This is sad

[Joe-NC]

One fact remains; no company I know of can build a dashpad like those guys could.

The dashpad in my '84 truck is cracked all to pieces. The dash in my '89 Honda Accord (same conditions, parked in the sun, never garaged) looks the same as when it rolled off the assembly line. So apparently the Japanese can build a better dashpad.

I would rather buy American, but we have to EARN it. Creating inefficiencies by putting tariffs on things is not the answer. Raising the price of a imported part $20 so it matches the price of the same domestic part ...just punishes consumers to help some factory and their workers who should be making something else.

We can't allow ourselves to get comfortable doing the same things, as if it is somehow our RIGHT to make a certain product. That's the problem with many unions. We have to adapt quickly to change. There ARE things we can do better than the Chinese and Japanese ...we just have constantly find them. Then when they catch up and make it cheaper, we have to move on to something else. That's the burden of a true leader ...lead or get out of the way.

[Lt.Del]

Raising the price of a imported part $20 so it matches the price of the same domestic part ...just punishes consumers to help some factory and their workers who should be making something else.

Good points Joe.  It punishes the consumer here and now, because things can be made cheaply overseas,but, down the road, the entire country suffers because all of our money is in other countries. Those countries don't have to deal w/ unions, benefits, red tape, and other gov't suffocations that are dealt w/ here.  

Many items are the exact same items that used to be made here, and the companies left U.S. like Levi Straus. They aren't sub par products--they are the same products and quality. Now they are made in Mexico.

Our Gov't, in a means to justify its pay, are alway, always, always adding more bureacracy and red tape and regulations to EVERYTHING! Local jurisdictions and all U.S. companies are being suffocated more and more each day.  Thousands of bills are passed each year, more regulations to follow--just because some senator wants brownie points from his/her constituents.  Fast forward another decade or two, each company will need to hire lawyers to sort through the millions of pages of regulations that congress has passed over a couple of generations.

[jaredts]

The person designing the dash for the auto company spec.'s out the dash and material to construct it from.  Back in the day a padded dash with vinyl covering was the norm.  The sun baked on those dashes and most of them cracked.  On the low end imports in the late 70's and 80's they often had hard plastic dashes.  Not as cozy but they don't crack.  Many new cars now have hard plastic.  Even the ones with padded dashes benefit from modern materials.  I don't think its fair to blame the company that made the dashes to the oem spec. or to say the Japanese build a better dash.  The dash's designer made the decisions that determine how well it will hold up and sometimes put a plush padded material on there that helped sell cars but wasn't necessarily the most durable choice.

[thirsty]

That's the burden of a true leader ...lead or get out of the way.

X2

[Grim 82]

One fact remains; no company I know of can build a dashpad like those guys could.

The dashpad in my '84 truck is cracked all to pieces. The dash in my '89 Honda Accord (same conditions, parked in the sun, never garaged) looks the same as when it rolled off the assembly line. So apparently the Japanese can build a better dashpad.

I didn't say anything about tariff's or import/export.
My point was that if a given product such as the dashpad we are talking about only has a useful life expectancy of X amount of years, at least the ones that they made fit properly in the first place, unlike the foreign produced ones that are made now that everybody says are garbage. It seems that the Japanese or whoever is making them now can't build a better dashpad than America could nearly 30 years ago. That seems to be a good job of leading.

But, like jared pointed out, with the difference in methods, materials, and consumer demand between now and then we are comparing apples and oranges.

[Joe-NC]

...things can be made cheaply overseas,but, down the road, the entire country suffers because all of our money is in other countries. Those countries don't have to deal w/ unions, benefits, red tape, and other gov't suffocations that are dealt w/ here.

Yes, and since the global marketplace is becoming more competitive by the day ...our government will have to change its ways, and our union workers will have to suck it up and face reality or we will be in for some very hard times. Taking our ball and going home mad is no way to compete.

Many items are the exact same items that used to be made here, and the companies left U.S. like Levi Straus. They aren't sub par products--they are the same products and quality. Now they are made in Mexico.

Thats right. And this will continue, because the country who becomes the world leader in new technologies will not be wasting time and resources making jeans.

On the low end imports in the late 70's and 80's they often had hard plastic dashes.  Not as cozy but they don't crack.  Many new cars now have hard plastic.  Even the ones with padded dashes benefit from modern materials.  I don't think its fair to blame the company that made the dashes to the oem spec. or to say the Japanese build a better dash.  The dash's designer made the decisions that determine how well it will hold up and sometimes put a plush padded material on there that helped sell cars but wasn't necessarily the most durable choice.

