Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Blanch, North Carolina

Blanch, NC Car Consumer Discussions

Let's inject...

by grbeck on Tue Nov 18 07:46:01 PST 2008

...some facts into the discussion, please. Not ALL of the Big Three are going to collapse simultaneously. These companies are in very different situations, even though the lazy media prefers to lump them together. Ford has the money to make a go of it until it brings new product - Fiesta, all-new Focus, restyled Taurus - to market within the next 18 or so months. The company has reduced production capacity to bring it in line with demand, and sold Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston-Martin, all of where were cash drains and distracting management from focusing on the core brands - Ford and Lincoln. Quality is on the upswing, too. General Motors is in dire condition. But a restructured GM is still a viable enterprise. Only problem is that a restructured GM would be a much smaller company, sized to serve about 15-18 percent of the market. The best solution would cause the buy-American crowd and Lou Dobbs to have a stroke. But if the government really wants to save GM, it should turn it over to a foreign company - preferably Toyota - and give said company carte blanche to make the changes necessary to right the ship. GM's current management has a mixed record at best. The quality is still uneven; the brands are still a mess, with too much badge engineering and overlap; it changes nameplates too often; and there isn't anything on the horizon that will really increase market share. The Volt is not going to be a money-maker, and the Cruze doesn't look any more exciting than the Cobalt. The Camaro is sharp, but one retro-styled pony car isn't going to save GM. The brutal truth is that Toyota has done a much better job of meeting the needs and desires of American consumers (check the sales figures and market share trends); its quality is still, as whole, superior to GM's quality; its marketing is far superior; and its brands have essentially displaced comparable GM brands in the hearts and minds of customers. Toyota is the new Chevrolet, while Lexus has far more prestige than Cadillac among the younger, more affluent customers who will matter in the coming years. With a restructured GM, Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Saab would go away. Buick and GMC would be combined into one division - call it LaSalle - and share platforms with Chevrolet at the lower end (although no economy Buicks, or LaSalles, please) and Cadillac at the near-luxury end. Chevrolet and Cadillac would be GM's big guns. The Jobs Bank would go away, and UAW members would accept work rules the same as those at the transplant operations. If the government is going to inject any money into GM, use it to fund the UAW VEBA. Most of upper management needs to go, too. Keep Bob Lutz for continuity. If GM needs anything, it is culture change. The world no longer revolves around GM, but I get the impression that GM management and the UAW haven't quite figured this out yet. Second, "good enough" isn't good enough anymore. But the last thing we, the taxpayers, need is for GM to receive aid that only postpones the inevitable, necessary restructuring. If we give GM money now - the way GM and the UAW want us to do it - prepare GM to beg for another cash infusion in about 6-12 months. As for Chrysler - it's toast. Cerberus has suspended new vehicle development, leaving the company basically dead. At this point, the best thing that could happen is that foreign companies buy up the remaining valuable parts of Chrysler - Jeep, the minivans, the Dodge Ram and maybe the LX cars. The rest is worthless. And the collapse of one of these companies will not bring about the next Great Depression. If Chrysler collapses, for example, Ford will pick up the slack, especially in rural areas. There will still be a vibrant domestic automobile industry. People seem to miss that Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai are expanding their presence here, building vehicles that were designed HERE with American tastes in mind. Their footprint in American will only increase. And the collapse of one of the Big Three will have very little effect on areas outside of their operations. There won't be marauding bands of unemployed auto workers in southcentral Pennsylvania if GM or Chrysler collapses. Nor will there be Unemployed Auto Workers Gone Wild in San Francisco, Dallas, Orlando, Seattle, Boston, etc. Sorry, but the Big Three aren't that big anymore. It's not 1965 anymore...and let's not quote hysterical press releases from biased, industry-funded sources to "prove" otherwise.

Re: Final price [kernelpanic]

by mazda626atx on Wed Sep 10 19:31:38 PDT 2008

I refuse to speak to dealers with all those acronyms TDA, TTL, BLAH BLAH BLAH. I ask them for a final price with all included without taxes, and either a separate DMV price , or 60 day temp plates and I will register it myself. Fitzgerald says one price , internet price and states on their site there is no shipping or processing fee. Also we have someone who actually bought a car from Fitzgerald and states they did not try to scam them after they gave their price. Holdbacks are what dealer gets off of the invoice from the manufacturer. Who cares what goes on between dealer and manufacturer. All of that is misdirection , like Magicians use to confuse us. All we care is price OTD (out the door) pre taxes or including, as long as price is estabilished before tax. They cant lie about that . Also I do not know for a fact, but I dont think 3rd seat is as expensive as leather , therefore on first blanche , I think you can still do better . I feel everyone should be willing to match Fitzgeralds price, regardless where they are . Just my 2 cents :) P.S What does TTL , and TDA stand for ?

