Some people just need to be shot... and I don't even like vettes...

[tombogan03884]

To Hell with performance, I just want one that goes vroom every time I turn the key, and doesn't STOP doing it until you WANT it too.
Thank God Toyota's are made in Ca.   

[Pathfinder]

Vettes? Geesh, this thread is like one of Eric's Glock wet dreams threads. Since it's about cars, posting a Sig here would be soooo inappropriate, so . . .




 

[Timothy]

Yea, I gotta agree with Path......Carroll Shelby and Ford, a team for the ages...

[ericire12]

For the record, I would take a Cobra over a Vette any day

[david86440]

To Hell with performance, I just want one that goes vroom every time I turn the key, and doesn't STOP doing it until you WANT it too.
Thank God Toyota's are made in Ca.   

Sorry to have to tell you Tom, but last Toyota plant in CA is closing.

Toyota is planning on closing the New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. NUMMI auto-manufacturing plant in Fremont, CA on March 31. The immediate effect is a loss of 5,000 jobs. But, as with any factory closing, the effects ripple out well beyond the immediately obvious.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/28/business/28nummi.html

The plant, in Fremont, Calif., employs 4,700 people and is the country’s only remaining auto plant west of San Antonio. It opened in 1984 as a way for Toyota to experiment with building cars in North America and for G.M. to learn more efficient production techniques from Japan.

It will become Toyota’s first experience with closing a plant in the United States. Production will end by March.

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

That ripple will likely shut down several machining and fabricating shops in the rest of the Bay area.

[billt]

The exact same thing is going to happen to Toyota as happened to GM and Chrysler. They've followed in GM's footsteps to the letter. They got too big, too fast. They expanded into too many divisions. And in their greed to produce more, faster their quality has tanked big time. Unions didn't destroy Toyota, they did it to themselves. There will be more Toyota plant closings simply because new car fever has finally died out. How many new cars and trucks can they expect to sell in a horrible economy?

Toyota over expanded. It happens to a lot of companies. Krispy Kreme, and Starbucks to name a few. They will do what IBM did after they became way too fat. They will slash and burn across the board until they get lean and mean enough to once again be profitable. Too many divisions killed off GM. At one time they produced no less than 4, 350 cubic inch V-8's, one from each division, and none of the parts would interchange! It seems that every large corporation has to go through this over expansion, and contraction. None seem to learn from the mistakes of others. Toyota is going to find it's a lot harder to get quality back, than it is to lose it.  Bill T.

[Timothy]

As the saying goes..."It's easier to find a new customer than it is to get an old one back!"...

I'll never buy another GM product for as long as I live!  I stopped buying Chrysler products after the last bailout and Toyota, though they'll probably recover from this last fiasco, is in the toilet (with me) as well.

There is only one manufacturer left that I will give my hard earned cash.

[fightingquaker13]

As the saying goes..."It's easier to find a new customer than it is to get an old one back!"...

I'll never buy another GM product for as long as I live!  I stopped buying Chrysler products after the last bailout and Toyota, though they'll probably recover from this last fiasco, is in the toilet (with me) as well.

There is only one manufacturer left that I will give my hard earned cash.

I have to agree on that. Thing is while I love ford trucks, my one experience with one their small cars,an '81 escort, was so awful that when it caught fire and burned to the axels due to a a fuel injector problem, it was almost a relief. I would look at a Ford first if I wanted a small car, but it will take some persuading not to send me to the Hyundai dealership as their prices and quality are hard to beat. Still, I want made in the USA if I can stand it.
FQ13

[Timothy]

I have to agree on that. Thing is while I love ford trucks, my one experience with one their small cars,an '81 escort, was so awful that when it caught fire and burned to the axles due to a a fuel injector problem, it was almost a relief. I would look at a Ford first if I wanted a small car, but it will take some persuading not to send me to the Hyundai dealership as their prices and quality are hard to beat. Still, I want made in the USA if I can stand it.
FQ13

Don't know for certain but the Hyundai are being built in China now as well, at least my research has shown me that. 

My '82 Escort was a freebie from a friend in 1991.  I put another 100K on it after he gave it to me!  Mine was normally aspirated (carburetor) and ran like a dream.  Great little car so I bought another in '96 brand spanky new and put 180K on it over the six years I had it, no problems that I could not repair myself.

Since that little Escort, I've bought nothing but Ford products and even with the 2400 bucks I spent today on my Ranger, they're still a great value and pushing the Japanese cars out of the lead on quality.

The small cars from Ford are getting pricey as a result of initial quality improvements.  If you're in the market, the Fusion is Motor Trends Car of the Year.  I'm just kinda leaning toward AWD and they push 30K in the trim level.  My daughter just bought an Escape and it's not a bad little SUV for 23-25K...