mmanus88 Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 today i paid my subie dealership a visit and saw on the window sticker that 55% or so of the car is made in Indiana. the only japanese made parts are engine and transmission. this alarmed me a little bit, becuase it was also kinda coincidential that subaru decided to release a car with a bigger, more american like frame like the chevy malibu and such. does the new legacy share a frame with any american car? and can we really trust a car that is almost half, or more made in america? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken S Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 No the Legacy does not share it's frame with any other make or model. The US made Legacys have been as reliable as their Japanese made counterparts. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUBE555 Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 The Legacy is 100% Subaru, not some Malibu or whatever from another mfg! The Saab 9-2X is 100% Subaru mechanically. Subaru has used other manufacturers vehicles on a rather limited basis and none in the recent past (10 years or more) have been sold in the U.S. As far as quality is concerned, I wouldn't question it a bit. Have had very few quality issues with any of our Lafayette produced Subaru's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubie02 Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 I could have sworn the sticker said some percentage Japan, some percentage canada... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUBE555 Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 Final assembly is for sure in America. Several of the smaller sub-assemblys are not made in America though, so they can't count that as American made. Should this really matter that much for people to question the build? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmanus88 Posted July 4, 2004 Author Share Posted July 4, 2004 of course it should, the people who put these cars together in american factories are "teamsters." they aren't exactly the most reliable, work-driven people there are. many times their lack of care, as compared to their japanese counterparts. most american cars aren't **** just because the americna companies don't know how to build a car, its because the people who assemble them too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AreEyeSeeKay Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 [quote name='mmanus88']of course it should, the people who put these cars together in american factories are "teamsters." they aren't exactly the most reliable, work-driven people there are. many times their lack of care, as compared to their japanese counterparts. most american cars aren't **** just because the americna companies don't know how to build a car, its because the people who assemble them too[/quote] The Teamsters Union is mostly truck drivers. United Auto Workers is the union you are thinking of. According to this article, they have tried to organize the Subaru Of Indiana workers 3 times and have been rejected twice, with one offer pending. [url]http://www.indystar.com/articles/7/155278-7137-095.html[/url] Unionized or not, I disagree with your statement; It is the company's management that is responsible for the quality of its workers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmanus88 Posted July 4, 2004 Author Share Posted July 4, 2004 regardless, i'm still a little iffy about the car being mostly made in america. anyways, that won't drive me away form teh legacy, i love the car too much :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orpie_lightfoot Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 I have worked inside of the SIA plant in Lafayette, company that handles the new Legacy/Outback and the Baja. Everything is extremely organized and Subaru has a very efficient, well-oiled process in building these cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmanus88 Posted July 4, 2004 Author Share Posted July 4, 2004 i am very happy about that. thanks lightfoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest *Jedimaster* Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 In the new issue of Drive, they focus mainly on the Legacy/ OB and detail all that goes into making sure these vehicles come out top notch- if you get a chance to read about it, you'll be impressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUBE555 Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 mmanus, please try and keep it a little more lighthearted and check the words you use. I don't like having to edit text. AESK said it well, even if they were union, which they aren't, it's still about management. For the summer, I work in a union plant making flexible packaging. There are some great employees there, but I'd have to say everytime management does things that just mess with employees when things were really running smoothly for one instance, people get really tired of it, and it hits the morale hard. I've seen it. Now I can't speak for Subaru Indiana Automotive employees, but their quality has seemed to significantly improve over the years, both by advancements in product design and tooling abilities, amongst perhaps other unseen changes. I have no reason to believe they would be like the GM UAW situation picture you paint. Additional to that, the Chevrolet pickup truck we have runs excellent and doesn't seem to have any aparent quality issues. Sure it's interior isn't top of the line, but heh, it's a work truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmanus88 Posted July 4, 2004 Author Share Posted July 4, 2004 sube555, sorry if i said anything offensive, but buying a car, especially your first, is a big decision. not to mention a financial burn for many of us. some of what i said might be a bit ignorant, but u can't blame me for wanting to know everything about my car. companies like toyota, honda, acura, and others have not been what they were in the last fews years. i would hate to see subaru go down the drain as these other companies appear to be heading towards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUBE555 Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 I don't blame you for trying to get a bit more information about your first new car, this will be my first new car as well, I've been waiting for something of this caliber in a Legacy for around 4 years. Needless to say I've been into Subaru's that long though too. I haven't questioned the workmanship of many American-built cars, many mfgs have plants here for measures of cost, and in many cases the quality is fairly respectable too. Honda, Toyota, Mercedes, and others all have plants here. I'm also not exactly sure what you're talking about with Honda, Acura, Toyota and others going down the drain. They have all been producing a good product for the most part and are still leading the charts in reliability and quality overall. They might build what some would call boring cars, but look at the sales numbers, they don't lie, what are the two most popular cars in the USDM? Camry followed by the Accord (both in 4th and 5th places respectively behind the Big-3's full-size pickups.) [url=http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/top_cars/]The numbers don't lie.[/url] The Camry might be off a little, but the competition has shown some better products as of late which may compensate some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axis008 Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 If what orpie lightfoot says what really is, then I would have to say Subaru doesn't have to worry about going down the drain. :) Yay for Subaru. -ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmanus88 Posted July 4, 2004 Author Share Posted July 4, 2004 i did not say going down the drain, i said they are heading that way. the recent transmission problems with honda and acura are very apparent. go to the forumsl some people have been through 3-4 transmissions by now. if that doesn't cause a red flag then i don't know what does. the reason i became interested in the legacy; i wanted a TSX, but the numerous tranmission problems that people are having drove me away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtguy Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 Subaru hasn't had to fret about American quality, I think. Legacies have been being built in the U.S. for a long time. The odds of a car being dysfunctional have nothing to do with where it's built. If you hear WRX owners howl, their Japan-built cars are mechanical disasters. :lol: My 1998 Legacy GT wagon, built with pride in Indiana, was an exceptional car, reliable in every way. There are standards, of manufacturing and assembly. At the factory, the car is assembled from parts shipped in, and inspected, as Oprie says, for absolute quality assurance. The parts come from Japan, the build is done here. The end. Does anyone actually think that Subaru is going to let a car as important to the company as the new Legacy become slipshod in any way, and that further, an assembly line worker would endanger his livelihood by not being the best employee he can be? Cars suck means cars don't sell means factory gets closed. Don't forget that the new Legacy meant a lot of laid-off Subaru workers were recalled. The Leggy will be just fine and dandy, and I can't wait to get mine. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken S Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 Bringing Japanese level quality to US auto manufacturing is not out of the question. A great example is the NUMMI GM plant in California. Prior to Toyota's involvement, it was one of GM's worst plants. So, with the right management and right staff, it can be done. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babyvoxfan Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 I wish that the Legacy plant was closer to my house, because I heard they even pay the janitors there around $16.50 per hour! :D One thing which I've always respected with Subaru is that they are a company focused on delivering excellent products foremost, and unlike Honda, they are still engineering-driven instead of bottom-line driven. Out of all the American-built Japanese cars, I would trust a Subaru the most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orpie_lightfoot Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 I don't know how much the janitors make Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoldonSubie Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 I remember reading an article a few years back (probably in the Wall Street Journal) that stated the most efficient auto manufacturing plants in the WORLD were the Japanese plants in the US. Better than Japan/Japan, German/German, German/third world (South Africa, mexico) and US/US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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