| Buy American - or import? |
| Written by Eric Peters | |
| July 29, 2009 | |
|
Should you "buy American" - or import? I guess it depends on your personal experiences, likes and dislikes. Let me share a few of mine. But first, a little context. I grew up in a "buy American" family. All my parents ever drove while I was growing up were American cars. Oldsmobiles and Fords and Chevrolets. So, that was my bias, too. And I still love the style and personality of American cars - especially those built during the 1960s and '70s. On an emotional level, they have me all nailed up. I still own and likely will never sell my '76 Trans Am muscle car. It's a head-turner and it makes me feel good just to look at it. But my daily driver is a '98 Nissan pick-up. And I recently bought another exactly like it, only newer and nicer. Why? Because, first of all, Nissan Number One (the '98 Frontier) has proved to be a mechanical Wolverine that is seemingly impossible to hurt. The thing is almost twelve years old now and pushing 120,000 miles yet it has never - not once - let me down. It still has its original clutch. The AC works. Everything works. It runs and drives as well as some vehicles do with a third the mileage that are eight years newer. And the body? Despite sitting outside and not being washed or waxed nearly as often as it deserves - looks almost new. The paint is shiny; the rubber trim hasn't begun to disintegrate. It could be a four or five year old truck, as far as its appearance. Other than routine maintenance, it has needed nothing from me but gas in the tank. Oh, and while we are on the subject of maintenance... . Working on the Frontier has been a revelation. By which I mean, someone (several people, probably) very obviously gave great thought to designing this truck so that it would be as simple as possible to service. For example, the front brakes. To change the pads, it is not even necessary to unbolt the caliper from the rotor. Just turn out a single bolt and you can swing up the top section of the caliper, which gives you access to both pads. They can then be popped out with your hands. Seat the pistons with a C-clamp, pop in the new pads, swing down the upper portion of the caliper and reinstall and tighten the bolt. You're done. It is almost a tool-free brake job that literally takes maybe 5 minutes per wheel. Another example: Because I am compulsive, I changed out the truck's water pump at 100,000 miles - not because it needed it, just "in case." It was the easiest water pump job I have ever done and I have done dozens of them over the years. The radiator was designed to lift out easily after undoing two bolts (and the radiator itself has an easily accessed - not hidden/hard to reach - drain plug). The accessories all were mounted in such a way that removing them was simple. The individual drive belts could be loosened (and tensioned) simply by turning in a 14 mm screw. I did the job, start to finish, in just over 30 minutes. And I could have done it in a 7-11 parking lot if I'd had to. The only tools necessary were a a socket driver, pliers (to loosen the hose clamps) and one each 10 mm socket and 14 mm socket. That's it. You can get to the AC blower fan by taking out a few screws that hold a panel to the underside of the glovebox. All the drain holes for the transmission, front and rear axles and transfer case are easily accessible - not hidden behind something or so close to to the frame or some other part that you can't get at them without special tools or some elaborate procedure. Experiences such as these conjure affection for the machine over time. You begin to feel as loyal to it as it has been to you. Meanwhile, American cars. My experience with them has not been so yin-yang. Looks and heart they have. But most seem to have been assembled with ease of manufacturing in mind, not ease of service. Just one example: The 1994-2002 Chevy Camaro required that the engine be removed from the car in order to changeout the spark plugs. No, I am not making that up. You can't make stuff like that up. To get to my Trans-Am's heater core, you must disassemble most of the AC system first. My father-in-law's early '90s Caddy has an oil filter that can't be reached by conventional tools. My folks had a Lincoln Mark VII. Pretty car. Lots of power. But the transmission failed at 70,000 miles and the air spring suspension leaked constantly. Each air spring cost something like $800 to replace. There are four air springs on the car. The dealer was indifferent. My folks - who had bought nothing but American cars since they began buying cars - went Jap and bought a Lexus to replace the Lincoln. And they have never been happier with either a car or their service they have received. Me too. On top of all this (reason enough, in my book), the ugly truth is that "American" car companies are in fact multinational corporations whose main loyalty is to their bottom line and the salaries of upper management - not the American worker or the American nation. Some will take offense, but it's no less true. GM and Ford and Chrysler all aggressively backed and pushed for so-called "free trade" policies that made it easy for them to close factories in the United States and open them in places like Mexico and even China, where labor costs are much lower (but of course, the cars didn't get any cheaper when they were shipped back to El Norte). Meanwhile, companies like Nissan (and Honda and Toyota and Mercedes-Benz and BMW) have been opening plants in the United States that employ American workers. True, much of the profit leaves the country - but a good chunk of it also provides a livelihood for thousands of Americans, which is more than can be said of a Mexican-built Chevy or Ford - the profits from which only enrich already rich CEOs and management and big-time shareholders. So, much as I like the idea of supporting the home team, until the home team starts supporting me (and America) in return, I will continue to do what makes the most sense for me. I recommend you do the same, too. |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|