I know times are tough for the American economy, but is it so bad that this has to happen?
This is based on personal bias, but why?
How does it make sense for a true American company to side with what is the biggest threat to American Auto-Making/manufacturers?
If anyone shares my sentiment, or can provide answers, I'd like to know.
If you don't/can't, that's cool too.
To each his own, etc.

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Feel free to call me Tyler.

Hiya Tyler.

Perhaps the people incharge of the money think it would make more money for them. Buisiness is buisiness, patriotism is patriotism. Its rare the two will mix. We just dont live in the same world we grew up in. The medium we comunicate through put the last nail in the homegrown economy coffin.

To quote steven king, the world has moved on.

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No no and no

The biggest threat to American auto makers was their own massive incompetence.

There are no "sides" here. This is upposedly a free market that runs on competition. Japanese auto makers (who often use more American-sourced parts in their cars than most so-called "American" cars do) offer more value for the buck, so they win.

To understand why they curled up, look no further than the Pontiac Aztek. There in one hideous vehicle is all the bad engineering, the mis-reading of the market, the arrogant disrespect for consumer taste, and the endless drive to place stockholder value before product quality that has turned Detroit into a sinkhole.

They're not a threat, we made them a threat by not keeping up with the quality, design, lifespan and value of our own cars. Nobody is brainwashed into buying foreign.

I will never buy another Chrysler because they are junk, period. I would love to, but I will not waste my money and risk the safety of my son just to "be patriotic" for any so-called "American" car company that build a lot of their stuff in Canada, Mexico, Brazil and now Russia. I'd rather have a better quality car that my next door neighbor actually built in America - no matter what label happens to be on it.

Just one American's opinion. By the sales of cars, I don't think I'm the only one that has been sucker punched by the US auto industry.

I hear ya ... but what if that Toyota was made in Kentucky? And what if the Toyota Tundra was made in San Antonio, Texas? Would that affect your opinion on this?

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

Hello Tyler,

My 17 yr Oldsmobile Station wagon
still runs fine. Most toyotas are
on the heap by this age.
I'll buy GM again, thats if I ever
get another auto.

Cheers.

Dunno how relevant this is but, Chrysler Europe are owned by the Daimler/benz group. Their made in the mercedez factory.

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No no and no

I believe we have Toyota production here so siding with them in the contest might be a sign that Fender was giving away a truck thats more reliable than our own trucks. We create our own mess by making trucks like the Hummer, a massive beheamoth that gets 9 MPG. We could learn from foreign auto makers if we would produce a truck that gets better gas mileage and runs for 200 000 miles without headaches.

A few years back i saw a tv report on a guy who had a 81 volkwagon passat diesel. It had done 650K. The guy had never taken it to a garage for anything aside from tyres and a couple of clutch's. In the same tv program there was a inventor who had replaced the starter system on a mini metro. His new system was a magnetic strip on the drivers door that another magnet was passed over. Get in the car press a button and away you go. They got a local (evesham/studley) car theif of reknown to show how quickly he could get into a ford cosworth with all the security features. It took him 39 seconds to get in and drive off. They then put him infornt of the modded metro. He couldnt jemmy the door so he smashed the window and climbed in through the hole. When he got in the push start wouldnt operate because the door wasnt unlocked, also the steering lock wouldnt release. He jemmied the bonnet open and was faced with a set of relays and boxes he couldnt figure.
He had to walk away.

Never seen any of those systems installed on any new car despite them beating the countries most prolific car thief at the time. The development of those systems could of saved a lot of heartache. The way the car industry has treated its consumer base over the last 50 years they should face a hard time. Unfortunately as always any hardship just gets put on the little guy, not the fat cats. If people are losing faith in certain manufacturers its only because of past bad experiences.

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No no and no

I think you are being too subtle here. The fact is that Toyota Tundras are made in San Antonio, Texas and Princeton, Indiana.

+1 to that!

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http://www.bluesrepublic.org/

2008 Fender American Stratocaster
2008 Fender Deluxe Telecaster
Fender Power Jazz Bass Special 1987 (MIJ)
Egnater Renegade Head
Egnater Tourmaster 2x12 cab

Another thing that kills me about the "sides" for autos or any other products is how hypocritical some people are. Buying products from England or Germany is still "foreign" to the US, but many people will tolerate that completely. Buy something from Asia, and somehow that's considered "the enemy". Crazy.

Probably the same reason you bought a MIM bass. Toyota was probably the best company to partner with for this event.

Protectionist attitudes will only spiral the American economy, like it did to cause the Great Depression. The way out is for American Companies to once again start making and selling the best quality products, like they did in the late 40's and 50's (When our beloved Fenders started out.) Cheap labour worldwide will always be there, so North American companies need to counter by being worth the money.

Very well said. Nobody wants to "put down" American companies, for sure. And to be honest, I'd much rather have an American car. But the fact is, after so much experience, I just can justify doing it, they're just not worth it compared to some other cars. And I'm so tired of hearing "buy American - under any circumstance, whether it's crap or not - just buy it... otherwise you're not patriotic." Such crap.

What i don't understand, is for the most part the groups calling people unpatriotic for not buying' domestic' don't call 'domestic' manufacturers unpatriotic when they try unloading poorly built/designed products.