End Of Year Post

The environmental nut jobs are on the loose with the proposed Keystone Pipeline that would bring oil from Canada to the United States. So they reject the possibility of 20,000 jobs and would rather rely of the whims of multiple quasi enemies to supply oil?

Maybe these wizards should go back in a time machine and view “The Big Ditch” constructed during WW II. This was known as the War Emergency Pipeline that would supply oil from Texas to New Jersey rather than using vulnerable tankers. In fact they actually started the oil flow before the line was complete.

Sometimes it takes extraordinary circumstance and leadership to address an issue and IMO this is an issue of national security. To set up mindless roadblocks is pure insanity. The pipeline is in our best interests and if it is constructed with the same diligence as the Alaskan Pipeline impact will be minimal or non existent.

Time for some leadership and direct intervention by President Obama.

I have recently been car/truck shopping in a serious mode but one of interest. As a current Pontiac owner I have a special “Off the books” rebate available that is between $1,500 and $3,000. But what I find interesting is the names they dream up. I think all of us have at one time or another bought a vehicle that we gave a special name such as POS or “This car sucks.”

I do believe the American auto industry has done a magnificent job of once again having products that can compete with any. Off course, most large world wide manufactures have their products build in multiple countries and the same goes for parts.

The standard for a vehicle use to be 100.000 miles. Anything after that was a bonus. IMO it is now 200,000 as many of the former bad boys such as exhaust systems and cooling systems use to have a shelf life that was dismal. No longer. But that high end technology comes with a price and that price is exorbitant labor and parts charges. I actually use a collision body shop for many repairs since they are very familiar in their triage business of worse case scenarios. The parts I’ll shop around and check after market or online sources and save upwards to 40%.

Last summer I had the opportunity to tour the Rouge factory of Ford in Dearborn, Michigan. The facility was the original site for Ford production and it is massive but today it is the assembly for trucks. They produce about 1,500 a day and the automation is intriguing. All computer driven. On the assembly line I watched the drones do one specific job over and over while working side by side with their robotic counterparts. The repetition and boredom would have me opening a vein before first break. I can understand why the workers are paid so well since you are being paid for a continually tedious job.

If you wander to Bowling Green Kentucky and are an aficionado of Corvette you can actually observe your car being assembled over a two day period. The computer and production process has your name on everything so you can build your own scrapbook. And being a capitalist society this little venture comes with a price tag - I do believe it is in excess of $500 plus your hotel stay and meals. I also understand with the ‘Vette - an engineering marvel - that virtually the entire car is American made. Few imported parts.

What frustrates me about purchasing a vehicle is that old ploy called “Options Loading.” Try buying a base model. You virtually cannot. Somewhere along the way you will have to determine just what you want and don’t want and attempt to get as close as possible.

What really ticks me off is the way a vehicle is sold. This expensive piece of machinery is then tossed into a dealership that may be ethically deficient or has a sales staff - most do - that reminds one of a street bazaar in Casablanca. It is all about “The Deal” and how “savvy” you are and their need to move the vehicle. Sales quotas, inventory excesses, cash flow and a myriad of other factors all play into how it is negotiated. The only thing that comes close to the full court press at a dealership is being trapped with a time share salesman.

Then, of course, is next up on my hit list and that is advertising. Anything over 200HP is shown in circumstances that are almost impossible with maneuvers that even an experienced NASCAR driver could not do. With trucks it seems every deep voiced actor has been captured to do those commercials. If you are a baritone voice over you have a job for life.

So I finally sprung for a truck. My current battle star had some wheel bearing work, muffle system in need and a bounty of minor ailments that would need to be addressed to the tune of about $2,000 so my ten year old got me a few bucks towards the truck (very few) and will end up in the auto auction. I lost money on that end of the sale but could care less since the aggravation of a private sale was just not worth it.

The truck I wanted was not available at a local dealer so they located one that another dealer would trade off on. Had just the base model and that is a real stripped down one. I have no need for bells and whistles and will probably use the bed so little it is really foolish getting a truck but I never had one. I would have held my breath until the Lovely Cynthia gave her permission.

Then comes one of my real pet peeves and that is the sales tax. You think the wonder boys and girls would have a one week or so open season where they would exclude the first $10,000 on a sale. That is a dream for sure.