Twister

said it before...will say it again.

Japanesse car makers do not invent anything. Where they shine is in the improvements that they can make on other people's ideas

CurtX

Wow! You've driven 1200 miles and no problems? Now that's impressive [/sarcasm]. Really, I wouldn't go bragging yet with those low miles.

Btw, how's this for impressive. A couple weeks ago, I drove my new stang home from the dealership without a single breakdown! Whew, yeah baby![:-]

gtmachine

No way. I have a 1994 camry and a 1990 Tuarus with 103,000 miles on it. The camry has needed brakes timing belt switch harness in the steering wheel, water pump alternator and power window motor. Had to replace the Axles, and balljoints, and exaust Y pipe, and now the radiator is leaking and all 4 struts and mounts are toast and the exaust is leaking again. 182,000 miles. the interior has cracks in the console and other wear. Other than that it runs good never had a major engine failure or transmission problem.

The tuarus has had a breal job, some hoses replaced a valve in the master cylinder and the A/C isnt working. The TFI was replaced by me. It also has a leaking radiator-just replaced it for $90.00, and needs a ball joint. The paint is faded. Other than that the interior is close to MINT, everything works never had a major mechanical break down and it runs good.

Maybe not the best example but I am not impressed with japanese cars after owning this camry.

Tres Wright

I for one think the interior (well, the upgraded version anyway) is very nice! I've read lots of complaints about the Mustang interior and I do not share them. I LOVE the various textures throughout the interior, I really dig the IUP bits and the ICAP is what "made" me buy a Mustang. I'm really mystified that so many people think the interior is cheap; I've spent plenty of time in Cadillacs (dad), BMWs (both of my bosses own them), Lincolns (in-laws), a Porsche (co-worker) and a whole slew of other Japanese and American cars and feel the Mustang interior compares quite favorably to all of them. My one gripe about the interior was the HVAC control *****, but those were easily swapped for aluminum versions.

Twister

and my 86 went 237,000 miles on the orrigional engine...265 on the tranny

Ruffnuts

I am an American and will only buy a car where I know for a fact the majority of the cash will stay in the US to support the US economy and flame me for this but if I have to spend 1k more a year to keep my American car running verses buying a non American car I will learn to live 1k cheaper a year.

Arrow

Good or bad? I think both sides have their pros and cons.

The only thing I have to say about it all is that, the reason I'm in the market for a new car now (eheim, Mustang) is because someone ran into my Nissan Sentra. The car was totalled, but hands-down saved my life. For that, I have no complaints.

SilverR1_04

Cars I've have/had (in order):

1969 Ford Mustang Fastback (was already like 30 years old running on old technology, so I cut it some slack):
Starter went out, replaced it for $35
Front brake shoes $20 (yup, drum in the front)
Engine combusted (right word, dunno?) Had over 390k miles on it, it had been rebuilt by my grandfather at about 200k or so. $1200 including labor for a new (rebuilt) 302 short block from Pep Boys.
Transmission rebuild (drive went out) $350 for rebuild

1999 Mercury Cougar (bought new):
Front brake pads
Battery
Fuel pump (under warranty) later there was a recall for it
After I sold it to a buddy, the belt snapped, he drove it and caused some damage, his fault!

1999 Ford F-150 (bought used):
Battery
front and rear brake pads
water pump (at about 80k)
gear indicator bracket broke, so now indicator shows one notch to the right of the actual gear

2005 Ford Mustang GT
none


My sister had a 1993 Probe with 160k miles on it:
battery
front brake pads
belt snapped
plugs

Her 2004 Jetta
air bag light stays on
rear drivers side door won't open
battery

My Moms 1989 Accord:
head gasket blew
drivers side and passenger side front door handles broke of when simply opening door, (drivers side twice)
pop up headlights would not go back down
head gasket again
drivers side power window regulator went out 3 times
power steering pump
radiator
front passenger side tire blew out on the freeway and the spinning tire shreds grabbed a harness of like 200 wires and shredded them all to hell (smart placement)

My moms 1998 Ford Mustang v6:
battery
rear brakes


That's why i don't buy japanese, actually I make it rule not to buy cars that end in a vowel.... sorry, but Dodge makes ugly sheit

I've had good experience with Ford.... I hear people talk bad about them all the time, but oh well. Besides that, I think Ford stepped things up quite a bit in 2003

281GT

rant There was a time where there was a HUGE quality gap between American and Japanese vehicles however the differences if there are any are minimal these days. Competition has been very good for the consumer. If it weren't for the Japanese coming into north america in the early 1980's I think the big three would still be turning out total garbage like they did back then. I noticed the quality of American cars really getting better in the early 90's. I had a 1991 Cavalier that provided me with years of reliable service and NEVER gave me any trouble. It still ran great when I sold it with 230,000 kilometers on it. There was also a time when I wouldn't touch a Ford and now that is all I will drive. My 05 Mustang GT has been a pheonominal car and I just bought a 2007 Ford Ranger to drive to work and it also is very well put together. I think Ford represents some of the best value there is in vehicles today and even though I drove Chevys for years I won't drive anything but a Ford now. I'd also like to add that there are benefits to keeping our money here in north America. I lost a couple of really good jobs to outsourcing to India and the companies that made those decisions have paid for those bad choices. Even though I am not American I will support the U.S. in any way I can to keep jobs here where they belong /rant

drbobvs

Alot of you really don't know where your cars are made or the parts are from. That's why they have those content breakdown lists on the stickers these days. Knowing this, I think I'd rather have a Camry built and assembled in the USA than a Ford built and assembled in Mexico, or Canada for that matter, (no offense to those Canadians here).

If you're really concerned about where the money goes, you'd better be sure it gets to the "American workers" not just the American execs and bean counters.