7 American Cars Worth Bailing Out

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the bail out was nothing more and nothing less than the chicago machine (Obummer) shaking down votes for the over paid employee making mediocre products.

daniel oliveros of VA 7:01PM March 06, 2012

I immigrated to the US in 2001 and dreamed of owning an American car. When I drove to Arkansas and to San Diego from the Bay Area in California, I rented Ford and Chevy cars (Malibu '01 and Buick '02) and SUV's (Explorer '03 and '05, Blazer '02, Trail Blazer '06) until 2007. My family lived in Mena, Arkansas one year before joining me in California. I traveled frequently to UCSD in San Diego where my daughter attended schooling for 4 years. One time a friend suggested that I rent a Toyota Highlander (year '07) for a trip to San Diego. The ride was more comfortable, smoother and more mileage per gallon (21 miles per gallon highway) compared any of the American SUV's previously used. The Blazer I rented for a trip to Arkansas and Trail Blazer to San Diego averaged 14 miles to a gallon. The Trail Blazer needed break pedal pumping 2 to 3 times before the vehicle comes to a stop. The Explorer I rented going to San Diego also consumed gas at 14 miles to a gallon and the door opener on the driver's side were difficult to use. The Buick I rented had funny noise when driving at certain speeds and the radio volume goes up and own without being adjusted. All these American made vehicles had traveled less than 10K miles. When I bought my first new car in '08 after 7 years of using used cars, I decided to buy a Toyota. I suggest that Ford, GM and Chrysler Senior Managers should read the Consumer Report Magazine to find out how American Cars are rated and compared to their competition.

Ed Luang of CA 1:19PM December 09, 2009

Go on JWG of WA, keep sh*tting on America. Purchase other countries products to teach America a lesson. It was Reagan who forced the other countries (at the threat of an imposed VAT tax on imports) that Reagan forced other countires to invest in America, and they were allowed to do it WITHOUT UNIONS A-hole. You're like every l-a-z-y American kid today, part of the problem, and you refuse, REFUSE to put forth any effort towards a solution. F-off lazy. Personally you WOULD accept the latter... POS you are.

edgy of FL 11:41PM November 14, 2009

It is my understanding that a battery pac will last approximately 100k miles before replacement at an estimated cost of 10-15K. Who will buy a used Volt when you have to spend 10-15K for a new battery? It would seem that the resale might be very limited. Also, sources of lithium come from volcanic areas of South America and a few other sources world wide. Not nearly enough can be produced to make a 100k batteries. And, the disposal cost of worn our batteries, which may be considered a "hazardous waste" under federal EPA guidelines, also will add to the cost of ownership.

JA Ercole of MI 5:58PM August 19, 2009

Sorry, I can't get excited about $40,000 car that only goes 40 miles.Will it do 70mph?

Will it accelerate to highway speeds without getting run over? How much will it cost to charge the battery for 8 hours.

Vehicles need to be built so a family can get in

it, and needs to be fuel efficient.

Bill of TX 3:19PM August 19, 2009

As long as GM is owned by the US Government there is no sence in supporting it. I will never buy a GM car built by the good old USA. Sorry Corvette of my dreams.

What does it mean to buy American any more? Is it the fact that the Company has a mailing address in the US and builds their cars overseas, employing their workers? Or is it a Company that is a foreign corporation that builds cars here in the US and pays good wages to our workers and sells the cars here?

Personally I would accept the latter. Isn't it about the jobs? Yah the company may send its profit's overseas but what about all the income generated here and of course the tax dollars generated for the US Gov. We all know they don't have enough.

It would be real great someday to walk into a dealership and have them say 100% of this car was built here in the US. No parts brought in from overseas, no overseas workers employed, and assembled right here in our great Country. Until that day happens there will always be the question of what does it mean to buy American.

JWG of WA 9:56AM July 12, 2009

My first car, bought for me from my father, who was the 1st State Farm agent in the US, was a Chevy Camaro. It was white with buckskin leather interior. It drove amazingly well...except in heavy Chicago ice storms. Chevrolet was good...Chrysler never good. But, as they go down, have at least a fond memory of one care you loved made in the USA.

karen Karr of FL 12:06AM June 27, 2009

I still find it amusing that Ford and their cars somehow end up included in every bailout article. By the way, they are the ones who didn't take any money and didn't declare bankruptcy!!!!With the wealth of information and thousands of articles out there why does this still happen?

Brian Smith of NY 9:15AM June 15, 2009

Well, If we look beyond the grammatical and spelling errors of Bob's post, we will see Bob has excellent taste in cars, hence he still owns his 64 GTO. Anyways, global warming and its sub-topics are still debated topics even within the scientific community, but it is generally accepted it is happening. But hypothetical speaking, even if the US stop producing carbon emissions starting tomorrow, global warming will still continue because of carbon output of other countries like China and India. In addition, they lack the ambition to change these policies because of economic motives.

Dear Chris of PA, your an ass for belittling someone. He is a gentlemen of at least 61 years of age ideally 65-70 y/o, based on his car statement. He clearly made spelling mistakes because of his age and/or could not see the micro print of the text box he wrote in. The approach of scrutinizing someone's intelligence simple because he doesn't agree with your ideology or liberal ideology is very naive. You need to stop watching MSNBC and grow up.

Chris of OH 12:45AM June 15, 2009

This Allenby guy must be a right wing nut who as is their habit is to look at something in a very narrow view. They rely on ignorance...in fact it's a virtue to them to know a little but not too much about a subject. His quote: "...green hype is the biggest fraud ever..." is a perfect example of the little knowledge he owns: "Globle (sic) warming is a natural evelotion (sic) of eartes (sic) cycle" Yes there is a cycle and if he really knew more about that topic, he would also know that the cycle runs over 100's of thousands of years and caused by carbon dioxide building up as a result of natural seismic activity. With the advent of the machine age, that cycle is being reduced to just a couple of centuries. These conspiracy fools likely don't even know that global warming will create an ice age in Europe. Why? Because the Gulf Stream which is basically a warm "river" that runs across the Atlantic is what keeps Europe's climate similar to the Mid Atlantic States despite the fact that it is much further north. As the polar ice cap breaks and ice floes and ice fields move south, they will come in contact with that Gulf Stream, lowering its temperature and thus cooling Europe. Of course these Allenby type conspiracy zealots will scream "GLOBAL WARMING!!!! HOW CAN THERE BE GLOBAL WARMING WITH EUROPE GETTING COLDER?"

A little bit of knowledge definitely is dangerous. Spend more time watching the Discover Channel and less watching NASCAR if you are going to make sweeping accusations.

Chris of PA 7:09PM June 14, 2009

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Rick Newman

Rick Newman

The global economy is mysterious, even scary. Chief Business Correspondent Rick Newman connects the dots. In addition to his writing for U.S. News, Rick is the co-author of two books: Firefight: Inside the Battle to Save the Pentagon on 9/11, and Bury Us Upside Down: The Misty Pilots and the Secret Battle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail.


Read Rick's latest blog entries here.

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