Feb
25
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...Many people have a strong opinion as to whether a domestic or an import is a better buy. Like never before in automotive history, however, the lines between imports and domestics have become somewhat blurred. Realizing the practical similarities and differences will help you to see how important a role this will play in your own purchasing decision.
In its most basic sense, from a Canadian perspective, a vehicle is considered an import when its manufacturer’s country of origin is outside of North America. Vehicle manufacturers whose birthplace is North America are considered domestic, such as Chrysler, Ford and General Motors.
Imports have long been perceived as being better designed and built, translating to better performance and reliability, superior styling, greater fuel economy, and overall higher resale value than their domestic competitors. But due to import vehicles and their parts traditionally having been designed, built and shipped from overseas, a downside is that they are generally more expensive to purchase, finance, insure and repair.
Conversely, while domestics have often been seen as less reliable and less refined, they have also proven to be less expensive to acquire and insure. Add to this that when the vehicle must be serviced or repaired, the common availability of trained repair professionals and domestically manufactured parts generally make a domestic vehicle cheaper and faster to fix.
So which is better for you? It depends on your perception, purpose and the current realities of the market.
The perceived superiority of one side or another is usually directly related to a person’s demographic, with younger persons enthusiastically embracing stylish imports and the older generation tenaciously clinging to practical and economical domestics. Realistically, the evolution of the global economy means that the traditional definitions and differences are more subjective than ever. Today, auto makers may share technology so that a domestic may contain components based on an import, and vice versa. Several of the widely available imports now manufacture their vehicles in Canada, the United States or Mexico, and may even provide jobs in your community. Many import brands are now owned by domestics, such as is the case with Mazda, Jaguar and Volvo being owned by the Ford Motor Company. This interchange, coupled with a constant need to keep an edge over the competition, has meant good things for the consumer.
For example, for a long time in North America, rural communities and trades people have relied on hardy domestic trucks to get their work done, while professional urban dwellers have viewed imports as a means of communicating their upwardly moving social and economic success. Today, import brands offer solid alternatives to sectors traditionally dominated by domestic brands, such as pickup trucks. On the other hand, domestic brands have shown they are willing to devote more attention to aesthetics, detail and quality. Both camps offer a wide array of models geared to specific lifestyles and purposes, or to appeal to the environmentally or economically conscious buyer.
It may be argued that import vehicles have long held higher consumer satisfaction ratings than their domestic equivalents. And after all, consumer satisfaction is important since you want to be happy with your purchase down the road. Interestingly, according to the J.D. Power and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study for 2007 , times are a changing. They say, “For the first time since 1993, Lexus is not alone as the top-ranked nameplate. This year, Buick ties with Lexus as the most dependable nameplate according to survey respondents. Cadillac, Mercury, and Honda round out the top five rank positions, respectively.”
Really, selecting a vehicle today should be more about finding the specific vehicle that suits your lifestyle and budget than being enslaved to a perception that may not even hold true in your case.
If, for example, you were to find two great vehicles – one domestic and one import – which both equally suit you, then careful mathematics are needed to determine which would be the soundest investment, dollar for dollar.
Financial factors for consideration may be:
- projected depreciation over the intended ownership period, and whether the vehicle is being leased or purchased with resale in mind;
- available financing rate and terms;
- insurance costs;
- and service and repair costs after the warranty has finished.
My advice is to get the vehicle that is actually best for you , not one that impresses your neighbours or pleases your workmates. You are the person who has to live with driving it every day and paying for it for the next x-number of years. Think for yourself. If you were to discount a perfectly sound investment in a vehicle you love simply to align yourself with one side or the other, you could really be selling yourself short.
Then again, that’s just my opinion. This is a topic that is widely and hotly debated. Which do you think is the better buy – import or domestic? I encourage you to make a comment.