Posted on 05/14/2009 10:59:05 AM PDT by ignorancerunsrampant
I just saw the story on CNBC about the Chrysler dealer who is being shut down. Number two in the nation. Profitable [Chrysler isn't]. I am a 47 year old, born in America. I have always bought American cars. The last two were Chrysler minivans. I have been quite pleased with the product, but if that is how they treat the people who bring the buyers to the product. Eventually they will treat the buyer the same way. Cutting the amount of dealers will cut the amount of service available. Chrysler can run their business the way they wish, and I will consume the way I wish.
I am currently in the new car market. The top of the list is a Dodger Challenger [midlife crisis]. The car is beautiful, it just fell off the list.
Somebody should check the list against the list of campaign donors for McCain and Obama...
A small investment a few months ago would have a big return..
For example, $100 in February would have returned about $450 now. (doing this off the top of my head so I may be off..)
I always tell folks, even if you can only put in $10 bucks a week into some investment vehicle, do it.. Even with market problems, there are ETFs that are based on movements both directions (FAZ/FAS for example (for the record, I own both))...
I’d check around to see if one of the nearby dealers was one that opened in the last 10 years. It’s during that period that all of the Big 3 focused on “minority dealerships”. Many were benefits of SBA loans and other creative finance vehicles.
They may be under orders to keep these open, even if that sacrifices successful dealerships.
I’m with ya. I’ve purchased Chrylser products since 1990 and have loved them all. I refuse to support a company that is nothing more than government social program with a corporate face. I will just have to find some other company to patronize with my auto purchases.
GEN MOTORS(NYSE: GM)
Real-Time: 1.15 0.06 (4.55%) 2:45pm ET
GM is almost in “Penny” stock territory!
I think his/her point is the total number of jobs lost. But it could also be the ripple effect of the dealership closings (i.e. lost ad revenue at local papers, lost business at local restaurants and retailers, etc.). At least, that’s my interpretation.
Ford should use that fact as an advertising feature, then offer the the same “protections” as GM is offering. Ford sales will go thru the roof!
I currently drive a buick, but i’ll never buy another (new) GM or Chrysler. Not only is it a political statement, but the goal of producing quality cars will no longer be job one. Instead it will be to fill minority quotas, union wants, greenhouse gas govt standards, etc. Law of unintended consequences, 0. You can build’em, but I aint comin’.
Three in the Orlando area are slated to close including the largest one.
No freaking way I’m taking my Jeep to south Orlando to have those idiots work on it.
I haven’t bought one since the ‘80s when last one gave up two alternators, two water pumps, and various parts of the suspension, plus the electrical system was buggy and the undercarriage rusted like a sunk merchant ship in 30 feet of brackish water. I still have the hood ornament though, mounted on a little marble pedestal to remind me of my folly. It has the word “Schmuck” written on it.
I bought my FoMoCo Stock at 3.01 ;-)!
I thought since he/she addressed a comment to me that he/she might be able to clarify it a bit so we could discuss it.
No they will run it the way the gov't orders them to run it.
My husband has been tempted to buy a Challenger. He thinks it will be a collector’s car. Buy a hot Mustang, instead.
Unfortunately, when the unions own two car companies, and need them to be profitable in order for the union to pay off their debts to their members, what chance does Ford have of getting a fair contract out of the union?
It seems to me that it should be illegal for a union to own a company in a field it bargains in. After all, union workers are not allowed to work with management, so why should unions be allowed IN management?
This whole things pisses me off. Back in November, both these companies should have gone Bankrupt, and the bondholders paid off. But (and I’m not totally opposed to the idea), we decided to throw a little tax money at them, in the hopes that we’d get the economy turned around and they would survive. It was a gamble.
However, rather than being a gamble that we the taxpayers lost, it turned into a gambit to allow Obama to be at the table and force the bondholders to give the companies away to the unions. The bondholders never had a say in whether the companies took government money, but that’s OK because the government was subordinate and “couldn’t hurt” the rights of the earlier holders.
Except that the government also bought off the bondholders with tax dollars, so most of them had to keep quiet and agree to the giveaway.
And of course, Obama’s “stimulus” stimulates nothing (all the money went to government, and have you seen “government” at the mall lately?). It just made things worse, which made it certain that companies would go bankrupt and Obama could pay off unions.
The only hopeful thing, and it’s also a sad thing, is that it is likely the unions won’t be able to run both these companies, and at least one of them will go broke and the unions will lose all their money.
But in reality, the government will pay the unions billions, and the unions will give hundreds of millions of that back to re-elect the people who are giving them the money.
We could raise 700 million in donations if we got billions from the government for it.
“Now that GM is Government Motors, I’ll be looking at a foreign brand for the first time in my life. Screw the government who is stealing our tax dollars, and screw the unions who are contributing to all of this.”
I was looking at the list of terminated Chrysler dealers and they got the one in my town as well. I’ll be very interested in the GM dealers going down. That will be the big bloodbath.
I would never drive a car, so I wouldn't know about their cars, but IMHO, GM makes the best trucks. I have a 1999 GMC crewcab with over 250,000 miles and a 2005 GMC crewcab with 100,000 miles and have never had a single problem with either truck, nor any of the other GM trucks I have owned in the past. The two Ford trucks I owned, on the other hand, were very unreliable. Hondas and Toyotas are foreign crap in my book, but I did own a Nissan once and until the tranny died at 90,000 miles, it was a good little truck.
My late Dad was a 35 year GM employee and so I also get an employee discount, which also factors into my decision. I definitely will be true to the GM label when purchasing my next vehicle. I am actually trying to get my husband to let me have an H3 (Hummer) before they go out of existence...just to piss off the liberals.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.