You limit yourself horribly by being a 'AMERICAN' only purchaser - I really hope you understand that your Fiesta is just as much an import as a Honda / Toyota / Subaru these days. I'd have never jumped ship if I had not tried!
And um, where's the build thread??
Yes, sorry if you cannot understand the whole nameplate thing, and if it even seems irrational to you and others (
everyone else on here?), but it is something that I just CANNOT bring myself to do now (even though I have in the past bought US made GTIs),
no matter HOW "great" your full-on imports are.
I do not really want to get into it here and now, but generally, I DO blame Japan at least a significant bit for the US/North American economic downfall of manufacturing, due to their abject dumping practices, and currency manipulation, back when they were getting their 'foothold' in our market.
OF COURSE, the junk that our domestic manufacturers were putting out heavily contributed to this (NOT that the Nippon product was as infallible/indestructible as myth would have it either), but, contrary to popular opinion, that was NOT the
ONLY factor.
'Japan INC.' as a 'corporation' DID try to put the final nails in the coffin of US manufacturing with the above mentioned dishonest practices, and I for one will NEVER forgive them for this (MY prerogative, regardless of whether or not
anyone, any "economic experts", or any import fanboyzz agree with it!
).
And yes, for the 10 trillionth time I
DO know
where this car is screwed together, and where the parts for it are sourced, but that blue oval badge on it still DOES mean a lot to me, even if it does not for the 'flavor of the month' sport compact/hot hatch devotees.
I do not expect anyone from the north country to understand this either, although your manufacturing has taken a big hit from the far east as well the past 35 years or so, despite whatever transplants they have built there.
Also, I am
NOT one of those peckerwood, rednecked hillbilly, right wing 'MURRICAN types, so
PLEASE do not try and paint me as such, as most of them are just fine buying all of the Tundras and Tacomas the Nippon Giant can build anyway.
My car is not going to be anything special (like; Hijinx's, RAAMaudio's, Rodmoe's, etc., etc.), so it does not warrant taking the space for a build thread (in my opinion at least).
Let's just consider it a stock FiST for now, and leave it at that.