what would you choose?

Let's hypothesize that all foreign car companies have gone in the tank, (or
that the US has embargoed all foreign cars, including those made in the US)
and going further, all foreign cars have been confiscated by the US
government.
Now, since we all drive, and need transportation, we're forced to buy
American iron.
The question is - which of the big three would you choose, and within their
product lines, which model would you choose to buy? Keep in mind that
nobody's suddenly gotten rich, so your purchase must be within your
budget...no Escalades or Navigators unless you can afford them.

In my own case, and based only on my experiences with American cars, I think
I'd go with a Ford product, since they've been less troublesome to me and my
wallet, and probably either a Mercury Milan or perhaps a Ford Minivan.
If I had to choose GM, it'd likely be a midsize Buick, because they seem to
get good gas mileage (better than I'd have imagined). Or perhaps a Chevrolet
sedan. No Pontiacs or Cadillacs.
Chrysler products seem to have more breakdowns and they are largely ugly
to my view, although the Town and Country minivan seems pleasant enough.

"mack" <mackerel@dslextreme.com> wrote in message
news:12nek2b7manmebf@corp.supernews.com...[color=blue]
> Let's hypothesize that all foreign car companies have gone in the tank,
> (or that the US has embargoed all foreign cars, including those made in
> the US) and going further, all foreign cars have been confiscated by the
> US government.
> Now, since we all drive, and need transportation, we're forced to buy
> American iron.
> The question is - which of the big three would you choose, and within
> their product lines, which model would you choose to buy? Keep in mind
> that nobody's suddenly gotten rich, so your purchase must be within your
> budget...no Escalades or Navigators unless you can afford them.
>
> In my own case, and based only on my experiences with American cars, I
> think I'd go with a Ford product, since they've been less troublesome to
> me and my wallet, and probably either a Mercury Milan or perhaps a Ford
> Minivan.
> If I had to choose GM, it'd likely be a midsize Buick, because they seem
> to get good gas mileage (better than I'd have imagined). Or perhaps a
> Chevrolet sedan. No Pontiacs or Cadillacs.
> Chrysler products seem to have more breakdowns and they are largely ugly
> to my view, although the Town and Country minivan seems pleasant enough.
>[/color]

Choice 1: Ford, probably a Taurus

Choice 2: Staying with that theme, an actual horse.

Choice 3: Something custom-made from this company:
[url]http://www.danner.com/home.do[/url]

"mack" <mackerel@dslextreme.com> wrote in message
news:12nek2b7manmebf@corp.supernews.com...[color=blue]
> Let's hypothesize that all foreign car companies have gone in the tank,
> (or that the US has embargoed all foreign cars, including those made in
> the US) and going further, all foreign cars have been confiscated by the
> US government.
> Now, since we all drive, and need transportation, we're forced to buy
> American iron.
> The question is - which of the big three would you choose, and within
> their product lines, which model would you choose to buy? Keep in mind
> that nobody's suddenly gotten rich, so your purchase must be within your
> budget...no Escalades or Navigators unless you can afford them.
>
> In my own case, and based only on my experiences with American cars, I
> think I'd go with a Ford product, since they've been less troublesome to
> me and my wallet, and probably either a Mercury Milan or perhaps a Ford
> Minivan.
> If I had to choose GM, it'd likely be a midsize Buick, because they seem
> to get good gas mileage (better than I'd have imagined). Or perhaps a
> Chevrolet sedan. No Pontiacs or Cadillacs.
> Chrysler products seem to have more breakdowns and they are largely ugly
> to my view, although the Town and Country minivan seems pleasant enough.[/color]


There is no Big 3 US Automakers. Chrysler is owned by Daimler-Chrysler,
which is a German company (the word Chrysler in the name is for show only,
it is definitely a German company). Yes, the foreign owned Daimler-Chrysler
builds cars in the US, but so does the foreign owned Toyota/Honda/Nissan/etc
build cars in the US.

Even for the US owned companies Ford and GM, what if their cars are made in
Canada or Mexico (quite a few are).

What about "foreign" brands that are owned by Ford or GM, such as Saab,
Jaguar, Volvo, Land Rover, Aston Martin, etc? What about brands such as
Mazda where Ford is a major shareholder (Ford, the largest shareholder, owns
30% of Mazda, and many Mazda's are built in the US).

Things are not as simple as they seem. Personally, I would much rather buy a
car from Japan than Canada.

"JoeSpareBedroom" <dishborealis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:DiIdh.6948$Ka1.146@news01.roc.ny...[color=blue]
> Choice 1: Ford, probably a Taurus[/color]

You had better chose quick, because they won't be around much longer (thank
goodness for rental car customers).

