kevinthickey

997.2 is tucked away for the winter. With 2 toddlers and the fact that we aren't millionaires I leased a 2016 Ford Fusion as my DD - my first "American" car. Started it this morning and smelled gas. Smelled A LOT of gas. Popped the hood and there was gas spraying all over the engine compartment like a water hose. Shut it down and having them come pick this POS up.

American car horror stories appreciated...

platinum997

That's scary... gas spraying can never be a good thing.

Ford has been doing a good job imo. Sorry to hear your experiance was horrible.

rbennett

Wife had a 2015 Ford Focus SUV with its (I think it was a 9 speed tran) new tech transmission.
The car could never figure out the proper gear selection and clutch would do a grab/release cycle rapidly when taking off or accelerating from 20mph.

Ford ended up taking it back under CA's lemon law.

orange260z

After many years of owning Japanese and German cars, I started buying American vehicles again in 2007.

The first two, in 2007 and again in 2010, were both full-size SUVs (a Yukon and then a Suburban). Although the fit and finish sucked and the interior materials were complete crap, from a driving perspective I felt they were best in class. After a couple of days I understood why you see so many of them on the interstates - they are just fantastic traveling vehicles, and you forget about the size after 10 minutes.

In 2013, after putting ~6000kms on similar rentals, I bought a 2013 Chrysler 300S as my DD. Although the assembly quality was very poor (looks like the tolerances were set up so that a hungover CAW worker could assemble it with his eyes closed and no feeling in his fingers) the car drove really well for a big car, had great features, and a fantastic combination of power and fuel economy. Other than a couple of small electrical glitches, the car has been great to own, and my wife drives it now.

This past summer I purchased a Cadillac CTS 3.6 AWD after trying out the usual German suspects (BMW 5, Mercedes E, Audi A6) as well as the Hyundai Genesis (now Genesis G80). The Cadillac won me over with unique style, and the DRIVE. Cadillac has nailed it with the Porsche-esqe combination of a firm but smooth-riding suspension, and very eager dynamics. I'm guessing a large part of it might be the relatively low weight for the class.

So far, the car itself has been great but I can't say the same thing about CUE. I don't have any issues or complaints about the touch controls; really, it's more about the software. I've had enough glitches with it to feel like I'm beta-testing it for them.

Austin997.2

Last American car I had was in 1999, so they have probably gotten much better. The Chrysler Cirrus I had in College which was bought used caught on fire. Almost got home and while driving it looked like a lot of exhaust was coming from my car. Right when I made it home smoke entered the cabin. That sucker was on fire. Tried putting the fire out to no avail. Called the fire department but it took them a while to get there. All the neighbors poured out to watch the show. The whole thing burned to a crisp. To my surprise the loudest part was when the tires popped. It never exploded, not sure if that really happens like in the movies, but the fire department did come so maybe it saved it from the gas tank going boom.

To the neighbors delight the crispy car remained outside of our house for a few weeks until insurance/manufacturer got off of their asses to do forensics. When that was done all I was told was that it was a manufacturers defect.

And that was my last "American" car.

snake eyes

I've owned several American cars.. no issues.. first off there isn't really an American car anymore.. the Camry is more American than the Chevrolet Malibu when you look at suppliers and parts.

I've owned two Buick LaCrosse 2017 and 2015... Silverados.. Tahoe .. and a corvette.
I had nothing more go wrong than I did with the Lexus RX and Two Honda civics I've had.

Never owned a ford... so can't help you there.
My father has owned five corvettes ranging from c five to c six never had any major issues.

In fact the worst car I ever had was German. A three series I was so happy to dump. BMWs have everything go wrong and extremely expensive

Currently have a lacrosse and a terrain Denali v six for the wife. Both cars had zero issues.
Btw I had more problems with Porsche under Cartier used inventory than the corvette. But I like the Porsche one thousand times more.

Para82

I did 22 track events and 24,000 miles in a 2013 Ford Boss 302 Laguna Seca. I would drive 300+ miles to the track, race all weekend and then drive 300+ miles back home. Car was bulletproof and vicious.

I now own a 2016 Shelby GT350 Track Pack. 15,000 miles. 2 Track Events, very reliable so far.


That's my experience but those are more purpose built.

Lugnutty

Back in the 90s I had a Nissan 300ZX Turbo that did exactly this. That was most definitely not my last "Japanese" car, nor was it even my last Z! I had a 944 that tried to catch fire, too. Not my last "German" car.

Sorry, I know that's not what the OP or the high-horsey anti-"American"-car brigade here is looking for. Cars are complicated and there aren't many really terrible ones anymore, regardless of where their badges come from.

