What is your take on buying American cars vs. foreign cars?

Traded in a 98 Lexus ES300 with 277,000. It likely had more in it. Only major repair was timing belt years ago. I swapped alternator out as it's on top. Very tight wiring though. My 57 Chevy still runs, so there it is.

My question what constitutes an American car, most companies build their cars here in the states.

I have had foreign and domestic. I have a 2012 Toyota RAV4. 144,000 mile. Never been to the shop yet (watch today it will break down!). The only thing I have done is oil changes and air filters and I did the brakes myself at 60,000. And the battery at about 120,000 miles I have NEVER had any domestic car give me this kind of service or reliability.
My daughters had Toyota Corolla's, one had 275,000 when it was totaled by a deer. The only repair was an alternator at around 230,000 for one of them. The other had had two alternators and has over 250,000.
I had a Chevy Astro (4.3L, V6) that the engine blew the head gasket at 217,961 miles. It was in the shop many times. I couldn't count them for everything from ignition modules to door handles breaking (more than once also for the back door). Problems started escalating after about 50,000.
Toyota may be Japanese owned but anymore they are about as American as GM and Ford with their parts sourcing. I choose quality and reliability. If the American manufacturers would build them more reliable and back them I would rather buy American. I don't see that happening anytime soon.

I switched after Buick downsized their sedans to be so small I no longer fit comfortably behind the steering wheel. Buick had pretty good quality. I drive a Mercedes now and honestly it's a SUV and it gets higher MPG than the Buick but it is 1/3 heavier, it has a clean burning BLUETEC Diesel so it doesn't pollute as much as the Buick did, So far no problems and I only need to take it into the shop once a year vs twice a year for the Buick plus Mercedes give me a free loaner car while it is in the shop. USAA discounts for Mercedes are also larger for Veterans and Military than those of General Motors. I guess the Germans value us more as Veterans. The Benz is made in Alabama.

I purchase a vehicle based on how much I do not want to spend after I purchase it. Historically, american vehicles have not been able to compete in that area IMO.

I see some of that starting to change, we will see...

I've driven several different cars from all over. I currently own a 2012 Mazdaspeed 3 and a 1995 Mazda RX-7. Nothing against American cars, but I just prefer something light and agile, and most importantly (no pun intended) TURBOCHARGED!

I have always said about the folks who complain about me and other Americans who do not buy American cars is that those same people shop at places like Walmart and purchase Chinese made, wait, communist made products and my car was made in a democratic society. What is wrong with this picture. People can not pick and choose what to buy and set a standard and say, "this is what American made is". I drive a 1992 Nissan 240sx coupe I have built from the ground up. My after market suspension was made in the USA. Where was the suspension made in an American car, Mexico? People are living behind a false sense of security of what they think is American made. Congress, by law sets a standard for a percentage. In a democratic society, I am free to buy what I think suits me. That is a small part of the American way, buying what you want and not feeling obligate to buy something else when part of it was made somewhere else.

I personally only buy U.S. made vehicles (I also try to buy all other products that are made in the U.S. which is not easy) from U.S. companies. My reasoning is this I would rather support the U.S. economy over other countries. I own a Cadillac and a Harley currently.

The problem is that no car is "American made" anymore. Sure they are built here in America, but a LARGE portion of the parts are resourced from foreign countries. Harley may be the one exception to this but I'm not even sure on that one anymore.

Not exactly sure what you mean by American cars. Do you mean cars manufactured by American companies or cars assembled in America? They are two very different things. Many 'foreign' companies assemble at least some of their cars in the US (Toyota, Honda, Hyundai off the top of my head) and many American companies assemble many of their models in Mexico and Canada. Then there is the issue of where the parts originate...another discussion entirely.
Personally I buy what meets my needs and budget at the time. I currently own a 2012 Hyundai Tucson and a 2013 Ford C Max hybrid, although I am seriously considering trading in the Hyundai for a 2015 Jeep Cherokee (assembled in Toledo, Ohio).