My Honda dash has a foam core with a vinyl cover just like my truck so the quality is noticeably better, but I do agree that the blame lies with the designer and not the manufacturer. Maybe GM had to skimp on UV research or UV protective chemicals to keep costs down. Maybe this cost pressure forced the manufacturer to cut corners. For whatever reason they couldn't do what Honda did with foam and vinyl. What if the cost of labor had been just a little lower without unions? Could they have competed better with Japanese imports? Would this rubber company still be in business? Never underestimate the incremental devastation of unions.

[Grim 82]

Raising the price of a imported part $20 so it matches the price of the same domestic part ...just punishes consumers to help some factory and their workers who should be making something else.

Good points Joe.  It punishes the consumer here and now, because things can be made cheaply overseas,but, down the road, the entire country suffers because all of our money is in other countries. Those countries don't have to deal w/ unions, benefits, red tape, and other gov't suffocations that are dealt w/ here.  

I couldn't agree more with you guys, and the problem lies in the fact that when the average guy sits down and budgets his hard earned money, he can't justify spending that much more for the same quality product. I try to buy American, and I try to buy locally from the little guy's shops if possible to support my local economy, but most people individually can't bear the burden of over inflated prices because of union's, CEO salaries or whatever the cause, so the whole country does suffer.
I'm sure the EPA had something to do with shutting them down, but if that happened in China it wouldn't have even been reported.

[Skunksmash]

I didn't really read the article closely or thoroughly but I saw where it said they were big polluters and if they made all the dash pads that cracked and warped for the last 50 years good riddance to them.

Might have a point there. I might be sad to see them go if every dash they ever put into one of these trucks didn't crack after exposure to sunlight for .05 seconds.

[Lt.Del]

I am positive that that company was not the only company not knowing what to do with their "waste" materials.  IN fact, for hundreds of years, factories have been locating next to rivers---you know why.  It's not like that one company decided, in pure negligence, to poison the environment.  Every company did that. I truly believe factories still do that.  OK, they can pack up their hazardous materials in new containers or barrels and what not, but, the materials are still depostited in the ground.  It is just done so by a middle man company with a neat logo on their truck now. It doesnt vanish.

 

[TexasRed]

SgtDel is right, a lot of that stuff goes to Arkansas, and gets dumped there by a company that's in business doing that. Some people in the plastics business used to do some "processing with ammonia" in the ditch outside the plant.

[bobcooter]

I am positive that that company was not the only company not knowing what to do with their "waste" materials.  IN fact, for hundreds of years, factories have been locating next to rivers---you know why.  It's not like that one company decided, in pure negligence, to poison the environment.  Every company did that. I truly believe factories still do that.  OK, they can pack up their hazardous materials in new containers or barrels and what not, but, the materials are still depostited in the ground.  It is just done so by a middle man company with a neat logo on their truck now. It doesnt vanish.

 

That's one reason China is prospering and kicking our tails. In these poor countries everyone is making serious money for the first time and they either don't care or will not speak up about environmental concerns. The more laws and rules you make, the more the slow down the machine.

[Skunksmash]

I am positive that that company was not the only company not knowing what to do with their "waste" materials.  IN fact, for hundreds of years, factories have been locating next to rivers---you know why.  It's not like that one company decided, in pure negligence, to poison the environment.  Every company did that. I truly believe factories still do that.  OK, they can pack up their hazardous materials in new containers or barrels and what not, but, the materials are still depostited in the ground.  It is just done so by a middle man company with a neat logo on their truck now. It doesnt vanish.

 

Its my hope that that's changing. If it were up to me they'd all be punished if they did not dispose of their waste in a manner that doesn't wind up giving people cancer.

[Lt.Del]

they can burn it (carcinogenic smoke), bury it (carcinogenic water table), or pour it (poisons the water)--ain't much they can do to it aside from sending it out into space.

[txchainsawgogi]

they can burn it (carcinogenic smoke), bury it (carcinogenic water table), or pour it (poisons the water)--ain't much they can do to it aside from sending it out into space.

i hate space anyways.

[Irish_Alley]

they can burn it (carcinogenic smoke), bury it (carcinogenic water table), or pour it (poisons the water)--ain't much they can do to it aside from sending it out into space.

i hate space anyways.

yeah its unused anyway