American Cars and Meeting Clients

[sshafran]

Spoken by a true anti American worker person. I'm proud of that comment coming from you.

We should be ashamed. The Unions... The "American Workers" really backed up the American insurance agents during the ACA / MLR debacle.

I clearly recall the Union Workers right here in Ohio using their clout to back the insurance agents. I sent many of them information, and BOY did they respond to help!!! They sent out Literature. They made calls. They told their friends and family about how hard the American Insurance Agents worked and the Fair Compensation they deserved. I felt like they were really on my side, helping me as an American Entrepreneur.

They really stood in our corner.

Oh wait. They couldn't care less....



Which is why I couldn't give a rip about them when I buy my car.

Disclaimer: I only own a vehicle that was "imported from Detroit," but I bought it because I liked the car...not because I wanted to support the union.

 

[deadhead]

I will go out of my way to buy right to work products

 

[Toranaga]

Im going to have to agree with JD on this one. You should have bought american, we make great cars.

But OP you should know that just because some of the parts on a ford are made in mexico, it does not mean the car was made in mexico. Most ford cars that are sold in the USA are assembled in the united states by hard working americans.
I hope this event teaches you to start buying American; Yuengling beer, Dove soap, Ford cars, vegetables from a farmers market, remington guns...

I was with you till you said Remington guns. They destroyed Marlin. Give me a Marlin any day or a Weatherby or a Savage. except for shotguns. Remington makes a Damn fine shotgun. OP, your thread is now hijacked. You're welcome.

 

[Newby]

If you care about the content of the car and where it is made, it says that right on the sticker when you buy a brand new vehicle.

Toyota and Honda have a lot of cars that are built here that use a good amount of our suppliers. They have set up shop mainly in the south to avoid the union and other demands while getting slightly lower wages and plenty of willing and able workers. The real advantage was the tax incentives they got for building them. Mercedes in Alabama, to Toyota in Ky, they all got huge deals that keep the expenses much lower. Heck, Nissan left Cali because it simply couldn't refuse the deal that TN gave them. I am not sure if the state and local city can ever recoup the tax base loss payout with the gain in jobs from that tax base overtime. The model suggests it could, but it would take decades.

I will give a short list of cars and companies that I would avoid as far as providing jobs and supporting America.

Mazda (They left the Ford plant and don't use any of our U.S suppliers. No R&D, nothing. The company was bought back when it was in trouble buy a Japaense business man and gambled on Sky Active Tech and it paid off. They folded shop in America and produce everything in Japan.

Mistibushi I am surprised this company is still in business. The sales are in the toilet and don't have any products worth mentioning. They also run at the bottom of the barrel in reliability. They don't produce anything here and don't use any of our suppliers. For all those history buffs and WW2 vets, I would certainty not want to pull up in a driveway driving one of these. Mistibushi made the Zero engines.

Suzuki. Yuck, all I can say. Had a friend buy one recently and told him that's not too smart. The AC went out in 2 months. Had to get a whole new unit and it took over 3 weeks to get the part. They are pieced together cars and not worth buying. Again, surprised this company is still in business. Most of the profits and strong products comes from the Motorcycle line up. The car business is just an afterthought for the company.

Although Mazda does have some strong offerings, you still would be buying a product that isn't supporting America at all.

The D3 have certain models that are made in other countries for many reasons. Final production is only a small part of the equation and really just gets headlines more then anything. The R&D, high paying skilled jobs is what matters most along with supporting our suppliers which is really the big nut in the economy that has a 10x effect.

The D3 provide over 100k American jobs that help provide several other industries with jobs. It is a big big part of our economy and for those that don't care seem to be lost and out of reality.

That's a fine argument but Honda, Toyota and Subaru provide way more American jobs in my state and put money in the pockets of people actually buying insurance from me. The D3 is not even a close second.

If the D3 hadn't run their companies like fat arrogant greedy bastages for decades, this business would all be theirs. It's just like any other business. Most people will only be blindly loyal for so long. If their loyalty is taken advantage of they eventually take their loyalty elsewhere.

Detroit can blame the American buyers all they want. They ran off most of their customer base. It's going to be hard to win us back. Especially when Honda, Toyota and Subaru have provided us great paying jobs for decades. I never sent any of my paychecks to Japan. And I bought two houses and supported my family with Honda bucks for 20-years. I don't know anyone around me that works for the D3. But a bunch of them work for the J3.

 

[gordon112]

That's a fine argument but Honda, Toyota and Subaru provide way more American jobs in my state and put money in the pockets of people actually buying insurance from me. The D3 is not even a close second.

If the D3 hadn't run their companies like fat arrogant greedy bastages for decades, this business would all be theirs. It's just like any other business. Most people will only be blindly loyal for so long. If their loyalty is taken advantage of they eventually take their loyalty elsewhere.

Detroit can blame the American buyers all they want. They ran off most of their customer base. It's going to be hard to win us back. Especially when Honda, Toyota and Subaru have provided us great paying jobs for decades. I never sent any of my paychecks to Japan. And I bought two houses and supported my family with Honda bucks for 20-years. I don't know anyone around me that works for the D3. But a bunch of them work for the J3.

All good points. As I said, Toyota and Honda do provide a fair amount of jobs in your state. They also use a good amount of our suppliers in certain vehicles. I would most definitely not buy any of these cars if they didn't. They do still make many cars in Japan that are sold here that don't have a lick of US product on them. Educated consumers need to make sure they are supporting there economy and if it means supporting locally then that is what they should do.

However, lets not forget, the D3 are moving forward and are profitable. They do have some key market strengths and advantages, but still have a long ways to go. I really don't think they will ever have over 80% market share like they did in the hay days. The reality is, its competitive and that means the consumer wins in the end.

