Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Import vs Domestic

If you wanna do that, buy a universal O2 sensor. They come without the connector(I think they do come with some splices, though). The ones that I've seen have been more expensive than the non-univesal ones by about $20 for some odd reason, but if you're REALLY cheap it only takes a pair of wire cutters to convert a 3-wire O2 sensor for an '88 Mustang or a 4-wire O2 sensor for a '95 Contour into a universal one

Brian

Example of price difference for used. Dealer around here advertising a bunch of 2001 Taurus SES's for $11,998 each. Same dealer has bunch of 2001 Camry LE's for $14,999 each. And the fords come with 75,000 mi power train warranty, apparently the camrys do not.

Also, Richard, for all the adjustments Mercedes makes, a lot of Mercedes products still have worse-than average reliability! This is a marked change for them, when they used to be pretty consistently better-than average.

"then why is the Ford F-150 still the best selling Truck, and the ever flipping Explorer still best selling SUV if the consumers hate these cars so much as consumer reports says then why are they still buying them."

Cause' American's on average have wallets thicker than their cerebral cortexs (a high dollar to neuron ratio).

Back on the parts price issue...A guy I work with drives older mercedes. He generally pays as much for a just the part (does work himself) as I would pay for parts and labor combined.[/QB][/QUOTE]

You pay for the name. I drove old (mid-late 70's) Caddy's the first 5 years of having my license and found that caddy parts just plain cost more. i would wager the same can be said for lincoln, mercedes, bmw, any "premium" brand, import or domestic.

i may be in a better position than most of you to answer this question. since i am a used car dealer, i buy and sell everthing. let me tell you, the hondas and nissans kick our butt when it comes to reliability,performance, and long term durability. i buy my cars at auction and no matter how nice or new or clean, some type of repair is needed. the cost of repairs is the same at my local mechanics shop, the only difference is the price of the parts. if you take it to the various dealerships, the price of labor is generally from about 75 dollars and hour to 115 an hour. my mechanic charges me 55 an hour. i buy a lot of fords because they tend to be really cheap. especially contours and mystiques. i read this site because i have had almost every problem listed here and i have learned so much in what to look for in my next auction purchase and how much it will cost me to repair the car.

Also, the F150 is still the most reliable full size domestic pickup. I didn't say it's reliability was bad, but I do think that such a general decline in reliability across the Ford line should be a major cause of concern.

Especially when Ford products used to have much better relative reliability.

Two things to consider- true Asian imports, for a long time, were made from recycled or lower-grade steel/alum (export thingy from yrs ago). US autos had, for a long time, better materials, dist, advertising etc but built lemons generally. This has changed of course, but the fact that export models are generally much better built than domestic has not. Most American vehicles I've seen in Europe were older and hi milage, ran fine but expensive to maintain due to restrictions/tariffs. Driving US cars in Asia becomes a joke because of this, even though our exports are generally better than what we sell domestically. Regardless as to the maint costs, trade inequities, etc parent company ownership is my main concern. American made is not always American owned, as US owned is not necessarily US made (thanks, NAFTA). My car was built in KC , by FMC. Just an example. Daimler/Chrysler/Pontiac/Toyota gets confusing to me. Even Jags aren't British anymore, for god's sake.

That lower grade steel comment is interesting. My impression long ago like in the 70s was the japanese imports ran forever but rusted away even faster than the american cars.

1. Ford F-Series -- 911,597

2. Chevrolet Silverado -- 716,051

3. Ford Explorer -- 415,921

4. Honda Accord -- 414,718

5. Toyota Camry -- 390,449

6. Ford Taurus -- 353,560

7. Dodge Ram Pickup -- 344,538

8. Honda Civic -- 331,780

9. Ford Ranger -- 272,460

10. Ford Focus -- 264,414

Ford is always getting a bad rap but people keep buying there cars and trucks. Half of this list is made up by Ford. Only Honda has more than one other car on this list. I would have expected that at least the Explorer would have fallen off but it is still selling just as strong as ever. There's no other SUV that even comes close in terms of sales. No wonder their customer service and quality haven't improved much. They have no real immediate incentive. They have the #1 selling pickup, the #1 selling SUV, the #1 selling compact pickup, #2 selling midsize car, and the #2 selling compact.

I'm missing the better performing cars parts. Like what???