In article <12nek2b7manmebf@corp.supernews.com>
[email]mackerel@dslextreme.com[/email] "mack" writes:
[color=blue]
> Let's hypothesize that all foreign car companies have gone in the tank, (or
> that the US has embargoed all foreign cars, including those made in the US)
> and going further, all foreign cars have been confiscated by the US
> government.
> Now, since we all drive, and need transportation, we're forced to buy
> American iron.
> The question is - which of the big three would you choose,
> [...][/color]

I don't accept your basic premise, that only the Big Three are
American -- these days. This fake Old Glory gets hoisted time
and again; and time and again kneejerk USian patriots are told
to salute it, on the fallacious grounds that any company which
is not 100% US-owned and whose manufacture isn't 100% US-based
is just plain-ole yee-hah not-American.

What flag do you drape across Land Rover (Ford), Jaguar (Ford),
Volvo (Ford), Vauxhall (GM), Opel (GM), Saab (GM) or Daimler
(Daimler-Chrysler)? For example.

In the previous paragraph, ponder why you did or did not select
"USA". All are owned by one of those Big Three, right?

FWIW I'd only buy a domestic-model Big Three (of those I've had
dealings with or seen) if I was forced. The mindset at work in
those models seems utterly delusional. The nicest thing anyone
could do for the B3 is let them get into an even more desperate
mess than they are in now, and let them recover unaided. Maybe
they'd learn a lesson about making product their US public want
to buy because it's good product, not because it's "American".

Keeping a bad company afloat for chauvinistic reasons is stupid
and ultimately bad for the home country. We Brits learned that
the hard way, back in the 1950s-60s-70s-80s. (ISTR.)
--
Andrew Stephenson

I think it was "mack" <mackerel@dslextreme.com> who stated:
[color=blue]
>Let's hypothesize that all foreign car companies have gone in the tank, (or
>that the US has embargoed all foreign cars, including those made in the US)
>and going further, all foreign cars have been confiscated by the US
>government.
>Now, since we all drive, and need transportation, we're forced to buy
>American iron.
>The question is - which of the big three would you choose, and within their
>product lines, which model would you choose to buy? Keep in mind that
>nobody's suddenly gotten rich, so your purchase must be within your
>budget...no Escalades or Navigators unless you can afford them.
>
>In my own case, and based only on my experiences with American cars, I think
>I'd go with a Ford product, since they've been less troublesome to me and my
>wallet, and probably either a Mercury Milan or perhaps a Ford Minivan.
> If I had to choose GM, it'd likely be a midsize Buick, because they seem to
>get good gas mileage (better than I'd have imagined). Or perhaps a Chevrolet
>sedan. No Pontiacs or Cadillacs.
> Chrysler products seem to have more breakdowns and they are largely ugly
>to my view, although the Town and Country minivan seems pleasant enough.[/color]

A Buick was on our short list when we finally settled on an '05 Camry.
I don't recall which model it was, and after driving it, it wound up
behind the Camry and the Accord, but ahead of the Maxima and whatever
Mazda we test drove. Decent car and less money than any of them, but
not up to the standards of Toyota and Honda , , , ,

-Don
--
"Trust me, there is NO way to nonchalantly conceal the fact that you have a
power tool in your head, no matter what you do." -- El Gato

"mack" <mackerel@dslextreme.com> wrote in message
news:12nek2b7manmebf@corp.supernews.com...[color=blue]
> Let's hypothesize that all foreign car companies have gone in the tank,
> (or that the US has embargoed all foreign cars, including those made in
> the US) and going further, all foreign cars have been confiscated by the
> US government.[/color]

I'd choose to have a rip-roaring royal fit!

Cathy

[color=blue]
> Now, since we all drive, and need transportation, we're forced to buy
> American iron.
> The question is - which of the big three would you choose, and within
> their product lines, which model would you choose to buy? Keep in mind
> that nobody's suddenly gotten rich, so your purchase must be within your
> budget...no Escalades or Navigators unless you can afford them.
>
> In my own case, and based only on my experiences with American cars, I
> think I'd go with a Ford product, since they've been less troublesome to
> me and my wallet, and probably either a Mercury Milan or perhaps a Ford
> Minivan.
> If I had to choose GM, it'd likely be a midsize Buick, because they seem
> to get good gas mileage (better than I'd have imagined). Or perhaps a
> Chevrolet sedan. No Pontiacs or Cadillacs.
> Chrysler products seem to have more breakdowns and they are largely ugly
> to my view, although the Town and Country minivan seems pleasant enough.
>[/color]

