I’ll never forget a trip to Disney when I was in fifth grade.

My father only bought Japanese cars because of their reliability, and this was the early 90s, so that was mostly accurate. He’s usually Mr. American, a former Marine who now works with vets at the VA.

Anyway, we arrive in Florida, and what awaits us? An Olds Achieva. Much to dad’s chagrin, we take the car, and off we go.

About 20 minutes into the drive to the hotel, my dad looks at my mom and says to her “You know, this isn’t such a bad car”..and then proceed to pat the dashboard, like he always does, as if to say “Nice job, car!”

With that pat, the AC vents popped out, and the entire dash began an incessant rattle that stayed with the car all week.

And that’s about as close as my dad came to buying American.