Fair Play for GM? and what about Canadians?!

by scrolllock on Wed Aug 13 18:55:59 PDT 2008

Stew Low, the Director of Communications of GM Canada, Oshawa Ontario, today replied to one of the articles in the Gazette dated August 6th. (It took 7 days for GM to approve this?) letter to the editor Our open Letter to Mr. Low and the Gazette. Mr. Low in your letter to the editor of August 13th, you indicate that the Gazette article of August 6th unfairly criticized GM and that the writer’s assertions were not supported by facts. You went on to provide some facts as to why you felt GM deserves to be treated better by Canadians. Well Mr. Low, CarsWithoutBorders, operates with facts as well, and we wonder why you continue to gouge and treat Canadians like second class citizens. Americans pay 10 to 35% less for their GM vehicles than Canadians. The cars are the same. You can check this out in the recently published article in Macleans Magazine Recently one of our members purchased a 2008 Cadillac SRX and saved over $20,000 on the transaction. On the price of car parts, Mr. Low, why do you charge Canadians over 23%, for the same parts that you sell to Americans. Many of these parts are manufactured in Canada. We recently headed south to Plattsburg to purchase parts for our Oldsmobile, you can find the entire story at CarsWithoutBorders - July 24th,2008 posting. On Service Mr. Low, the manner in which your company treats cost conscious Canadians that have ventured into the US to buy your cars is deplorable. Refusing to download “Canadianized” software and charging for recall letters is uncalled for. Hiding behind “bumper laws” to prevent Canadians from purchasing vehicles in the U.S. is another example. Just ask our member Mario from Edmonton, who spent 10 months with a U.S. market 2008 Corvette sitting in his garage. All of these events have been reported by CarsWithoutBorders in recent months. So in summary, Mr. Low you might think that Mr. Mark Needelman’s article, made some unfair assertions. Your reply asking Canadians for “fair play GM” seems to substantiate your reasons, but you fail to answer to the real issues. Why do you continue to stoop so low and treat Canadians as second class citizens, Mr. Low? We deserve better, particularly after the millions our Governments have given GM. We have provided GM with carte blanche subsidies over the last half century. And you want Fair Play? Canadians want Fair Play! We want a level playing field with our cousins to our south!

Re: thinking about a 1999 GM [lostwrench]

by tismyself on Thu Jun 19 21:33:00 PDT 2008

Yes, the timing belt. When you are a single female who does not know very much about cars, life is very different. So, for the most part, just like Blanche DuBois, I am dependent on the kindness of strangers. Now, if you want to talk engineering or architecture... that's a different story. ;)

Re: 30,000 mile service cost [ryoder]

by barryend on Tue Jun 03 09:18:50 PDT 2008

What did they really do? Check things that don't need checking or even do nothing? Giving a dealer carte blanch for a service is a blank check. My gas station can change all the filters and lube for under $200.00. Tire shop can check alignment. Tell the dealer to only do warranty work or fix a price in advance for service before signing the service order. Don't be a sucker. If they give you attitude take a walk and they will chase you out the door. Japanese cars are practically maintenance free anyway. I don't know why they don't use synthetic oil like my wife's Audi. 15,000 mile oil changes only. Probably to get you in the door more often to sell service you don't need.

Re: Sheer Brilliance.... [circlew]

by ponderpoint on Tue May 20 09:50:51 PDT 2008

On the NY/NJ border at every gas station there are gas lines every day. There are more islands to service cars at each one but it looks like the Mexican border except with cars! Of course there is!!!! Just like outside the rent-a-car returns at Orange County Airport at two o'clock in the afternoon.... Packed! Doesn't have anything to do with shortage, just everybody and his other brother Darryl wants to get gas at the same time.. Go two boulevards over and away from the airport (with lower prices incidentally) and that "Stop&Rob" is dead...... So let me paraphrase the quiet mason's observations.... Gas lines carte-blanche, every station, across the nation..... with shortage. Cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria, rioting in the streets..... Not really..... There is no shortage. He STILL has a point. I agree with that one poster here; brainless consumers that STILL purchase the gas regardless of the price (usually S-Huge-V. is involved) and simply not reacting to the price. You CAN react and if you don't, you're just lazy. Cut out the trip to Starbucks JUST to get coffee. Start combining multiple task/trips with one driving event.... You WILL see results in your wallet. There is no shortage of crude oil, just despicable speculators and hedge fund greed. I off-handedly fobbed off the comments of George Soros the other day, but now he's starting to make a LOT more sense..... Increasing incidence of "false bubbles" created by individuals utilizing parasitic tactics for quick money. A complete dismissal of the principles of value investing. Hubbard's theories are completely real - we are running out of oil and other countries want more of it but to to think it is happening this fast is completely ridiculous. I am looking forward to the oil speculation crash just as I looked forward to real estate "flippers" that got caught..... Same old same old.... Shoddy investment discipline that just hurts people in the long run and an exploited sector gets hurt for no apparent reason other than sheer greed......