BMEWS
 
Sarah Palin's image already appears on the newer nickels.

calendar   Wednesday - December 03, 2008

E-Day In Detroit

More bad news for the auto industry. As the Big Three execs take their little hybrid cars to DC to beg for money, auto sales plummet around the world. Saab will close their whole factory for a month, with Volvo probably to follow. BMW and VW are also cutting back production. And just to twist the knife in a bit harder, to help enjoy the schadenfruede as much as possible, Time Magazine online runs a nasty little piece on the “50 Worst Cars of All Time”, written by

Dan Neil, Pulitzer Prize-winning automotive critic and syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times

which tells you just about everything you need to know before even following the link. Several of the vehicles written about made the list because he didn’t like the way they looked, even though he had to admit that they were well made, sold well, and did the job they were supposed to do. Many of the rest of them made the list because they were years ahead of their time in design and technology. What else would you expect from some car hating hippy? An appreciation of forward looking design and risk taking? Hell no.



E-Day: Ford Edsel is 50 years old today

signs and portents folks, signs and portents



My little Saturn is 12 years old now, with over 186,000 miles on it. Sure, it’s getting to be tired looking, and it has that old car rank smell inside, but it runs just fine, and I’m not even thinking of buying another car right now. I’m sorry the car makers are in such a bind, but I don’t have much sympathy for them. The market has demanded higher and higher automotive metrics for the past decade or so, and that may be a big factor in this situation. Cars are much better made than ever, they don’t break down, they don’t wear out, they don’t rust, they get so much more power from a given size engine than ever before, they’re all much safer than ever before, etc. Plus consumers have much better access to much more information, so the odds of picking a lemon are also lower. So now that we’re entering into a deep recession/depression, most people are realizing that they don’t need a new car. At all. And now that the gas crunch is over, and fuel selling for nearly the same price it was at 6 years ago, even the lower mpg vehicles are once again affordable to run. As much as I’d love to have a new Matrix or Maxima, I can do without it. Spending tens of thousands of dollars just for the sake of “newness” seems a bit silly right now.

However, if you are in the market for a new car, this is just about the greatest time ever to buy one! Combine a bad economy and flagging auto sales with the standard December car buying slump and the large inventory of year-end stock on hand, and you can probably cut a deal for 30% off sticker price. Maybe even more for the more expensive models. So get out there and shop, be a prick, and make a disgustingly low offer; you might just have it taken!


avatar

Posted by Drew458   United States  on 12/03/2008 at 03:49 PM   
Filed Under: • Economics •  
Comments (4) Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  
Page 1 of 1 pages

Five Most Recent Trackbacks:

Once Again, The One And Only Post
(4 total trackbacks)
Tracked at iHaan.org
The advantage to having a guide with you is thɑt an expert will haѵe very first hand experience dealing and navigating the river with гegional wildlife. Tһomas, there are great…
On: 07/28/23 10:37

The Brownshirts: Partie Deux; These aare the Muscle We've Been Waiting For
(3 total trackbacks)
Tracked at head to the Momarms site
The Brownshirts: Partie Deux; These aare the Muscle We’ve Been Waiting For
On: 03/14/23 11:20

Vietnam Homecoming
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at 广告专题配音 专业从事中文配音跟外文配音制造,北京名传天下配音公司
  专业从事中文配音和外文配音制作,北京名传天下配音公司   北京名传天下专业配音公司成破于2006年12月,是专业从事中 中文配音 文配音跟外文配音的音频制造公司,幻想飞腾配音网领 配音制作 有海内外优良专业配音职员已达500多位,可供给一流的外语配音,长年服务于国内中心级各大媒体、各省市电台电视台,能满意不同客户的各种需要。电话:010-83265555   北京名传天下专业配音公司…
On: 03/20/21 07:00

meaningless marching orders for a thousand travellers ... strife ahead ..
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at Casual Blog
[...] RTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPL [...]
On: 07/17/17 04:28

a small explanation
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at yerba mate gourd
Find here top quality how to prepare yerba mate without a gourd that's available in addition at the best price. Get it now!
On: 07/09/17 03:07



DISCLAIMER
Allanspacer

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:
  1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
  2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
  3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
  4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere
It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.


Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner



GNU Terry Pratchett


Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
free counters