Should you buy an American car?

So, the time has come to buy a car. Should you buy foreign or American?

Although we want to support our homeland and buy American, some consumers would argue that foreign cars are much more reliable and, in a few cases, more economical. Here are a few reasons for and against buying American:

For American Cars
The quality is up! The latest J.D. Power dependability study shows that Cadillac and Mercury outperformed Honda and Toyota for three-year-old vehicles.

The price is right. Detroit car makers know they need to sell more cars. This is why you will find the prices of Ford, GM, and Chrysler much lower than the prices of Honda and Toyota. Currently, the Chevy Malibu has 0% financing, and the Ford Fusion has up to $3500 in rebates.

Maybe it's time to support the home team. Buying American will help Detroit out of a slump, even if you don't support the bailout. Buying American will save jobs, help research and develop new technology here in the U.S.

Against American Cars
Consumer Reports online reliability ratings gives the top 10 spots to foreign vehicles. seven out of the 10 lowest rankings are given to domestic vehicles.

These cars are not environmentally friendly. Detroit is slacking when it comes to environmental
standards. Ford's hybrids are pricey- and still a generation behind the Honda Insight and the third generation Toyota Prius.

What does the government actually guarantee? Honored warranties and 0% financing may not be enough to send consumers running to the GM and Chrysler lot.

What do the experts say?
A SmartMoney.com article on buying American cars highlights James Brock, a marketing professor at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Brock says, "Very ironically, there’s never been a better time to buy, now they’re practically giving the things away.”

Nice Price: $1 million home for $100

No luck selling your $1.2 million dollar home in this economy? Raffle it off!

The Edgewater Maryland property is the grand prize in a raffle by We Care and Friends, a charity focused on at-risk youths, and Tom Walters, a mortgage broker who opted to put his property in a lottery during these tough times.

We Care and Friends, an Annapolis-based charity was to earn 10% of the proceeds if the lottery sold 31,500 tickets. The lottery sold only 24,000 tickets, so the 10% of the charity proceeds are still to be determined.

Who won the home? Karen McHale, 47, won the 6,000-square-foot home, after purchasing a $100 raffle ticket to help out the charity. She didn't tell her husband about the ticket, although he was thrilled when he learned she had just won a home.

Karen McHale and her husband have no intention of moving into the home and leaving Colorado. Two sons live nearby, and both she and her husband hold jobs as engineers. She will use the cash to pay off the debt in her own house, or pay for her son's upcoming wedding.

Check out the Washington Post article here