[Carmine]

Originally Posted by Username1

Whenever someone says american cars have improved I always go to google and type in the model and the word problems. Then the truth comes out.

This is a joke post right?

A guy writes a rambling 1000 word post about Polish auto engineers and how hard it is to change the heater core on a '77 LTD II, without making a single new paragraph, and decries a decline in standards? How about the apparent loss of critical-thinking and grammar skills? Is this an indictment on the quality of schools in America?

I'm not going to give a lesson in the English language, but this is what I mean by critical thinking skills...

You don't determine the value of anything by typing its name and then "problems" into a Google® search window. This is selective reasoning, a.k.a., the selective use of an argument we would reject in other contexts. By other contexts, I mean that by placing the search term "honda problems", I find an entire website devoted to just that! Incidentally I found this gem on the homepage...

Currently the 2008 Accord & the 2001 Civic have the most complaints by a long shot - the 2008 Accord recently passed the 2003 Accord as the worst Accord model year of all time. Surprisingly, the 2008 Honda Accord has the most problems of any new vehicle from any manufacturer.

The next flaw in your critical thinking is context and relevance. In other words, is your Polish friend's ability to remove a heater core a reliable means of assessing vehicle quality? Most people would say "no". And if it is, how relevant is a 30+ year old car to the discussion?

For the hell of it, I also searched "Honda heater core removal, how-to" and guess what e-how told me?

Replacing the heater core in your Honda Accord shouldn't be attempted without complete knowledge of the car's interior. You must remove the dashboard to reach the heater core, which is connected to the center console, as well. This complex task may be best left to an expert. Read more: How to Replace the Heater Core in a Honda Accord | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_4590628_repl...#ixzz11nwE5yR8

I also love this part...

Discharge the air conditioning system by disconnecting the suction and the receiver lines from the evaporator core.

Talk about a shitty design!

Then I looked up my own car, a Chrysler LHS with 117,000 miles, and guess what? No need to disconnect any A/C lines!

Disconnect the heater hoses from the heater core, working from inside the car. Remove the defrost and rear seat vent lines by removing the retaining screws. Read more: How to Replace a Heater Core on a 2000 Chrysler LHS | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_6693940_repl...#ixzz11nxSiEYV

By now I feel that I've spent way too much time on your anecdotal heater-core story, so lets move along ok?

There is no such thing as a Ford 5.7 liter engine, and you don't strike me as the mechanical type that would have swapped a small-block Chevy into your Mustang. For those of us that actually know things about cars that statement sounds as stupid as asking how to make convergence adjustments on your B&W television.

Moving back to televisions, the next time you leave mom's basement, open up a business textbook. The story of the decline of US electronics manufacturing is well documented... I'll save you some trouble, and I even highlighted the juicy parts for you:

Read more at www.referenceforbusiness.com: http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/...#ixzz11o18Fk3P

Although the nature of television manufacturing in the United States began to change in the late 1960s, the stage was set more than a decade earlier when several major Japanese manufacturers formed the Home Electronic Appliance Market Stabilization Council. Despite opposition from the Japanese Fair Trade Commission, this cartel successfully lobbied the Japanese government to establish tariffs and other trade barriers that protected the manufacturers from foreign competition. This protection allowed the cartel to establish minimum prices and control their domestic market. In addition, U.S. companies locked out of the Japanese market began to license advanced technology to the Japanese. In 1962, RCA Corporation became the first company to license color technology to the Japanese manufacturers.

In 1963, the Japanese manufacturers began to export televisions to the United States—using the profits from their protected domestic market to subsidized below cost sales in the United States, in violation of U.S. trade laws. In addition, a Department of Justice investigation later revealed that the Japanese gave American importers, including Sears, Roebuck & Co., illegal rebates on every Japanese television they sold in the United States. Sales of Japanese-made televisions soared while U.S. companies suffered.

The United States Electronic Industry Association filed a complaint about the illegal "dumping" in 1968. However, Japanese manufacturers stonewalled the investigation for more than three years. In addition, [because of the importance of Japanese defense bases during the Vietnam war] the U.S. government was not eager to upset trade negotiations with Japan and proceeded with the investigation reluctantly. In 1971, the Treasury Department ruled that the Japanese companies had violated U.S. law and owed millions of dollars in antidumping levies. Nine years passed before a settlement was reached, however, and the Japanese paid about one-tenth of what they owed. The damage to U.S. television manufacturers was irreversible.

In 1968, there were 28 U.S. owned companies manufacturing televisions in this country. By 1976, there were only six. More than 20,000 jobs were eliminated. Several financially strapped U.S. companies were purchased by Japanese or European competitors, while others simply went out of business. Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, the largest consumer electronics company in the world, purchased Motorola's Consumer Products Division. Magnavox was purchased by N.V. Philips, S.A., a Dutch manufacturer. Among the brand names to disappear were Admiral and Dumont. In addition, dozens of smaller manufacturers making parts for U.S. made televisions also failed.

In 1977, the Japanese manufacturers signed an Orderly Marketing Agreement limiting exports to the United States to 1.5 million sets annually. However, the agreement allowed the Japanese to manufacture televisions in the United States in excess of the quotas. Three of the five largest Japanese companies—Matsushita, the Sony Corporation, and Sanyo Electric Company—had already established manufacturing facilities in the United States, and Hitachi and Tokyo Shibaura Electric soon followed suit. The Japanese also established manufacturing facilities in other countries with abundant, low cost labor such as Mexico and Argentina to circumvent the U.S. limits on imports from Japan. In addition, Taiwan and South Korea began exporting televisions to the United States. Taiwanese imports more than doubled in 1977, increasing that country's share of the U.S. market from 7 to 14 percent.

An investigation later revealed that Robert Strauss, the former Democratic Party chairman who had been appointed by President Carter as special trade representative to Japan, signed a secret agreement in which he promised that the United States would settle financial claims against the Japanese manufacturers "expeditiously" and would limit an International Trade Commission investigation into further allegations of illegal dumping. Strauss also promised that the Carter administration would appeal a ruling court decision in favor of Zenith, who had won a $400 million predatory pricing suit against Matsushita. The award would have been trebled under U.S. antitrust law to $1.2 billion. Finally, Strauss agreed to ignore official Japanese government policies that prevented U.S. companies from competing in the protected Japanese home electronics market.

Congress did not learn of the secret agreement until 1979, but it nevertheless agreed to honor the commitment. Under the Strauss agreement, the Japanese eventually paid about $66 million of the $500 million the Treasury Department said they owed for illegal dumping; the antitrust suit filed by Zenith was eventually dismissed by the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the Japanese solidified their hold on the U.S. television market.