I love my American-made minivan but it's time to trade it in and get something less campaign-ish and more "I'm-not-married-with-kids-yet"-ish. So I've been shopping for another American-made car. And I have to say, a lot of--no, MOST--American cars aren't so great. American trucks are good, mostly, and I like some of the light SUVs (but hate the SUV n general), but the passenger cars pretty much stink. It's a design thing, not a construction thing. Why can't a US company design and build a car as appealing as the Accord, which is assembled in Ohio but sold by Honda? Or the Corolla, which is UAW-made in America but sold by Toyota? Or something with great gas mileage?

Consumer Reports tells us that most American cars have spotty reliability. So in looking at both new and used cars, I'm having a very tough time. The best line I can see is Cadillac, which is substantially out of my price range. I've been studying biodiesel lately, so I've considered getting a diesel but only one American diesel is recommended--an older Dodge Ram 2500 with a Cummins diesel engine. That's a pretty big pickup, and it really holds its value so it's pricey too and the MPG is terrible.

I considered buying a new Toyota Prius, with the argument that I'm supporting environmentally friendly over made-in-America, but the American companies are coming out with some compelling hybrids later this year, so I've decided to wait. Ford's Escape Hybrid is interesting to me.

So how can a socially conscious, buy-American, environmentally sensitive buy a car that reflects these values? It's tough. The Ford Focus may be the best bet if I were forced to buy today--it sports great gas milage and is UAW-made. But I think I'm either going to get a beater diesel and experiment with biodiesel this year, or I'll just get a short-term lease and put an order in for an American hybrid. Any ideas?