How do you get the boat to the lake?

[IllinoisBasser]

Shoes made in America at a reasonable price. Vans shoes.Since 1966.

[Cabela101]

Dodge is making a huge push for the top spot over Chevy.

[dink]

I take Hwy 15 to Hwy 127 then a left turn at the sign. ;D

Oh yeah....Global Economy...ride that wave or get crushed by it.

[Flatfish]

I have a 99 Sonoma 2.2/ 5speed, 2001 3500 Dually Dodge 360/ 5speed, 84 CJ7 Jeep 4.2/ 4speed, all ready willing and capable of pulling the boat. If I want a sun burned head I take the Jeep.

[basswagoner]

Chev. SILVERADO 2006

Sometimes I forget I even have a boat behind it til I get to Mc Donalds and the trailer tire hits the curb.  Oh well.

[Cabela101]

Hey, my GMC (which isn't on the list and it's not a chevy) has 289,000 miles. Maybe it's time for a new truck, but man I just love that truck. ;D ;D

Chevy/GMC...same thing

[Guest JoshKeller]

have a 99 Sonoma 2.2/ 5speed

close to my tow vehicle...

2001 chevy s-10 2.2 liter, 5 speed.  130,000 miles and still pulls my 17' glass bass boat nicely. Just chuck the back tire to make it easier to operate the clutch while pulling up the boat.

[redboat]

I guess we got off what we drive and onto free trade. So, here's my two cents worth:

Yes, Toyota operates US plants and provide Americans jobs; however, many of the parts are still (and will probably always be) made in Japan. Now I don't have a problem with this except for two things: Number one, US auto companies can't open plants in Japan, because the Japanese government doesn't allow this; and number two, American cars don't sell in Japan not due to poor quality but because Japan slaps huge tariffs on American products and forces American cars to comply with unrealistic inspection standards.

If the US government adopted the Japanese system tomorrow the number of Toyotas sold in the US would be zero, except for the diehards who'd be willing to pay $200,000 for a basic Camry.

American companies and American workers produce the best quality products in the world; given a level playing field there's nobody who can compete with America. Unfortunately our government allows (even encourages) unfairness.

As for "reliability" - having worked on American, European, and Japanese autos and trucks for several years I assure you the "foreign reliability" myth is just that, a myth. They break down as often as American autos and in most cases are more difficult and more expensive to fix.

Personally I'll take my good ol' US Dodge Ram any day over anything Toyota makes or will ever make. Of course it was made in Mexico, so I suppose its a good ol' Mexican truck! Ole!

[Madhouse27]

Pscarbor, you've made some interesting points and I enjoyed reading your post. While I don't think it would take very much research regarding the reliability of the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord over the past 10 years to debunk your "import myth" theory we are all certainly entitled to our own opinions. I've had some American made vehicles that were standouts in the long term reliability department. The star of the domestic show being a 1990 Ford Taurus that I am sure is still alive somewhere. Ford never should have discontinued this car. On the other end of the spectrum the least reliable vehicle I ever owned was an import....a Land Rover. The three best that I have ever owned in terms of reliablilty, design and resale value were all Toyotas...two 4Runners and a Land Cruiser. I've never had a major repair on any of them. I replaced an alternator on the Cruiser when it was 17 years old. It cost 40 dollars. I just don't see this level of quality with my friend's Explorers and Blazers. My Ford Windstar van is on its third transmission and it's the newest vehicle in my yard. About Japan, I too would like unfetterd access to their market. Some would gripe about American jobs going overseas but it would certainly help the bottom line at General Motors and Ford. Damler/Chrysler seems immune from the slide in American car sales. I think it is because they are creating vehicles that people want to buy. No one wants to see GM or Ford in chapter eleven. Unfortunately neither of them are bringing a mid sized suv to market that will stimulate me to help them out with a purchase.

