"american made lot for american cars only"

I was at DC from the 1st to the 4th for a convention thing at the center, when I read a sign in the parking lot that said something like "This is an american made parking lot and will accept american made cars only". Is this even legal?

Sounds legal, I don't think there are any laws against car descrimination.

But I bet that if you actual only parked "American made" cars in that lot, you'd have a lot of Toyotas and Mercedes and very few Fords or GM products.

Working from memory here, but read article last week that chided Ford's Mustang TV commercial pimping it as some type of "All American" car. Seems both Toyota and Nissan (I think) have at least nine models with more American made components than the Mustang.

I think this is just someone trying to tell poeple, in a humorous way, to buy american made cars.
If they were serious, then it would propbably say something about what would happen if you parked a foreign made car there. Would it then be legal? I don't think so, and sure don't hope so.

ABTOMAT said:

Sounds legal, I don't think there are any laws against car descrimination.

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How would you react if the same sign said "This parking lot will accept white cars only"?

Well seems silly to me but if I owned a parking lot and put up a sign saying dang near anything as to stipulations I can.
"car must have radio on 105.2 FM"
"car must have 32 psi on front tires and 35psi on back"
"car must not smell like french fries"
MY lot MY choice.
Sounds silly but if its mine I can call the shots.
might not get rich but I would be KING of my lot.
Topper

Topper, I'm not familiar with US laws, but you would not be able to do that where I live. If it is a place available to the public, then you are restricted on what rules you can make. However, if this was a parking lot open only for members of some club (e.g. All American Car Club) then you would able to set such rules since it is not available to the public.

Sigbjoern

MSI said:

How would you react if the same sign said "This parking lot will accept white cars only"?

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You are getting close here. Next step is "Respectable cars driven by Caucasian men only". Then there would have been a rampage...

If they wanted to avoid stepping on anyone's toes and still only have US made cars park there, they could just have put "This parking lot will only accept cars achieving 10 mpg or less". That would have rendered the same result!

The general rule would be, if it's private property, you can do what you want. If you want to restrict it to Somalians in SUVs, you could legally do so. Just basic private property rights. You can discriminate on private property, believe it or not. If it's private property, but a public place (bar, store, etc) there are a few laws that apply -- the ADA - dealing with physical disabilities primarily.

A few years ago, it was not at all uncommon for union dominated manufacturing plants to restrict convenient parking to American made only. Had remoter parking for others. My guess is most of those factories are out of business now.

An ongoing delimma for some of us (gun guys) is the current controversy and lawsuits regarding legal firearms locked in vehicles in company owned parking lots. Can a company prohibit me having my legal hunting rifle locked in my trunk if I'm going hunting after work? Big "thinker" for us who strongly support the 2nd Amendment AND private property rights.

Just a guess but the car lot company must also own a towing company and a repair shop. What better way to get business.

As a privately owned lot, they can likely get by...given the high strung attitudes of today, it's not a smart move.

from another point of view: It's not discrimination of cars. It's discrimination of people based on what car they drive...

With the the US law system allowing lawsuits over hot cups of coffee spilled and other stuff like that, I think the parkinglot owner has a lot of guts or a lot of faith in his lawyer... :laughing:

You Sir think US laws are Goofy?? I want to be first in line to agree that some US laws are "goofy" but we seem to not understand "private property"
If I buy it it is mine. (I think I need one now thanks guys) as a American in Arkansas I can buy land, it is mine all mine (yes I know I still got to pay taxes on it every stinkin year) I can let blue cars park from 10:00 AM to 11:32 AM if thats what I want. I can carry a gun right out where every one can see it and walk my property line every 11 minutes and crow like a chicken if I want (well till 11:00 PM then I need to knock off that crowing like a chicken thing) so goofy? yep some laws are goofy but the right to own land and do what I want on that land is not goofy at all.
Topper

I am allowed to let in whoever I want into my house: if I am only comfortable with letting white Christians into my home, then so be it. Who can tell me I have to let everybody in?

It's the same thing....private property is subject to its own rules and regulations, within certain limits of course. It's not like you can say "murder legal here" and actually have it be.

I don't see why you can't have a parking lot be "American made cars only." :huh2:

I'm sooooooooo stupid......

Read this very slowly: "american made lot for american cars only"

Now read the last 3 words..... American cars only.... the word MADE is nowhere to be found. As I see it, any car with american registration is an american car, so most people can park there. Heck, it isn't even specified that it would be US, just america, which could be both south and north america.

In other words: tourists, get a rental, don't fly in your own car if you want to park there :laughing:

I have no idea what would result from the parking lot issue. If we're discussing private property in general, give a thought to all the zoning laws that cover the land on which your house sits. You can't add a deck or widen your driveway without a permit. You can't store dynamite in your garage. You can't burn the place down if you choose to. In many cases, you can't even let your grass grow beyond a certain length.

nikon, I am ruled by that lawn thing if it gets over a foot I need to cut it or the city will cut it for me at a hefty price. I did add a deck and did not widen a drive way I installed a new one on a different spot adjoining my house. Yes I have two driveways, to walk across armed doing my **** a doodle doo till about 11:00 dynamite? I do not have any but I know pals that do indeed keep it in their garage. So we come to burn the house down Yes I can and Yes I have :touche: I just called the fire department and said hey you guys want to play??? They did so I burned a house down in the city limits
yep I did they had fun hiding fake victims and sending firemen in to find them.
Topper

You must not have visited MS.

nikon said:

I have no idea what would result from the parking lot issue. If we're discussing private property in general, give a thought to all the zoning laws that cover the land on which your house sits. You can't add a deck or widen your driveway without a permit. You can't store dynamite in your garage. You can't burn the place down if you choose to. In many cases, you can't even let your grass grow beyond a certain length.

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There was something in the papers here in the Detroit area about UAW halls posting similar signs in their parking lots. It seems that a few "foreign" cars found in the lots were vandalized to some extent. One of the papers did some research and found that one of the cars, I believe a Honda Accord, had 91% American content. They also found that some Ford Crown Victorias were actually considered foreign cars. Ford juggled the parts content to use a loophole in the fuel economy rules that exempted foreign cars from the average fuel economy standards. I think they did it for a few years until the loophole was closed.

This was in the early '90s if I recall correctly. Now most of the UAW halls would probably love to have any kind of car in their lots and Michigan just lost out on an engine plant. Even with the economy here pretty much in the crapper some people opposed the plant because it was "foreign owned".

MSI said:

How would you react if the same sign said "This parking lot will accept white cars only"?

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...and all the white cars in the lot were owned and driven by people of color.

I'm wait'n for the sign that reads, "Only For Ghetto Beaters with Dub Deuces.":laughing: