So for years American cars were sort of considered inferior to Japanese and German cars. There have always been the exceptions like their trucks and certain sports cars, but man have they stepped it up since the 2008-2010 collapse.

Corvettes, Mustangs, Camaros, and Hellcats are by far the best cars for the money and are competing with cars priced 50-100% higher (even more in some cases). Cadillac is slaughtering BMW, Mercedes and Lexus in the luxury/sport segments and the new generation of american trucks are undeniably awesome. Even the little economy cars like the focus, Cruze, Malibu, fusion and Chrysler 200s are arguably the best in class.

It's amazing the swing the auto industry has taken. My family comes from Taiwan and wouldn't have dreamed of buying American cars 15 years ago. Not because they actually knew about cars, but it was the overall reputation. Now, it seems like they are always one step up on the competition. I was at a family party last weekend and noticed that half of the immediate family now drive American.

Motortrend just had a review with a BMW M4 ($80,000 as tested) vs the new 2016 Camaro SS (45,000) as tested and the reviewers couldn't find a single area were the BMW was better, INCLUDING INTERIOR QUALITY!!

And to top it all off, the leader in Electric technology is Tesla . One step (or 2) ahead for sure

As an aspiring Mechanical engineer in America, this makes me proud

 

Competition. Honda and some Toyotas are made here,GM and Chrysler HAVE to do better after the bailouts. Trucks are the main money makers for GM and Ford. Hyundai and Kia aren't jokes like they used to be several years ago. Speaking of a Camaro SS for $45,000.. Gulp! Just wish I'd hung on to my 68 RS/SS for $3500 that was fairly pricey back then.. Smartcars and Fiats are a couple exceptions on quality. As far as I know the Smartcar is history from what I've read. And if Musk can do what he's promised,you might see a Tesla more often.

 

Here is the link to the new BMW M4 vs the new Camaro SS. $80,000 vs $45,000. Thinking about it now, the M4 costs about the same as the 640HP CTS-v from Cadillac.


Even the interior quality is lacking in the bimmer compared to the Camaro. Performance around a track is dead even, the Camaro is Slighly faster in a straight line, the Camaro is lighter, the Camaro has a better engine/transmission, the Camaro gets more miles to a gallon, it has a better suspension system (Mag ride) and comes with a better warranty.

These comparisions between German and American Cars can go on all day, and usually have the same results in the end.

 

I drove Toyotas since 1974, but in 2005 I bought 2 Dodges, a RT Magnum and a QC 4X4 hemi Ram. Now the Magnum has 330,000 miles and the Ram has 235,000 miles. Both have been trouble free. The only thing that has worn out on either vehicle= 1 egr valve on the Magnum, and I've replaced the suspension bushings with Whiteline poly bushings. Change oil, and spark plugs, and change fluids every 100,000 miles. Still no rust, leather seats look mint, neither use a drop of oil, still have the German made shocks the Magnum came with. Never had a Toyota come close, they rusted to hell. I still take the Magnum to car shows! I should add, both get drag raced often, Magnum runs low 12's with a 100 shot of nitrous. BTW, my Magnum has magnetic, self leveling rear suspension, you SRT 8 Nivomats, they are awesome.

 

Big Toyota fan here but if I needed to buy a car right now I'd seriously consider Korean. Still driving the Toyota pickup I bought new in 1993, now with 283,000 miles but my daughter had a Hyundai that was still running great and using no oil at 250,000 miles. It'll take a few more years until I'm convinced of the wisdom of buying American.

How long before I can buy a Taotao car?

 

I worked for GM starting in 1985. We knowingly made bad parts once. IIRC the metal was all rusty. The foreman made us keep running even though we all knew the parts were bad. Later on they all had to be sorted through and most of them thrown away. In later years the people working on the line had more authority to stop the line when something was wrong and quality improved.

I've been driving the same Chevy truck for 16 years. In that time I've had a bad fuel gauge sensor and recently a bad front axle seal. My previous Chevy truck had the alternator go bad sometime after the 6 year warranty ran out and I traded it in for my current truck. The old one seemed perfect in every way until the alternator quit working. Great quality, fit and finish inside and out. I wish I'd kept it a few more years.

 

I'm not even foolish (or cheap) enough to buy a taotao ATV, you'd have to really hate someone to put them on one of those

 

For the first 5 or 6 years of sales, I'd strongly suggest getting the warranty.

 

Buy two,one to drive and one for spare parts..

 

I think I'll buy two used ones, then part them out and double my money.