Archive for the 'Cars' Category

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Cash for Clunker Crybabies

Published on August 19, 2009 in Cars, Money and Politics. 15 Comments Tags: cash for clunkers, crybabies, national car dealers association, new car dealers, obama.

Oh puh-leeze, the Cash for Clunker Crybabies have just about pushed me to the limits.

First, when the program had been operation for just ten days, an owner of 20 dealerships in the east was crying about how long it took to do the paperwork for Cash for Clunkers. He was bitchin’ because he had to pay a clerk (probably making $10 an hour) to sit in front of a computer for a few hours to submit the paperwork to collect $4,500 free money collected from you and me.

Now the paperwork is in the gummit’s hands, here’s the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) aka CFCC (Cash for Clunker Crybabies) are crying they aren’t getting their money quick enough.

The National Automobile Dealers Association estimates that dealers have hundreds– and in some cases thousands — of applications pending that are

“worth hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.”

Peter Kitzmiller, president of the 325-member Maryland Automobile Dealers Association said:

“It is ludicrous at this point, We’ve got deals that are just sitting there waiting to be reviewed. The customer is gone, the car is gone, and you don’t have your money.”

Damn Republicans. (And new car dealers are all Republicans.) They cry that something needs to be done to save the U.S. car business. Obama does something.

They cry that Obama is moving too fast on the stimulus.

They cry that the stimulus idea is bad for the economy. Cars fly out of the showrooms at record pace – after 18 months of gathering dust. Factories go on overtime to keep up with demand.

They cry that they aren’t getting their money fast enough. They want quicker turn-around. They want bigger goverment to handle the Cash for Clunkers program.

By the end of the week, up to 1,100 people will be working full time to process cash for clunker reimbursements.

They cry that government is getting too big.

How long would you sit (or pay someone to sit) in front of a computer to collect $4,500?

Damn Cash for Clunker Crybabies. They give money to McCain, cry that Obama got elected, line up at the public trough and then cry that the slop is too sour.

21st Century Cow Tipping

Published on July 26, 2009 in Baby Boomer and Cars. 6 Comments Tags: amsterdam, canal, smart.

I sure hope they keep this little prank in Amsterdam and it doesn’t invade the U.S.

Seems “Smart tossing” is the hot new activity for buzzed out Amsterdam youth. They toss Smart cars into the nearest canal.

A similar conversation took place at Varley and Chickie’s home last evening. Bob and Felicia had taken a ride through the Kentucky version of the hood, which is a very diverse neighborhood of Mexicans, African Americans, Bosnians, Vietnamese, etc. etc.

Nancy said she would take Chickie there someday since she had never been. Bob suggested that she shouldn’t drive her Smart. “They would pick you up and carry you off.”

Laffs all around.

Smart car parked alongside Amsterdam canal.
Photo by Tinou Bao

According to locally-published newspaper De Telegraaf police has not wanted to publicize this form of vandalism for fear of copy-cat incidents. However, police officers are paying extra attention to Amsterdam’s canals, especially during the weekends.

The Smart cars are small enough to be parked with head or tail pointing to the water.

One man who parked his Smart car that way said police woken him with the message that his car had been pushed into the canal.

“Several weeks ago the same thing happened to my companion’s Smart,” Casper de Jong said. “In both cases the Smart was declared a total-loss.”

Alongside most canals a low guard rail helps prevent cars from taking a dip, but the Smart car is small enough to be lifted and tossed.

It is not clear how many Smart cars have been vandalized this way, but an employee of Smart Center Amsterdam confirmed the company has recently been confronted with it ‘a number of times.’

Shouldn’t be a problem here in Podunkyville:

no canals
car is tucked away in garage by 9 p.m.

My New Retirement Plan: Kiosk Cars

Published on July 6, 2009 in Cars. 4 Comments Tags: 258 mpg, cash for clunkers, kiosk cars, peugot, scrappage scheme, tata nano, volkswagen.

I want this car. Actually I want to but a whole bunch and set up a kiosk in the mall to sell them.

They are Volkswagens and they will be sold in China.

258 mpg. (No typo: Two hundred fifty-eight miles per gallon.)

$600. (No typo: Six hundred American Dollars.)

