How do I argue against an anti-foreign car person ?

Tell him my wife's ford is made in Japan. (2013 Fiesta)

 

Sometimes there are places you just don't go...

 

When Americans can build something to compare I might consider it. After they have been tested over 10 yrs and 300,000.

 

when you dedicated your whole life for a Company... I wouldn't like that neither..

 

My parent's generation dealt with WWII and it's not something they will forget. There are American made alternatives to the Prius now and you should consider them, that would be considerate to your stepdad. Also, there are some Toyota models made in the US.

Toyota enjoys a hidden subsidy when exporting to the US in the form of exchange rate management by the Japanese government. It has been an ongoing battle and the automotive industry has been in the thick of it.

I have been driving Toyota/Lexus vehicles for 20 years now and just ventured back to GM last summer for a Volt. I have been very pleased so far.

 

Pick your battles.

Some just aren't worth fighting. My guess is that if your step dad worked for Ford for 40 years there isn't any argument you can raise that IS going to change his mind.

I think at his age? He has the right to have some opinions that are probably wrong and outdated.
I think at your age? You have the right to get the car you want, even if it upsets your step dad.

In this case, I wouldn't bother trying to convince him of anything. Take him out to lunch in your Prius, without saying anything.

Or you could just buy a Ford Fusion Hybrid.......

 

My aunt was involved in the repatriation of Japanese prisoners of war and following that experience she formed a very long term view of Japan. As a result she refused to buy anything Japanese where alternatives existed.

My point is that we all form opinions based on our experiences and beliefs and the most important thing we can do is defend their right to have their opinion.

My view would be that I have investigated all the alternatives within my budget and the Prius is the best fit.
I would be more than happy to buy a car made in my own country if they would simply make what I wanted.
Or you could say I'm happy to have a Ford if you care to fund it's purchase and fuel costs lol

 

they cost less than $30k after the dealer incentives and tax credits.

 

Everyone has their priorities in a car. You can't argue against those priorities.
However, if the positions supporting those priorities are incorrect, you can tactfully address those.
However, you have to do so with very solid data. And don't attack the entire position, attack the faulty data.

A second part of his position is probably history. He has a long history of Ford being good to him and his family. Don't say that is wrong, acknowledge that, but point out that for the good of your family and descendants you are choosing differently, if that is indeed the case.

Last of all, and this is getting into an area you may not want to, show him how harmful the trade deficit (fueled in large part by oil imports) is to all Americans and future generations of Americans. Total up the imported parts in the Prius vs a typical Ford and then add the amount of imported oil each requires over its lifetime.

If you go there, good luck

 

that is what I was told, I will try to look at her car this weekend and see if it says somewhere

 

I realize this is a singular experience. But my Grandfather served in the Navy during WWII. He was on board two ships that were sunk during battle. I believe a destroyer that got sunk during battle, and then unfortunately the rescue ship was sunk.

He never forgot his service in WWII, he attended reunions with survivors. But I always admired that he seemed to be able to keep all the actions of war, confined to the war itself.

He never said anything negative about Japan or the Japanese, even though he witnessed horrific circumstance that would of easily allowed him to form unforgiving ideas. It seemed to him, that war was war, and all the horrific things that happened within that war were confined to the war itself.

Infact growing up, my dad bought Toyota's , Datsuns, and Fords...Chevy's....but entirely exclusively my Grandfather bought ONLY Toyota's and Honda's.

The WWII generation is disappearing. My Grandfather has since passed away. But I suppose my point is that while I believe that generation lived through an experience they will never forget, not all of them emerged from that period with a viewpoint or scars that resulted in never buying anything Japanese.

I felt it was a strength of my Grandfather. He suffered shrapnel damage to his legs, and hearing loss as a direct result of his combat experience, but he never filed a claim or asked for any support from the US government. He felt it would of been like complaining, and he had witnessed ship mates die next to him, and he was alive. I think it would of been easy of him to go the rest of his life hating everything "Japanese", but he never exhibited that behavior or viewpoint. The war for him, was part of his life. He fought for this country and witnessed some horrors he would rarely even talk about, but he had the ability to leave it all within the confines of the war itself and the horrible universal cost of human warfare.

If he was still alive today? He'd probably be driving a Prius.

 

Hey, my old Ford Focus and my daughter's Ford Fiesta were proudly assembled in ... Mexico.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. I feel bad saying that, but my beloved first new car was a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP that had tons of costly problems over the 10 years and 104K miles that I had it.

My girlfriend (now wife) has an 05 Corolla that didn't need anything except for oil, brake pads and tires for 107k miles. It still runs like new.

Plus I've helped many friends with their cars over the years and Toyota seems to have the easiest maintenance procedures.

 

Buy a Prius, replace all the logos with Ford emblems and the name badge with focus or something. If you get the nav make sure to change the start up and shut down screens. If he likes it then go "SURPRISE! It's actually a Toyota Prius!"

 

Ford has been an international company for many years and manufactures all over the world. Where would it be if we "foreigners" didn't buy its products. The last time I looked at one of its reports, it was a part owner of Mazda in Japan and (I believe) Kia in Korea. I seem to remember an American University Professor who worked in Japan at reparation time just after WWII, telling me that Ford was one of the initiators of mass motor manufacture in Japan, setting up a factory there in the 1920s to make the Model T; so perhaps it's a case of chickens coming home to roost? In general, I think world trade needs to be reciprocal or it can't work.