I'll take that old time Japanese junk a step further. I believe it was in either the 50's or 60's they were marking export goods with Made in Usa which is I understand a small town somewhere in Japan. That was stopped after much arguement, but it was just a way to try to make us not recognize that it was made in Japan. What goes around comes around.
When California works out the differences with the State bill and the Fed Transportation bill, and we hybrids can go single occupancy in the Carpool lane, the price of Prius in California will skyrocket (for the first 75,000 who can get decals to do this- there are only 57,000 hybrids currently on the road that currently qualify). So in CA, the demand (because of carpool) will go up so the price for used Prius will also go up. So maybe it does make sense in CA to trade in 2004/2005 for a 2006(if you can get a dealer to sell at MSRP - remember supply and demand when we first bought our 2004's).
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(prius04\";p=\"115403)</div> If it is true that those made in China only sell in China, that's great news! Like you and Scott said, things shouldn't be that bad. However, personal knowledge and experience gave me more reasons to not buy a Prius if it is indeed made in China. :?
OT: There was some documentary recently on one of my PBS stations which basically talked about the expanding consumer market of China, and the exploding pollution problem. In this they mentioned that China invites car makers from other countries to build factories in China to: A: provide manufacturing jobs B: supply the burgeoning consumer market C: to learn&build with 'modern' industrial techniques Also mentioned was all of these cars: Jeep, Volkswagen, etc: were for sale in China ONLY because they don't have to obey the stricter pollution controls other countries currently impose (i.e. China is Euro II whereas Europe is Euro IV standard). Now, this may be different for the Prius because it could be 'naturally' clean, but it's safer to say it won't be for resale outside of China. T: now I understand cars improve every few years, but it's been really quick model cycles for the Prius esp for us 2005 owners, and if I'm going to get stuck with another car for ~10 years again, I want to be sure it doesn't have serious deficiencies I have to live with. Now I don't need leather and probalby not the textured paneling, but the backup camera, and better extra features stereo system should've been in the 2005 model to begin with, especially the backup camera, a 2003 option in the Japanese cars!