I’m not sure what the airfare is to Shanghai where the cars will first be sold. BTW: why do all the other countries get all the fun cars first? France had the Smart, India has the TaTa Nano, and now China has the VW VunderWileage (I just made that up.) And by the way? the U.K. has a much better name for their auto incentive plan, rather than Cash for Clunkers, the U.K. calls it Scrappage Scheme. And another question I need to have settled. How do you pronounce Peugeot? As in…

Peugeot Dealer
Peugeot 308
Peugeot 107

Back to the unnamed VW.

The car is about 11 feet long, four feet wide, and about three feet tall.

Obviously it’s a one person car. Which has a lot of appeal for large family. Cars for everybody in the family! The Daily Blonde says she would buy one just for the opportunity to go someplace BY HERSELF. (She has a passle of kiddles.)

As with the Smart five years ago, it’s not legal in the U.S. Nor is the Smart Electric car been approved for U.S. use. But I could call the VW VunderWileage a personal disability device and probably get them imported no prob.

So it’s happened. The 258 miles per gallon car is a reality. Only in China. I accept Paypal.

Here are more specs…

The power plant is a one cylinder diesel positioned ahead of the rear axle and combined with an automatic shift controlled by a knob in the interior.

Safety was not compromised as the impact and roll-over protection is comparable to the GT racing cars.

Gas tank capacity = 1.7 gallons

Speed = 62 – 74.6 Miles/hour

Fuel efficiency = 258 miles/gallon

Travel distance with a full tank = 404 miles

Another BTW: If I lived in the U.K. I would shop for cars here.
Perrys
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I Hate Billboards in Detroit. These Are Some of the Best

Published on June 12, 2009 in Cars, Empty Nesters and Entertainment. 0 Comments Tags: billboards, cruise, detroit.

via

Detroit has a cruise in and the ugly urban line-of-blight billboards are loaded up with freebies to make the old guys and Detroit in general feel good about themselves.

These are very cool billboards.

Can Penske Make The Saturn Profitable?

Published on June 8, 2009 in Cars, Money, Politics and Technology. 0 Comments Tags: nissan, penske automotive, renault, roger penske, samsung, smart, tata nano.

Penske Automotive owns a whole crap load of car dealerships. 310 in the U.S. and around the world. Penske Automotive sells over 40 different car brands - including the Smart car in the U.S.

Roger Penske is successful renting trucks and running racing teams. Can Penske Automotive sell Saturns? Yes.

Can he make a profit? Probably.

Will he still build Saturns in the U.S.? Doubtful.

He could form a venture with Nissan Motor Co., the Japanese affiliate of Renault SA, according to a source familiar with the talks. Automotive News, an industry trade publication, has reported that Penske plans to import vehicles made in South Korea by Renault Samsung Motors and sell them through the Saturn dealership network.

I wouldn’t bet on Penske Automotive in this deal.

Why?

Because the $2,500 Tata Nano is coming to the U.S. in two years.
Because he sells Smart.
Because he sells 39 other car brands.
Because Saturn never turned a profit in it’s whole existence under GM’s wing.

So GM invested billions to give Saturn independence. Saturn ran its own factory, employed its own engineers and made its own engines and transmissions. But the economies of scale never materialized. GM needed to sell half a million or more Saturns a year for this to all pencil out. In 1994, sales peaked at 286,000 cars.

He just doubled the size of his network of dealers. Legacy dealers that used to sell Saturns and flopped.

Penske Automotive will have a two year deal with G.M. to buy Saturns. But then Roger can shop his car-building business around.

$2,500 Tata Nano
$20,000 Smart

$25,000 Saturn Vue

Tata doesn’t have a dealer network currently. But that probably won’t stop them. There is already a demand for the car in the U.S. (IF it passes gummit standards – and I’m betting the standards will be relaxed to make it so.)

We have had people ask us if the Smart was a Tata. We have had people tell us they can’t wait until the Tata comes to the U.S. These same people don’t have a clue that the Tata

is put together with glue,
has opening in the back (a “trunk),
no air conditioning
only three lug nuts per wheel (gummit standards dictate four)
top speed of 43 mph

Many of these same people are concern that the Smart isn’t safe enough for them!

But that $2,500 price tag makes it very appealing to wedge in four teenagers and turn them loose or send Mama to church meetin’s.

Where will Roger Penske and Penske Automotive wedge the Saturns in the marketplace? If G.M. still designs and builds the cars, they won’t change much. If Penske Automotive takes the design/build to another factory he doesn’t own, does this mean Penske Automotive takes on a whole new level of overhead?

Am I willing to bail out Penske Automotive eventually?

I might if he let’s me drive one of his racers.