I was surprised to here that the VW plant in TN got a majority vote from the UAW. Many more details to come, but I am guessing it was the line workers at 14/hr decided that it would be great with a 2.40 raise while the skilled engineers got a decrease in pay that may been the bad apples complaining it was the UAW forcing it upon them. However, it could very well be those right to work guys doing the same messy game. The German council (VW union in Germany) will not take what the UAW has to offer lightly. It will be voiced and agreed upon on there terms. Same goes for any Japanese plant. The Japanese union (all Japanese cars are union made in Japan just like Germany) will have the same input and terms that the UAW would have to help mend even on US soil.

 

[xrac]

That's a fine argument but Honda, Toyota and Subaru provide way more American jobs in my state and put money in the pockets of people actually buying insurance from me. The D3 is not even a close second.

If the D3 hadn't run their companies like fat arrogant greedy bastages for decades, this business would all be theirs. It's just like any other business. Most people will only be blindly loyal for so long. If their loyalty is taken advantage of they eventually take their loyalty elsewhere.

Detroit can blame the American buyers all they want. They ran off most of their customer base. It's going to be hard to win us back. Especially when Honda, Toyota and Subaru have provided us great paying jobs for decades. I never sent any of my paychecks to Japan. And I bought two houses and supported my family with Honda bucks for 20-years. I don't know anyone around me that works for the D3. But a bunch of them work for the J3.

I remember the GM cars of the late seventies and 80s. They weren't very good. Even the higher ends like Olds TOrnadas and Ninety-eights. I wend a Chevy Vega.

 

[BWB]

I do not know what you expect to learn from this forum. You lost a big sale.
Enuf said!

Just wondering if any other agents had a similar experience. I know better than to drive a Japanese car up to a meeting in Northern Ohio or even Michigan. I have no problem buying American. It is just that I drive so much and really need a hybrid. My Camry Hybrid is getting 43mpg combined. I am not buying some death trap like a Toyota Prius or Chevy Aveo or any other compact car to save on gas.

As far as JD...I totally understand where he is coming from and am not offended at all.

 

[nfl72]

I guess when you consider things the Big 3 did me quite well in the late 70's all the way through the mid 90's.

From 1979 through 1991 I was able to sell around 250 new Toyotas a month. I made the Toyota sales Society 8 years running. I couldn't have done that if GM hadn't fallen flat on their face and spewed out nothing but crappy, unreliable cars that had zero resale value. Citation, Chevette, Custom Cruizers, Vettes. OH MY!

Then in 1991 I joined forces with GM and took a job as an F&I manager. I made a great living selling warranties on GM, Olds and GMC cars and trucks. It was like selling ice cream at a 4th of July parade. Then the owner wanted me to start working 45 hours a week so I went next door and took a F&I job at Chrysler. That was even easier and as hard as it is to believe Chrysler actually made a worse car the GM. I did so well there I once had lunch with Lee Iacocca, won a trip to Hawaii for 10 days. I sat with all the big wigs for the whole time. They could not understand how I could average a 75% warranty penetration when the national average was about 15%.. I told them it was because of the wonderfully built reliable cars they were making. Me and Chrysler go way back!

Omni's, Horizons, Intrepid, New Yorkers. If you couldn't sell warranties on those cars you were in the wrong business.

So when JD calls me an un American he is dead wrong. I owe much of my success to GM, Ford and Chrysler.

 

[BWB]

My last car was 100% built in America. It's a BMW Z3. Beautiful car. German know-how and American labor.

The good thing about my wife's Lexus is that an American made a commission by selling it to the original owner.

Rick

My wife had a 2000 ML 55 AMG, brand new. It was built in Alabama. Biggest piece of **** that was ever built. She sank over 20k in repairs into it. Then she turns around and gets a brand new one. The dealer did give her the extended warranty for free and a few other things in an attempt to make things right.

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I do hope you found another supplier and told him where he could put his beef.

He is super reliable, has a clean operation and has never failed my wife. So getting another supplier is out of the question. We are going back this Monday (in her German car). I will attempt to talk to him while I am there.

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I'm going to have to agree with JD on this one. You should have bought American, we make great cars.

But OP you should know that just because some of the parts on a ford are made in Mexico, it does not mean the car was made in Mexico. Most ford cars that are sold in the USA are assembled in the united states by hard working Americans.
I hope this event teaches you to start buying American; Yuengling beer, Dove soap, Ford cars, vegetables from a farmers market, remington guns...

Hey Axeman, I get your point. My Toyota is American. It was manufactured in Georgetown, Kentucky, by Toyota American Manufacturing, a Delaware corporation. It is owned by shareholders allover the world, just like Ford and Government Motors are (or were in the case of GM).

I recently purchased a new Whirlpool washing machine, made in Marion, Ohio! Then I found out, they are all part-time temp labor at the plant. No benefits at all. Had I known that, I would have bought an LG washer that was made in South Korea by a Chaebol. There they have unions, benefits, and decent pay. Yes, in South Korea.

I buy Chimay, Duvel, Orval and other fine Belgian beers. Love Trappist ale. The soap I buy is by Geo Trumper, made in England. My vegetables are from Whole Foods and local farmer markets. I can agree with you on the Ford. I am leaning towards the Taurus SHO. I am scared that the Cadillac CTS is too flashy. And yes, Remington is a fine brand for shotguns. My sidearm is a Glock though.
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Hey JD...Think Globally, Act Locally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Buy that Toyota, Honda, or Subaru)

 

[Newby]

http://www.indystar.com/article/20130926/BUSINESS/309260056

Subaru parts supplier is doubling in size.