American made stuff

[Mini Motors]

Just because something says "Made in the U.S.A." doesn't mean it's American. And we're talking about two different problems in this thread, and I'd like to straighten it out.

First, when a foreign company sets up a plant here inside our borders, it does so to avoid import taxes. And when individual states compete to lure these companies, they give huge tax breaks, and sometimes even promise to buy their product over a truly American product. So, when Toyota and Kia run TV ads that spout about how they are serving America oh so well, they're not so right about that. About the only thing they do for us is hire Americans. The profits still leave the country, and don't help the balance of trade in our favor.

The other, and totally different problem is where American companies move manufacturing out of the U.S.. I believe that they are starting to see the light on this and realize that they are hurting America by this practice. I've heard news stories about one or two small companies returning manufacturing back here, and even large companies like AT&T plan a return of jobs to our shores. It's things like this that give me hope.

 

[bwdbrn1]

You're very right on that issue. Made in U.S.A. does not mean necessarily mean American. But again, the lines have become so blurry on that issue that it seems it's practically impossible for any county to be able to make the claim of "Made in _____".

Then you add the fact that some foreign companies obviously retain their corporate leadership in their home country, but divisional headquarters are scattered around the globe.

To me, Made in America is more than just matter of national pride, it's an indication of quality of materials and workmanship, and with that a sense of ownership.

I suppose the same can be said of any American company that is building outside the country in avoiding tariffs and fees of the particular country they're moving to, not to mention the cost of shipping a product from here to there. Yes, there is a re-thinking of "outsourcing" and companies are now considering "insourcing". That it was mentioned on public radio the other day indicates a positive trend.

 

[motorrefurb]

I am even learning a lot here, lets hear some more stories :thumbsup:

 

[bwdbrn1]

Here's some information I missed a couple of months ago. Having talked about John Deere and Honda in my posts, seems they've teamed up in the power equipment field.

U.S. Deere dealers to sell Honda products

Along the lines of Made in America, how about also discussing Customer Service in America. I've been to the John Deere dealership mentioned in that article, and I can't say that I will be expecting the same kind of service from them that I have gotten from the Honda Power Equipment dealer that's been selling Honda products since 1979.

 

[danvan54]

Here's some information I missed a couple of months ago. Having talked about John Deere and Honda in my posts, seems they've teamed up in the power equipment field.

U.S. Deere dealers to sell Honda products

Along the lines of Made in America, how about also discussing Customer Service in America. I've been to the John Deere dealership mentioned in that article, and I can't say that I will be expecting the same kind of service from them that I have gotten from the Honda Power Equipment dealer that's been selling Honda products since 1979.

Just one more opinion- anyone remember when Dell brought back its customer service to the U.S. in 2004 after a deluge of frustrated customers complained about dealing with foreign CSR's who could not communicate with American customers and only recited from scripted corporate response notebooks? Have any other U.S. manufacturers learned from similar gaffs?
I too would like to see manufacturing move back to the 'good ole USA' and help put Americans back to work. I am old school in that I have always repaired and maintained my old American built products; Toro and Deere lawn equipment especially. My hobby is restoring Deere lawn and garden tractors- they are very well built and will certainly last longer than anything from the BB stores today.

 

[jenkinsph]

Maybe I am getting old and out of touch/date but I remember when you could fix stuff yourself and did so. Learned alot along the way too but I can see where it is cheaper to build it it doesn't have to be repairable. There is some give and take in the cost of serviceable vs. non servicable goods.

Funny though,I went to all the hardware stores in my small town and none of them had a good pitchfork but all of them had the cheesy plastic scoopers. One of the owners who I know well said that most people don't know the difference and wouldn't pay the price for the better tools. He offered to order one for me but I would rather see it first.

 

[bwdbrn1]

We're not getting old:confused2:, well, maybe you are:tongue: , but you can still fix stuff. I guess that is, if it's made to be fixable. Something that seems to have really changed is the attitude of the consumer. Check this video out.
Ariens 1971 Sno-Thro - YouTube
Now there's an example, not only of a great machine, but listen to the guy talk about it and what he and his father have done to it over the years. I don't think we see much of that sort of pride in ownership anymore.

It might be like beating a dead horse, but again, talking to the local Honda dealer about Deere selling Honda, he didn't seem too concerned about his position. I think he has a pretty solid base of customers since he's been selling Honda since 1979. What he noted was how the new customers over time have changed. He said the new customers don't care about the quality of the machine, don't know how it works, and don't want to know. Fix them themselves, HA!

Along those lines, the dealers have changed. I have long been able to walk into my Toro dealer and say I need a carb kit for the old Toro S200 series of snow thrower. The old guy behind the counter would go off and get it off the shelf in the back without hesitation. Recently the new person there asked me if I knew the model number? Sheesh, even when I came back later with it, she had to look it up on two different computers to find it.

I ask my Honda dealer about an HR214, a mower made back in the 80s, and he can tell me anything I want to know. Now that John Deere dealer that starts selling Hondas next year isn't going to know what an HR214 is until he sees one o his computer screen, and he's going to wish it was painted green just so he can feel comfortable about it, even though Deere's mowers and such have been outsourced for quite a long time and been nothing more than somebody elses mower with green paint. Plus he's not going to have the stock pile of usable "vintage" parts in the back room from having worked on these things for years.

 

[motorrefurb]

I worked on that same kind of snow blower, but I guess the owner of the one I worked on must have not liked it because parts were torn off (you can tell he was trying to modify it with pliers, etc.)

Also, not sure if anyone ever saw this, but it scares me :ashamed: Banned US Commercial about the national debt - YouTube

 

[ILENGINE]

borrowed from bwdbrn1 "Along those lines, the dealers have changed. I have long been able to walk into my Toro dealer and say I need a carb kit for the old Toro S200 series of snow thrower. The old guy behind the counter would go off and get it off the shelf in the back without hesitation. Recently the new person there asked me if I knew the model number? Sheesh, even when I came back later with it, she had to look it up on two different computers to find it."

The problem with parts lookup is now everything is electronic and you cannot look up parts without putting in a model number and then sometimes that is not enough. Like pulling up a briggs engine and you need a carb kit and find out that they used 13 different carbs and 6 carb kits and the only way to get the right kit is to get the numbers off the carb if they are even there. Sometimes they are not, Walbro carb LMT without the LMT number on the carb.

I used to be able to pull a carb kit off the shelf to fix an engine but not anymore.

 

[bwdbrn1]

The problem with parts lookup is now everything is electronic and you cannot look up parts without putting in a model number and then sometimes that is not enough. Like pulling up a briggs engine and you need a carb kit and find out that they used 13 different carbs and 6 carb kits and the only way to get the right kit is to get the numbers off the carb if they are even there. Sometimes they are not, Walbro carb LMT without the LMT number on the carb.

I used to be able to pull a carb kit off the shelf to fix an engine but not anymore.

Thanks for the pointing that out ILEngine. I didn't think that possibility through well enough before using it as an example.:ashamed:

That was a very scary scenario in that commercial motorrefurb.