[Jnamo]

I used to read the Detroit News papers and laugh.  On the front page there would be an article about Ford or GM recalling 100,000 vehicles because of some problem.  Then on page nine in some little blurb of an article there would be the story about BMW recalling 350,000 because of seat belt failure or something.  Same with the Japanese companies, all of their recall articles were in the back of the paper in an article about 3x 3.  The big 3, it gets front page in 3 tall letter type.  This was in Detroit!  Makes me wonder?  

[Cabela101]

I thought Dodge uses Mitsubishi motors which comes from overseas... right or wrong?

My sister once owned a '99 Dodge Avenger and right when you open the hood, the front plate on the motor said MITSUBISHI.  Half of that d**n car was foreign made.  I think the only true american made vehicles are Ford and GM.

[Cajun1977]

I guess we got off what we drive and onto free trade. So, here's my two cents worth:

Yes, Toyota operates US plants and provide Americans jobs; however, many of the parts are still (and will probably always be) made in Japan. Now I don't have a problem with this except for two things: Number one, US auto companies can't open plants in Japan, because the Japanese government doesn't allow this; and number two, American cars don't sell in Japan not due to poor quality but because Japan slaps huge tariffs on American products and forces American cars to comply with unrealistic inspection standards.

If the US government adopted the Japanese system tomorrow the number of Toyotas sold in the US would be zero, except for the diehards who'd be willing to pay $200,000 for a basic Camry.

American companies and American workers produce the best quality products in the world; given a level playing field there's nobody who can compete with America. Unfortunately our government allows (even encourages) unfairness.

As for "reliability" - having worked on American, European, and Japanese autos and trucks for several years I assure you the "foreign reliability" myth is just that, a myth. They break down as often as American autos and in most cases are more difficult and more expensive to fix.

Personally I'll take my good ol' US Dodge Ram any day over anything Toyota makes or will ever make. Of course it was made in Mexico, so I suppose its a good ol' Mexican truck! Ole!

american cars do sell in japan they are not in a large popular demand but there are more than a few  fords and chevys on the road over there along with several dealerships     american cars are not as popular over there because of size  the vechiles over there are much much smaller  they dont have the tundras and tacomas over there either the roads are not wide enough to fit those full size vechiles  the freeways are  but all the housing is on backroads  and trust me my dakota wouldnt  make it thru them backroads   the little tiny  2 cylinders  they drive over there have to pull all the way over on the side of the road just to let someone coming from the opposite direction   get by    so   its more than just japan setting outragous standards for american autos   if it wont fit it wont work      especially   95% of the people there live in apartments and theres no way to fit the vechiles we drive here

[wheasle]

I live right on Seneca River.... Takes about 5 mins to get to Cross Lake in the 27' Checkmate Convinser... but thats my dads boat. Im buying a 16' bass boat this year.  Just savin up a little more, car insurance is a killer (180/month) It sucks...

[Pa Angler]

I use a 1999 GMC Jimmy to tow a Tracker Targa 17SC.

[SavannahFisher]

I just wait for one of my friends to say 'lets go fishin', and then I just hop into whatever they are driving. ;D

[redboat]

While I don't think it would take very much research regarding the reliability of the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord over the past 10 years to debunk your "import myth" theory we are all certainly entitled to our own opinions.

I was speaking from personal experience - building and racing cars has been a hobby of mine for a number of years.

The absolute hands down best vehicle I ever owned was a Datsun 240Z. I made the mistake of selling it; a few years later I bought a 280Z. It was - lets say, "ok". Sold that one, years later bought a 300ZX Turbo, which was hands down one of the three WORST vehicles I ever owned (the other two being a Toyota and a Fiat). Based on that alone I'd say "Japanese quailty" took a nose dive from 1972 on.

I've also owned a couple of Toyotas, another Nissan, and a MG. Have helped friends work on numerous foriegn cars and trucks. Add to that several Ford, GM, and Chrysler products.

As for the "Mitsibushi engine" - My Dodge has a Cummings diesel, of course! Mitsibushi hasn't made a decent engine since the one they put in the Zero (which was a Howard Hughes design).

By the way, I also thought the "Jap" reference was a bit racist. The PC term is "rice burner" (yeah, I've owned a few bikes too).