As countries rise, they become victims of their own success. Manufacturing will follow the almighty dollar, wherever it's cheapest. If the Chinese salaries keep rising, production will keep moving to the next feasible countries with low salaries (as you stated). A wide scale move back to 'Made in USA' will only happen when all things combine to make it a cheaper venture. I'm old enough to remember when "Made in Japan" was on most products (and quality was great)....then it shifted to China.

 

I remember when Japanese cars were junk. They would rust out in just a few years, reliability problems, crappy parts, etc. The Japanese learned their lesson, and learned it well, today, they make some of the most reliable vehicles on the road. (and they are priced accordingly.....) Now we have the chinese, but, they have a whole different mindset than the Japanese...... They just want the money.

 

Hondas were junk. Toyota and Datsun were good, for the most part. I still see 1970's Corollas on the road now and then. Yes, they all rusted. That was their biggest killer. Rust is killing our Dodges too, LOL.

 

still wouldn't want a Toyota or Honduh even if they were going to be given to me for free..... I certainly wouldn't keep one around/
I have been after a full size truck with a real 8 ft bed.... I found one. Not quite what I was after, but it's in good shape and the price was right.....I say "close" because it has a Slant 6 in it instead of a V8......
I have a brand new from 1984 Briggs engine sitting here waiting to find the right deck to put it onto...... never had gas or oil in it. may be picking up a few more NOS Briggs engines tomorrow, 1-3-1/2 hp, 1-5hp horiz, an 8 and a 12HP I have a use for 2 of them, I look at Predator engines like I do a Toyota. Want nothing to do with them.
Guys love their Honduh small engines too. I have had 2. Very expensive parts, and very finickey/ dont wanna start that easy. Gimme an old cast iron Briggs or Kohler.

 

Boy we are different, most of the cars I've owned were Japanese. I couldn't afford to have anything unreliable back in the day. I've only owned three American vehicles, all Dodges. Never owned a Chevy, never desired a Ford (probably never will).

I love Toyotas. I've owned Corollas, Supras and Celicas over the years. Also owned a Honda which my daughter now drives. Toyotas were the the most logically built vehicles back in the day, I thought. The 22re was one the most reliable engines on the planet, at a time when general reliability was not as good as now. This 4.7L of mine rivals their reliability though. Yet, many bash it. I do know how to maintain a vehicle tho. Nowadays anything will last with basic care.

 

THIS ALONE is why we should not do business with China, and I thought it bore repeating. If we're supposed to be the bastion of freedom, we should not be doing any business with a company that still uses slave labor. If slavery were really a big deal to certain elements of our society, then those same elements should be screaming about this in the media, every day. But it's also an incomplete list - when a business is short on labor in China, the factory manager need only to call on the local high school for all the free labor he can handle. Any high school student tapped to work in the factory that refuses, for ANY reason, will not be allowed to graduate high school, which means he's going to be a menial laborer for his entire life. Watched a report on this, and those factories use kids as young as 12 years old to make product for 12-16 hours a day for as long as the factory needs them.

 

Well, I have issues with doing business with a communist country in the first place. Not to mention that all the money we are generating for them goes to developing their military, and expanding their influence in the region. How is that, in any way, considered a 'good idea'??? And then..... we start selling various parts of our country to the Chinese as well. It's an interesting long-term strategy, (on the chinese part) they won't have to beat us in a war, they will just buy us out. They already are well on their way to doing just that.

And then we have all the 'free trade' agreements with a host of other third world countries.... More places to export american jobs to..... At one point, it was rumored that the US Government was actually giving tax breaks to companies that were 'creating jobs in developing nations'..... Of course, what that really means is "MOVING jobs to developing nations."

And don't forget the whole 'customer service call center' issues........ Trying to get someone on the phone that actually speaks english as their FIRST language is a friggin' non-occurrence... It just doesn't happen. At least, not at the consumer level. Most of the business support that I deal with is still US based.....

When my girlfriend (at the time) was car shopping, we found a really nice Celica, and she drove that for several years, and well over 100k miles.... She liked it so much, that when it came time to replace it, the first lot we looked at had a Supra, a couple years newer. We drove it home. She drove that one for 7 years or so, and only retired it when it hit 350,000 miles, things were just wearing out. But, she drove over 100 miles per day, five days a week for that seven years. The car still ran great, but, some of the front suspension was getting a bit iffy. She probably could have just fixed it, and drove it a few more years, but, by then, she was in a position to buy something NEW, with a warranty..... Got herself a Honda Accord, as it actually still came with a manual trans.

 

that really fires me up... to no freaking end is how people claim "oh you HAVE to get a Japanese based car to get reliability". BULL$#!T!!!!!! I have YET to one anything BUT a Dodge, at 53 years old. though the newest has been (continues to be) an 01 Durango. I have a 96 Dakota that has 227K on it that gets me 70 miles a day for work (plus more on weekends) and shows no sign of dying, has yet to leave me stranded
Supposedly the Dodges I own (and have owned) are/were from the "bad" years at Chrysler. I have had a couple that haven't been "as good" as others but youll have that in any brand. for the most part they have always gotten me where I was going, and when there has been an issue they are usually pretty minor.
. In my work I work on mostly Fords these days (fleet mechanic for the State) and some Chevys, were some Dodges when I started but they have fallen away by attrition and age. Even the Jap cars will do so.
I have worked on all brands, and that is why I continue to drive Dodges. besides familiarty, I have stock of common maintenance parts and i only have to keep 1 part number of things like filters to fit anything I have.
I dont even want a Toyota or Honduh or Kia in the driveway for a couple of hours.......

 

Two things that help me to understand it a little better are.
1. The "Love" of money is the root of all evil.
2. Bob Allen who years ago was the CEO of AT&T (American Telegraph & Company) said. "Think not of AT&T as an American Company, but rather as a global company who has their headquarters in America" And I believe that is the problem with most of our Corporations. They seem to have no allegiance to the U.S., only to profit.

FWIW, There was a time when trade with a Communist country was illegal. Now China has most favorite trade status.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by volaredon

still wouldn't want a Toyota or Honduh even if they were going to be given to me for free..... I certainly wouldn't keep one around/

The sad thing is, for "American Made" Dodge does not even have 1 vehicle in the top 10. Honda has 3. IMO, anymore, American brands mean nothing......
https://www.cars.com/american-made-index/