"Andrew Stephenson" <ames@deltrak.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1165448665snz@deltrak.demon.co.uk...[color=blue]
> In article <12nek2b7manmebf@corp.supernews.com>
> [email]mackerel@dslextreme.com[/email] "mack" writes:
>[color=green]
>> Let's hypothesize that all foreign car companies have gone in the tank,
>> (or
>> that the US has embargoed all foreign cars, including those made in the
>> US)
>> and going further, all foreign cars have been confiscated by the US
>> government.
>> Now, since we all drive, and need transportation, we're forced to buy
>> American iron.
>> The question is - which of the big three would you choose,
>> [...][/color]
>
> I don't accept your basic premise, that only the Big Three are
> American -- these days. This fake Old Glory gets hoisted time
> and again; and time and again kneejerk USian patriots are told
> to salute it, on the fallacious grounds that any company which
> is not 100% US-owned and whose manufacture isn't 100% US-based
> is just plain-ole yee-hah not-American.
>
> What flag do you drape across Land Rover (Ford), Jaguar (Ford),
> Volvo (Ford), Vauxhall (GM), Opel (GM), Saab (GM) or Daimler
> (Daimler-Chrysler)? For example.
>
> In the previous paragraph, ponder why you did or did not select
> "USA". All are owned by one of those Big Three, right?
>
> FWIW I'd only buy a domestic-model Big Three (of those I've had
> dealings with or seen) if I was forced. The mindset at work in
> those models seems utterly delusional. The nicest thing anyone
> could do for the B3 is let them get into an even more desperate
> mess than they are in now, and let them recover unaided. Maybe
> they'd learn a lesson about making product their US public want
> to buy because it's good product, not because it's "American".
>
> Keeping a bad company afloat for chauvinistic reasons is stupid
> and ultimately bad for the home country. We Brits learned that
> the hard way, back in the 1950s-60s-70s-80s. (ISTR.)
> --
> Andrew Stephenson
>[/color]

All basically true, except for one thing: No matter which Euro influences
are blended with those of the American car makers, it'll be 100 years before
the pathetic engineering habits are finally flushed out of the big 3. So,
interpret the OP's question to mean "Which of the 3 kinds of terminal cancer
would you choose? Ford, Chevy or Chrysler?"

In article <q5Jdh.7047$ya1.1916@news02.roc.ny>,
"JoeSpareBedroom" <dishborealis@yahoo.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
> "Andrew Stephenson" <ames@deltrak.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:1165448665snz@deltrak.demon.co.uk...[color=green]
> > In article <12nek2b7manmebf@corp.supernews.com>
> > [email]mackerel@dslextreme.com[/email] "mack" writes:
> >[color=darkred]
> >> Let's hypothesize that all foreign car companies have gone in the tank,
> >> (or
> >> that the US has embargoed all foreign cars, including those made in the
> >> US)
> >> and going further, all foreign cars have been confiscated by the US
> >> government.
> >> Now, since we all drive, and need transportation, we're forced to buy
> >> American iron.
> >> The question is - which of the big three would you choose,
> >> [...][/color]
> >
> > I don't accept your basic premise, that only the Big Three are
> > American -- these days. This fake Old Glory gets hoisted time
> > and again; and time and again kneejerk USian patriots are told
> > to salute it, on the fallacious grounds that any company which
> > is not 100% US-owned and whose manufacture isn't 100% US-based
> > is just plain-ole yee-hah not-American.
> >
> > What flag do you drape across Land Rover (Ford), Jaguar (Ford),
> > Volvo (Ford), Vauxhall (GM), Opel (GM), Saab (GM) or Daimler
> > (Daimler-Chrysler)? For example.
> >
> > In the previous paragraph, ponder why you did or did not select
> > "USA". All are owned by one of those Big Three, right?
> >
> > FWIW I'd only buy a domestic-model Big Three (of those I've had
> > dealings with or seen) if I was forced. The mindset at work in
> > those models seems utterly delusional. The nicest thing anyone
> > could do for the B3 is let them get into an even more desperate
> > mess than they are in now, and let them recover unaided. Maybe
> > they'd learn a lesson about making product their US public want
> > to buy because it's good product, not because it's "American".
> >
> > Keeping a bad company afloat for chauvinistic reasons is stupid
> > and ultimately bad for the home country. We Brits learned that
> > the hard way, back in the 1950s-60s-70s-80s. (ISTR.)
> > --
> > Andrew Stephenson
> >[/color]
>
> All basically true, except for one thing: No matter which Euro influences
> are blended with those of the American car makers, it'll be 100 years before
> the pathetic engineering habits are finally flushed out of the big 3. So,
> interpret the OP's question to mean "Which of the 3 kinds of terminal cancer
> would you choose? Ford, Chevy or Chrysler?"[/color]

