A recent study shows that democrats and/or liberals tend to drive imports while republicans and/or conservatives tend to drive domestics. However this is not a hard and fast rule, example, democrats in Michigan tend to drive domestics (Detroit big 3 home).
What are your observations, preferences, tendencies or leanings.
Keep in mind that there are no right or wrong answers.
I lean towards conservatives and prefer domestics although I have owned imports in the past and would gladly own a select few in the future.
My parents were conservatives but in their later years only bought imports.
what say you?
I’m a liberal, and I prefer imports (though some domestics don’t look bad).
I consider myself apolitical, and have views all over the map. Very conservative about some things, very liberal about others.
I’ll drive anything that works for me at the time, but it’s worked out that I’ve owned nothing but domestics. Maybe that’s because I have a preference for pickup trucks.
I think it has everything to do with inherited loyalties and, at base, the Volkswagen.
Back in the 60’s the spartan, but economical VW embodied the rejection of post-war consumerism. In the 70’s and 80’s, the Japanese cars took over the frugal mantle of the VW, but were much more comfortable (just at the same time as much of the radicalism was easing). I think then in later-80’s and 90’s the boomers then slipped into the habits of the former generation (who often bought exclusively Oldsmobiles or Mercuries or whatever just because they always had), as the real substantive differences between the imports and domestics blurred away.
You can say, perhaps to a lesser extent, the same thing about conservatives and the muscle cars of the period.
These days, it seems like given the protectionist versus free-trade rhetoric of each side, it should be the liberals driving the domestics and the conservatives driving the imports. I wonder if this will change as younger people of both persuasions start buying new cars.
As for me, I’m somewhat younger, lean liberal, and have two domestic vehicles and two imports (granted one is an Isuzu that was assembled in Indiana and has a Chevy engine in it). Over time, though, I have owned many more domestic vehicles and I generally think that the imports are, while somewhat nicer, are overrated and that the domestics are generally better buys.
The study is right. I’m from Massachusetts. There are no Republicans here. There are no American cars here.
Nowadays, all politicians are liberal, but some of them are Republicans too. It must be hard for any of them to not be bought. The tradesmen have to listen to talk radio because they would go crazy if they had to listen to the same songs played every hour. We had to listen to a different station every day at the bicycle shop. I ran through all my tapes in four days.
The millionaire next door type has his name embossed on his shirt and drives a big pickup. These working types just hate Democrats and are focused on Washington while state government rips them off in every way. We all watched where our money went during the endless wars that started in the former Yugoslavia.
In conclusion, my cars are undecided. I have a GMC truck and a Toyota Yaris.
I am a libertarian and I drive an old Volvo with almost 300k miles on it.
I have one liberal daughter and one conservative daughter, and a wife who’s political views are more theological than political. They all love their BMWs.
My last domestic car was a Vega. - Well not quite true, I had a '64 Chevy truck after the Vega, but the Vega was what cured me of domestic cars.
Libertarian here,Dodge truck and 2 Honda Accords-I believe the study is correct,for the most part-Kevin
You pose an interesting hypothesis. In general I would agree that “conservatives” buy more domestics, especially the big boats like the Crown Victoria.
However, in the US you can get a better reading by stating that on both coasts, people buy more “foreign” while in the interior more domestics are bought.
Among my friends and aquaintances, most drive foreign because of the specific qualities they are looking for. A conservative friend who had a Dodge minivan, now has a Honda Odessey because of the innumerable problems he had with the Dodge. Another friend had a domestic car and minivan, and now has a Honda Accord and a Honda minivan, for the same reasons. He still has a Ford F-150 to pull his 5th wheel camper.
Personally, I consider myself relatively conservative, always TRIED to by domestic, but my last 3 cars have been “foreign” (Japanese), partly because of my poor experience with domestic reliability and partly because there are almost no well built domestic economy cars.
Having said all this, the best domestic mid size cars are considerably better than the worst imports. I’ll take a Buick or Ford Fusion over any Mitsubishi or Volkswagen when it comes to reliability, for instance.
I’m conservative by nature, formerly registered Rep. now registered as an Independent, but I’ve voted for Dems or Independents depending on the candidate.
Kind of lean towards being a Libertarian and have voted that way a few times although as the case with most elections it’s a matter of trying to decide which is the lesser of the evils.
I prefer domestics and currently own both imports and domestics. (Lincoln, Olds, Chevy, SAAB, Merkur)
Imports I’ve owned in the past include half a dozen VWs, a Nissan, another SAAB, 3 Subarus, a Sunbeam Alpine, and a pair of Morris Minors.
I’d want to see who did the study and who funded it.
My own observation is that conservatives are far more likely to select vehicles for reasons of reliability and longevity with disregard to brand and far more likely to not assume that a domestic nameplate means that the car was produced domestically…or that a nameplate from a rice country means that it was made in a foreign land.
The manufacturing industry is more conservative than many other industries. And members of the manufacturing industry are used to a global infrastructure.
Realize that my observations are not based on any scientific study. They’re simply based on having spent 23 years in the manufacturing community.
I’m a mugwump, so naturally I’ve owned both foreign and domestic cars. Over the years, I’ve gone from a tad liberal to a bit conservative, but that really doens’t play into my decisions. I decide what type of vehicle I’m looking for and then survey the field. I drive a few and then narrow the list down to between 2 and 4 cars. Then I bring price into it. The cheapest car on my short list always wins. I do consider anticipated maintenance and repairs, but this normally doesn’t mean too much, since the least expensive car is usually much less than it’s nearest rival.
“I’d want to see who did the study and who funded it.” – Mountainbike
Amen to that! Living in the DC area just about all my life, I have a feeling that this survey was conducted with an agenda. (Amazing that in every Congressional District the voters think that their Rep is great, but the other 434(?) are a bunch of brainless scoundrels. You should see the Members of Congress orating in session: empty house, but lots of TV coverage for the folks at home.) Nonetheless, the comments here are interesting, even if they don’t teach me how to diagnose and fix automobile problems.
Yup, these type of studies normally come with an agenda. Follow the money to its source and the agenda will usually reveal itself.
I’ve been a registered independent all my life. And depending on what state I lived in dictated what party I voted for. Democrats in NH are far more conservative then many Republicans in Mass or NY.
I USE to buy nothing but domestic…until the 80’s. Owned mainly GM…a couple of Fords and one Chryco. Past 25 years have been Honda’s, Nissans and now Toyota/Lexus.
Contrary to the OP’s observation…Almost every conservative I know…owns a foreign vehicle…and almost every Liberal Democrat I know…own Domestic. Democrats are very much for Unions…so they buy American Union Label products. More Independent or Conservative…buy what is the BEST value no matter who makes it.
Contrary to the OP’s observation…reread the post, this is not simply an observation on my part but a study/survey (which are usually biased and can be manipulated to say anything).
I’m more conservative and have libertarian ideals when it comes to government and taxation.
I have a Ford Mustang GT, a Ford Bronco, and a Triumph TR6.
I am very liberal. I like imported cars.
However I would never own an imported full-size truck or SUV. GM and Ford are experts in this arena and should condense and stick to building/engineering those while importing cars or at least the engineering.
To be honest, studies and polls are stacked up ear lobe deep and I don’t put much credence in any of them.