Foreign Cars are Better

[TheKurp]

And what do you mean by lower TCO? Simple accounting? What about discounted money costs? What about wait time, how do you think that should be factored? What about occurrence of cost events versus the cost of each event? Why?

I mean every penny that goes into operating and owning the car over and above what was paid for it. I.e. depreciation, financing, insurance, taxes and fees, fuel, maintenance and repairs.

[Darth Tater]

I think the key word here is value. Unless money is no object, it's something we can all agree on.

I would break it down as:

Initial cost

TCO (total cost of ownership - repairs, fuel and maintenance)

Resale value

vs

How good does it look

how well it performs it's job (Does the pickup haul a lot? Does the sports car handle? etc.)

comfort and everyday drivability

No, especially when one is considering value in terms of economics, value is a subjective term.

[big#44]

American cars have changed a lot in recent years to emulate design and engineering of that of Japanese and European cars. The Ford Focus for isntance was designed in Europe. It was a huge hit there and has a great reputation in the U.S..

However, a lot of U.S. cars were poorly made for a while, mostly during the 90's and early 21st century, during a time where Japenese cars had built a reputation on reliability and affordability.

NOW, when Japenese cars were once cheap and reliable, they are now expensive and reliable. U.S. cars now have become a lot more reliable overall, but are less expensive. People still have the notion that American cars are simply un reliable.

I worked on cars for years, and what I notice is that if you maintain your car the way you should, it will last you. There maybe some things here are there on certain vehicles that maybe of better quality, but maintenance is key.

oh gee, what a concept! . people that dont know much about cars always complain about american reliability and japanese "superiority". i change my own oil and rotate my own tires, and my american cars are fit as a fiddle.

[Darth Tater]

quality of an object depends on how well that object performs it's role

so a good car depends on what you use a car for.

The most objective ways to judge a car are reliability and energy consumption. Because in no case is an unreliable car good, or is consumption of resources in excess good. There are other factors of course, like style which can be purely aesthetic or a function of status within society, and this would be greatly subjective. There is the quality of the drive, some people want different capacities for driving, some want comfort, others want a bumpy ride, some need a truck for utility, others need a minivan, so this is also very subjective. Cost can also be a little subjective... some people won't drive cheap cars no matter how cheap they are because it could be seen negatively from a social status context... though that argument is weaker than the others. Cost is mostly objective.

Cost is mostly objective but it is kind of an average made up of the many subjective values of other humans that cannot be truly be known before they act.

[big#44]

Wrong, your statement should read:

"250K of worry free driving is MY definition of a great car"

While that may be a factor for many people, reality tells us it is not the primary factor for most people.

exactly. people have different needs. if my needs consisted of me needing a a plain looking car thats comfy and gets good gas mileage i would have gotten a camry or civic or a focus or something. luckily i wanted more, so i got a turbo dodge, that looks good (subject to opinion of course) gets decent mileage and is crazy fast with plenty of room for improvement. its a great car for me and i love it.

[MrSilverMaC]

Phtttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ferrari Scuderia Spider 16M

http://wot.motortrend.com/6339017/auto-news/ferrari-scuderia-spider-16m-unveiled-race-bred-convertible-comes-with-ipod/index.html

That car is godly. Wish I could hit one of those 300 mil powerballs to get one.