So what is your answer about leaving Iraq?
--

mack wrote:
[color=blue]
> Let's hypothesize that all foreign car companies have gone in the
> tank, (or that the US has embargoed all foreign cars, including those
> made in the US) and going further, all foreign cars have been
> confiscated by the US government. Now, since we all drive, and need
> transportation, we're forced to buy American iron. The question is -
> which of the big three would you choose, and within their product
> lines, which model would you choose to buy? Keep in mind that
> nobody's suddenly gotten rich, so your purchase must be within your
> budget...no Escalades or Navigators unless you can afford them.
>
> In my own case, and based only on my experiences with American cars,
> I think I'd go with a Ford product, since they've been less
> troublesome to me and my wallet, and probably either a Mercury Milan
> or perhaps a Ford Minivan. If I had to choose GM, it'd likely be a
> midsize Buick, because they seem to get good gas mileage (better than
> I'd have imagined). Or perhaps a Chevrolet sedan. No Pontiacs or
> Cadillacs. Chrysler products seem to have more breakdowns and they
> are largely ugly to my view, although the Town and Country minivan
> seems pleasant enough.[/color]

I would choose a make and model that had been designed in collabration
with Toyota. That would probably be a Pontiac Vibe.

I think it was "Wickeddoll®" <wickeddoll1958diespammersdie@yahoo.com>
who stated:

[color=blue]
>Probably Buick; lots of folks I know love theirs. I've never liked
>Cadillacs; my ethnicity notwithstanding :-)
>
>Natalie[/color]

Ethnicity??

My folks are Cadillac people; especially my mom, who bought their
first with proceeds from the antique store she started after Dad
retired. They've owned several, sometimes two at a time, with a great
deal of pride. Mom's Norwegian; Dad's German mostly.

Now Mom still has her Cadillac, but Dad switched to a Jeep 'cause of
its "rugged" appearance. He drives it to town and back about twice a
day -- a round trip of about four miles each time.

Lately I drive Toyotas. But I'm not a blood relative, being adopted
into the family. I wonder what that says about MY ethnicity . . . .

-Don
--
"Trust me, there is NO way to nonchalantly conceal the fact that you have a
power tool in your head, no matter what you do." -- El Gato

"Don Fearn" <pooder@charter.net> wrote in message
news:fluen29r3atvdt7ttdp9gs3iug13t4n2ve@4ax.com...[color=blue]
>I think it was "Wickeddoll®" <wickeddoll1958diespammersdie@yahoo.com>
> who stated:
>
>[color=green]
>>Probably Buick; lots of folks I know love theirs. I've never liked
>>Cadillacs; my ethnicity notwithstanding :-)
>>
>>Natalie[/color]
>
> Ethnicity??
>
> My folks are Cadillac people; especially my mom, who bought their
> first with proceeds from the antique store she started after Dad
> retired. They've owned several, sometimes two at a time, with a great
> deal of pride. Mom's Norwegian; Dad's German mostly.
>
> Now Mom still has her Cadillac, but Dad switched to a Jeep 'cause of
> its "rugged" appearance. He drives it to town and back about twice a
> day -- a round trip of about four miles each time.
>
> Lately I drive Toyotas. But I'm not a blood relative, being adopted
> into the family. I wonder what that says about MY ethnicity . . . .
>
> -Don[/color]

LOL I was referring to the stereotype...not the reality

Natalie

On Wed, 06 Dec 2006 15:20:38 -0800, mack wrote:
[color=blue]
> Let's hypothesize that all foreign car companies have gone in the tank, (or
> that the US has embargoed all foreign cars, including those made in the US)
> and going further, all foreign cars have been confiscated by the US
> government.
> Now, since we all drive, and need transportation, we're forced to buy
> American iron.
> The question is - which of the big three would you choose, and within their
> product lines, which model would you choose to buy? Keep in mind that
> nobody's suddenly gotten rich, so your purchase must be within your
> budget...no Escalades or Navigators unless you can afford them.
>
> In my own case, and based only on my experiences with American cars, I think
> I'd go with a Ford product, since they've been less troublesome to me and my
> wallet, and probably either a Mercury Milan or perhaps a Ford Minivan.
> If I had to choose GM, it'd likely be a midsize Buick, because they seem to
> get good gas mileage (better than I'd have imagined). Or perhaps a Chevrolet
> sedan. No Pontiacs or Cadillacs.
> Chrysler products seem to have more breakdowns and they are largely ugly
> to my view, although the Town and Country minivan seems pleasant enough.[/color]


I think I might take a chance with a Chrysler Mini-Van. I have had three;
one was two years old and the other two were about 15. They were laid out
well, and for some reason, the ones I had had good transmissions.

