I am generally an American Iron fanatic. I

 

Arthur

You might want to take a look at this thread http://forums.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.p...threadid=152548

We've been discussing just that issue.

My thought is that it is the engineering, management and general philosophy of the company that is important. Where the car is put together is secondary. Some feel this way, others feel differently. An interesting question.

 

I know that the work ethic in Japan is different than here. The workers work long days and are very serious about quality of the product and take pride in their work. Usually they keep their job for life. Our S2k is made in Japan.

In the good old US of A., well, as one who has employed many people over the years from many different geographical regions, I find that the workers I hired here are only interested in having enough money at the end of the day to buy beer and party. They don't give a rat's ass about the job and would rather be somewhere else. I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule, I just haven't found any. This perhaps is the difference of workmanship.

 

American made foreign cars.

Honda was the first with the Marysville plant. They started building accords here in the mid-80s (I believe).
I have found NO difference in the quality of the cars, and I have owned a few. In fact it is my understanding that Honda tranships cars to Japan from the US. The quality of the car is not incumbent on the worker as much as it is related to the design of the vehicle. (I believe that nearly all Accord coupes and the now defunct Acura CL came out of Marysville.)
I believe I saw a study recently that pegged productivity in the US as nearly the highest in the world.

It's not the worker that is respnsible for the abominations (e.g. Pontiac Aztek) that come out of Detroit it is the companies that push designs through without the forethought that their competitors use.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by HI SPEEDR
I know that the work ethic in Japan is different than here.

 

I was generally refering to the imports being made in the US. I myself have been to to Japan and other countries on more than a number of occasions. I would take the US over all of them. While I do belive that there are way to many here in the States that feel they are owed something there are many here that do not feel that way and have just as good a work ethic as the Japanese.

 

FWIW, and I can't give you the links to substantiate this, I've read that the ML Mercedes and X5 and Z3 BMW's each had significant quality control issues far worse than the usual MB and BMW products in their first few years of production.

Is that a coincidence? I doubt it.

As sorry as I am to say it, having traveled a lot and lived in Japan for 6 months, I think that the avg. guy slinging a wrench in S. Carolina doesn't put as much into his days work as the average guy slinging a wrench in Takanezawa or Stuttgart.

 

I would just like to share a few things. First off, Honda's have problems. If they didn't, I would be out of a job. The majority of Hondas that we recieve for service are American made. Ok, with that said we still recieve a good amount cars from Japan. Insights, Civic Hybrids, some Accords and obviously the S2000. These particular cars for some reason always seem to dodge the recall and product update bullet. On top of that, these cars are usually in for their service and right out the door. No rattles, shift concerns, water leaks, etc. I'm not saying they are all perfect, just a majority. I know some of you out there have been to the dealership for these kinds of things and I know there have been recalls for JHM cars. But not nearly as many as for AHM built cars. For example, 2003 Accords have a recent product update for a no reverse condition in which I have to reflash the computer through Honda's Interactive Network. Majority of the affected car VIN numbers start with 1HG (Ohio). Very, and I mean very little start with JHM (Takanezawa, Japan).
The people I really want to give a to are the Britsh. They have done a wonderful job in assembling the new CR-V's. Very little problems, very little complaints.
Next topic, Japanese work ethic and environment. One particular thing stands out the most about the work environment is that you move through a company by quality and quantity of work. If one man has worked his job for thirty years and done well, and a man works faster and better after one year he will move up in the company. In America many positions in the automotive field are inherited or grandfathered to a person who has been with the company longer. This is not the case in Japan. A balance of quality and quantity earns you the big bucks there. Time of employment means nothing.
These are just my options and what I have studied through Honda over the years. With that I say....

Dear Honda,
I know you have some flaws, but I still love you.

Love, Tim

 

Not everwhere, but...

A couple home improvement stores opened here recently, and the locals were real excited about all the jobs they were bringing. A couple months later (now), there's a problem keeping employees. Seems EVERYONE wants a job, but very few want to work!

 

I find it funny that someone with the User Name Javelin360 posted a thread about Quality.

My first car was an AMC Javelin. Don't get me wrong, I loved the car and have thought about finding one and working on it. But the quality was SOOOOO bad. If I remember right, the tranny came from Chrysler, the ignition was Mopar (maybe Motorola), the carb was a Ford I believe.

I think the only genuine AMC parts were the interior, body and suspension. I remember that my car was constantly splitting bushings and would go squeaking down the road.

The car didn't even have an electrical windshield wiper, it worked off the fuel pump and never worked.

But I loved the car.

I also loved the Chevelle, Roadrunner and Cuda.