I've long been a BUY AMERICAN enthusiast for cars. I've had GMC's, Jeeps, Dodge's, Chrysler... (I love cars). Our daughter went to college and wanted a Honda Accord (used, of course). The car had 56k miles on it, she's driven it for 2 years now (it has 75k on it - and those were not easy miles - she's 20) and it is still going strong. We never have to worry about her breaking down somewhere because it's a Honda.

A few years before DD got the Honda, we bought a new 2004 GMC Envoy. By the time we had 40k miles on it, we had to replace the gas gauge (and yes, we did run out of gas on a late Friday night because of the faulty gauge - not a fun night), a power window, a transmission, and the brakes - and 2 batteries.

We now have a used Lexus RX350 (DH's car - he likes SUV's - but this one gets better gas mileage than the Envoy ever did), and a used Honda Accord Hybrid (which is more of a sports car than a true Hybrid, but I still get better gas mileage and I have a ton of power!). I don't have to buy new because I know the car will still last no matter how it was driven. So I get more car for the same price and it lasts longer.

It will take me A LOT to go back to an American car.

Forget the worker's salaries. The reason the Big 3 are doing so poorly is because their cars are not quality. When I can have a car with 100k miles (a friend finally traded her Subaru when it had 250,000 HARD miles on it - she climbs 14,000 foot mountains and that car took her up a lot of those - she hated to do it because it still ran well, but she decided it was time) on it that is still going strong and is very reliable, why would I buy a car that will fall apart before it hits 40k miles?