Austin997.2

I am not Anti-American cars that was literally the last American car I have owned. That being said my Toyota SUV is "made in America". My thinking and circumstances make me undoubtedly biased. I have not owned a newer model American car so I am sure they are fine and much more reliable. Automobile reliability has skyrocketed since the 1980s/1990s when I owned American cars. I just grew up with piece of **** Ford Tauruses that would break before 40,000 miles, so those are the experiences ingrained in me.

That being said I think the new Ford Mustang and Ford GT Supercar are some of the best looking American cars to come out in my lifetime.

The Corvette needs to come up with a mid-engined model to add to the line-up, which I believe they are. I like how mid-engine/rear-engine sports cars look compared to front engine sports cars. Performance wise you will be hard pressed to get more bang for the buck than the new Vettes, I just like the look of 911s more.

andy92782

My last American car was a 2005 Cadillac CTS-V - the 1st generation model w/ 400HP LS6 engine and 6-speed manual. I had the car purchased back by GM under the lemon law.

I'm not anti-American, however. Every manufacturer drops a turd on occasion.

MaddMike

My first car was a very early '90s Ford Taurus which I spent almost as much time fixing as driving. Good thing I was in the Air Force and the hobby shop had nice lifts and lots of tools.

In '08 I bought a '99 Mercury Mountaineer as I was was buying a track car and trailer out in Illinois and I needed to get it back to Philly. I paid $1,600 out the door. I had planned on dumping it when I got back to Philly as it was a rusty old hunk, but I ended up keeping it for almost five years as that Ford 5.0 just kept going and towing my rig to tracks and back. I would throw transmissions, engines, tires, wet dogs, fresh fish, and dead hookers in the back as I never had to worry about my interior and I could park it on the streets of Philly without worrying about it.

One winter, I spun out on the ice and did some body damage. My insurance paid me $2,200 to fix it. Instead, I used the money for track tires, a new tail light, and a alignment and kept driving.

I finally sold it for $1,400. I think it was washed twice in my ownership.

Para82

Ouch! Those 5.0 notchbacks are appreciating and can go for over 15k now

fbfisher

My DD and "boat stuff car" is a 2015 Ford Explorer Sport and it has been flawless. Great tech features, comfortable ride, 6 passenger bucket seats and the eco boost 6 gets up and away nicely. For the price of the Range Rover Sport I was contemplating buying to replace my LR3, I was able to buy the new Ford and the 997. Two years later, I feel great about that decision.

usafakid09

This is why I leased a Corolla. The thing is a tank, and its cheap.

caymannyc

I grew up in Nagoya Japan (where my dad was sent by, you guessed it, a US automaker to learn how to build cars properly, get the irony on that) and in the Detroit area where, you guessed it, he has spent the last 30+ years of his life engineering and building cars. Thanks to my dad's influence, I also happen to cover the auto industry and have worked closely with US, German, Japanese, Korean and Indian car companies on various projects.

First off, the ones saying "Toyotas are "American" just because certain manufacturing or assembly plants happen to be in the US solely for tax reasons, are simply wrong. The design, management and engineering all happens in Japan, by Japanese engineers and workers. Certain cheap parts may be sourced from common-US suppliers, but any dummy can read the annual Audit Report for Toyota (sec.gov, TM) and get a list of suppliers for Toyota. Guess what? Most of its suppliers are...affiliated (read, Toyota controlled) companies. Even the Japanese factories located in the USA are managed by Japanese managers and quality control personnel. These are very much Japanese cars.

Now, what I'm about to say has nothing to do with the quality of American cars. In fact I know the quality is good and American companies are capable of making some good vehicles (but continue to make absolute stinkers). What I'm about to say has to do with my emotional decision on why I will never buy an American car.

Say all you want about the big bad anti-American brigade - the fact remains it was this very same "America is ARE country" Big-3 that shoved overpriced crappy cars down our throats for 20 years while spouting all sorts of racist propaganda against Japanese and Asian automakers (while deploying people like my dad to learn how to build cars from them and hiring as many Japanese engineers as they could get their hands on). This hypocrisy where they were shoveling crap into dealer's lots and expecting Americans to pay above and beyond what Honda was charging lasted for decades and you were punished with scorn, ridiculue and sometimes being told you were un-American for refusing to buy one of their cars (I'm an honorably discharged Army veteran, no less). What kind of utter garbage is that.

Also, the glee with which the US automakers reacted everytime a Japanese maker had to do a recall (or even during the Toyota break failure issue, which incidentally, has happened many many many MANY more times for the US car makers yet never received so much publicity) was also over the top, especially in light of the bailout for the US auto industry.

The following ad pretty much sums it up.


It's insulting that a multi-national has to appeal to nationalism to sell their products. And it's even more idiotic that these same Big-3 are currently making a big push to sell their products in countries like Japan, Korea and China, the very same countries from which they were clamoring for trade embargoes and tariffs.