I also had a '94 LHS that I am now very sorry I traded for $600 towards my
Scion. It was comnfortable, handled nearly as well as my '85 Celica, and
was pretty much trouble-free for the 3 years I drove it.

After that, would be a Focus Wagon (I know, I know, but I think they got
the bugs worked out of it). Even though I HATE SUVs, I would have
considered an Explorer; I used to sell a lot of them and they are pretty
decent. Of course, there are a LOT of Mazda parts in them, so would that
be excluded under your scenario?

GM? UGH! The interiors look and feel cheap, the HHR I tested was way
underpowered, I just don't like them.

I'd be looking for Used Subarus (You didn't mention if used cars were
banned...) and if they were, I'd look for an Escort Wagon. They were
really decent cars, but then again, we're talking a lot of Mazda parts.

On Wed, 06 Dec 2006 17:48:35 -0600, Don Fearn wrote:
[color=blue]
> I think it was "mack" <mackerel@dslextreme.com> who stated:
>[color=green]
>>Let's hypothesize that all foreign car companies have gone in the tank, (or
>>that the US has embargoed all foreign cars, including those made in the US)
>>and going further, all foreign cars have been confiscated by the US
>>government.
>>Now, since we all drive, and need transportation, we're forced to buy
>>American iron.
>>The question is - which of the big three would you choose, and within their
>>product lines, which model would you choose to buy? Keep in mind that
>>nobody's suddenly gotten rich, so your purchase must be within your
>>budget...no Escalades or Navigators unless you can afford them.
>>
>>In my own case, and based only on my experiences with American cars, I think
>>I'd go with a Ford product, since they've been less troublesome to me and my
>>wallet, and probably either a Mercury Milan or perhaps a Ford Minivan.
>> If I had to choose GM, it'd likely be a midsize Buick, because they seem to
>>get good gas mileage (better than I'd have imagined). Or perhaps a Chevrolet
>>sedan. No Pontiacs or Cadillacs.
>> Chrysler products seem to have more breakdowns and they are largely ugly
>>to my view, although the Town and Country minivan seems pleasant enough.[/color]
>
> A Buick was on our short list when we finally settled on an '05 Camry.
> I don't recall which model it was, and after driving it, it wound up
> behind the Camry and the Accord, but ahead of the Maxima and whatever
> Mazda we test drove. Decent car and less money than any of them, but
> not up to the standards of Toyota and Honda , , , ,
>
> -Don[/color]


What is it, Lacrosse, I think?

"Wickeddoll®" <wickeddoll1958diespammersdie@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:el7bso.2l8.1@news.evilcabal.org...[color=blue]
>
> "mack" <mackerel@dslextreme.com> wrote in message
> news:12nek2b7manmebf@corp.supernews.com...[color=green]
>> Let's hypothesize that all foreign car companies have gone in the tank,
>> (or that the US has embargoed all foreign cars, including those made in
>> the US) and going further, all foreign cars have been confiscated by the
>> US government.
>> Now, since we all drive, and need transportation, we're forced to buy
>> American iron.
>> The question is - which of the big three would you choose, and within
>> their product lines, which model would you choose to buy? Keep in mind
>> that nobody's suddenly gotten rich, so your purchase must be within your
>> budget...no Escalades or Navigators unless you can afford them.
>>
>> In my own case, and based only on my experiences with American cars, I
>> think I'd go with a Ford product, since they've been less troublesome to
>> me and my wallet, and probably either a Mercury Milan or perhaps a Ford
>> Minivan.
>> If I had to choose GM, it'd likely be a midsize Buick, because they seem
>> to get good gas mileage (better than I'd have imagined). Or perhaps a
>> Chevrolet sedan. No Pontiacs or Cadillacs.
>> Chrysler products seem to have more breakdowns and they are largely
>> ugly to my view, although the Town and Country minivan seems pleasant
>> enough.
>>[/color]
>
> Probably Buick; lots of folks I know love theirs. I've never liked
> Cadillacs; my ethnicity notwithstanding :-)
>
> Natalie
>[/color]

I know a lot of white folk that own Cadillacs. My boss, for instance.

Charles of Schaumburg