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Path: utzoo!watmath!wateng!bcdoody
From: bcdoody@wateng.UUCP (Brian C. Doody)
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Re: US cars beat ANY Japanese car
Message-ID: <2047@wateng.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 21-Feb-85 10:56:45 EST
Article-I.D.: wateng.2047
Posted: Thu Feb 21 10:56:45 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 22-Feb-85 21:10:03 EST
References: <872@eisx.UUCP> <313@ihu1m.UUCP>
Reply-To: bcdoody@wateng.UUCP (Brian C. Doody)
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 47

In article <313@ihu1m.UUCP> heneghan@ihu1m.UUCP (Joe Heneghan) writes:
> There is other criteria to be considered in buying
> a car besides nifty gadgets:
> 1. Can you find someone to fix it right and quickly ?
> 2. Can you get parts readily ?
> 3. Are there lots of dealers to fix it in other lands,
>    i.e. Nowhere, Montana which has one Chevy dealer.
> 4. Is it expensive to maintain ?
> 5. Can a 6'3" American sit comfortably in it ? I'll
>    bet I can't.
>
>
>*******  I'll buy American anytime ********

In June 84 I bought a Mazda GLC sedan and have been VERY pleased with it.
Let's take each of your points separately:
1. There are a very large number of Mazda dealers across Canada, I imagine
   it is the same in the USA.  Neither I nor my my brother (who has owned
   2 mazdas), my sister (who owned a Mazda truck 8-9 years ago), or my
   brother in law have ever had any trouble getting competent service
   on their cars.  And they know what they are doing.
2. I recently had the rear bumper replaced on my car, and it took less than
   2 weeks to get the bumper, 45 minutes to install it while I waited.
3. Last summer we did a lot of travellin across Ontario, where there are
   many little places no one knows exist except for those who live there,
   and we were AMAZED at the number of dealers in some of these small places,
   some with populations well under 10,000.  
4. There is no reason to believe it is more expensive to maintain - oil, 
   filters, other maintainance items, cost no more than for a chevy...
5. I am a 6'4" Canadian and I can sit comfortably in it (in fact, my back hurts
   me when I drive for 2 hours in my Dad's Mercury Marquis ('79) and I feel
   great in my GLC after 6 hours.
6. The good fit inside (something sorely lacking in small NA cars) and the
   extra features (firmness adjust on seats, 5-way seat adjust, velour interior,
   remote trunk and gas cap releases, rear seat folddown to extend trunk
   (it's a sedan) make the car a lot of fun to operate.

I'm not saying there aren't NA cars to match this; I'm saying there a lot
of good Japanese cars out there and service and parts just aren't an issue 
anymore.  Look around before you buy - and don't disqualify a car because
of it's country of origin!
---
Brian Doody (bcdoody@wateng)
University of Waterloo
Dept. Elec. Eng.
Ontario, Canada
---