolences posted on the Toyota web site on 09/14/01, but no contribution despite earlier press releases boasting that Toyota had high sales in July and August.

Volkswagen - The employees and management created a Foundation, funded initially with $2 million, to assist the children and victims with humanitarian help including medical and psychological assistance, rehabilitation and scholarships.

jase71

I don't know... I don't think I'd base my car choices on whether or not the company gave money following 9/11.

I'd probably expect contributions from the company for tragedies that happened within their own country. But I don't think it's their responsibility to contribute to every tragedy around the world.

Did GM or Chrysler contribute to the victims of mudslides in Latin America a few years ago.

Do they contribute to the victims of the flooding in Bangladesh almost every year?

How about the earthquake victims in Turkey?

Or the frequent famines in Africa?

If we expect non-American car companies to contribute to our tragedies, shouldn't other countries expect American car companies to contribute to theirs?

Buying a car made in America is one thing... nothing wrong with that. But even if I buy a foreign car, aren't I paying the salary of an American car salesman? And supporting a dealership owned by an American? Aren't there tons of people employed in the American offices of that car manufacturer? Do their jobs not matter?

And that's without even looking at where the raw materials are produced, or considering the jobs of the shipping people who ship the foreign cars over here. Or the American port workers who work to import these cars. Or all the other jobs that are related.

Buy what you like, what's a good deal, and what's reliable. There's enough guilt to go around in purchasing ANY car, so there's no sense in looking for it ahead of time...

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were all I had to walk with me...

Merlin

My BMW was made in Spartenburg, South Carolina

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Tommy Boomfiger

wow, its very refreshing to see an informed buyer. i would have never considered looking into what a company contributes to the september 11 charities, but to me that not the only charity to contribute to and its also not a major part of my decision to buy a product, more like a tie breaker. but if a company supports a charity i do not support, i definately blackball that product.
the following is nitpicking: vw owns audi and either owns or has a stake in porsche.

Jeffbx

It's a tough call these days - what constitutes an American car? A US owned company? A US built car? A US built car with US parts? A UAW built car?

The most 'American' car I know of is the Saturn - US owned company, US workers using ~97% US parts building the car in the US.

Look at Chrysler - ex-US company with US engineers and German management building cars with Japanese engines in Mexico... what nationality is that?

You really can't base a decision on 'US' vs. 'foreign' anymore - the lines are so grey that even people within the companies don't know the distinctions anymore.

Speedfreak

My bicycle was made in the US.

rasetsu

ribitch,
Just because it's a Nissan Maxima, it's a rice burner? From that shot, I saw no indication it's a rice burner. Just someone with poor taste. So a person can't be proud to be American if they drive a Nissan and like Ferraris?

Newsflash: BMW (South Carolina), Nissan (Tennessee), Toyota (not sure, but I know the Camry is made in the US), and Honda (Ohio) all have plants in the US employing US citizens. Just because you buy an "American" car doesn't mean you are buying American as Ford and GM have plants in Canada and Mexico manufacturing cars for the US market.

DoPeY5007

my point of the pic had nothing to do whit the plate holder

UnReAL

"my other car is a ferrari" or something

Jihforce

I hear the PT Cruiser is assembled in Mexico
Haha, I think Ribitch is just venting. If we all bought cars based on how much they donated to charities, then more or less we all would not be satisfied with our cars.
Just cuz Hyundai donated money doesn't mean I'm gonna run out and get a Kia Sportage or a Hyundai Sonata. As a matter of fact, I would never buy a Kia or Hyundai. I wouldn't buy a Mitsubishi, Land Rover, or a Yugo for that matter. Donation to Charity has nothing do to with it. And let us not forget that Donations ane tax deductible.
Oh and we all know what the stinking Red Cross did with some of that donation money, don't we???
Oh, my BMW is 98% from Germany. I believe the other 2% (tire and batteries maybe) are US parts, build by US citizens.

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Tommy Boomfiger

you forgot the unwritten rule about G|A, all threads must eventually go off topic

Tommy Boomfiger

Thats $1 million, 10 X5 trucks and 100 police motorcycles. not a bad little contribution, especially for a foreign company. story found at bmw na's news site

Jihforce

Heh, not too shabby.