Locate an Auto Repair Shop in South Burlington, Vermont

South Burlington, VT Car Consumer Discussions

Re: One liners from the sales frontlines (back on topic).... [chikoo]

by driver100 on Sat Nov 15 18:42:47 PST 2008

I did not see South Korea reel into recession when Daewoo went Bankrupt. And Daewoo was BIG in South Korea. Excellent point. And same when Hudson went, and American Motors, Studebaker, Packard, Oldsmobile and many more...the world continued. Just yesterday Yugo went bankrupt, but the sky didn't fall.....

Re: Part of the change [marsha7]

by dallasdude1 on Mon Jul 14 14:29:55 PDT 2008

First of all, I'm in the south and I proud to be a union member. Your saying that the companies have all the power to move capital as they see fit. I agree and we as the number one consumer nation (America) can boycott Walmart and any firm which trades with the communist/disrespects civilized workers rights (child or prison or the right to organize)/ or any other which we see deemed to fitting. After all the consumers makes the choice when he/she buys. It funny when the toy companies or clothing retailers are exposed. Remember Cathy Lee and KMart child sweatshops, the dog fur in the coats at Burlington Coat Factory, tainted pet food, or even the recent leaded paint on toddlers toys. These companies did a full court press on the PR front. Fact is that we only know about very little of what goes on in China (China prefers it that way). Fact also is these multi-nationals have and are being bullied by the corrupt communist govt of China. China is demanding jobs in exchange for access to their markets which have a promising future. If you think these are American companies, think again, you might also believe that Coke is an American company. If conclusion, there is a difference between free trade and fair trade. Its up to the govt to regulate a fair trade policy with each nation and not to buckle down to the corporate lobby.

kernick...

by iluvmysephia1 on Fri Apr 25 13:35:14 PDT 2008

your post raises a few points of concern, one that I thought about and one that I didn't. As to the war threat with N.Korea, I didn't think of that one when buying my '99 Sephia in May of 1999. Looking at the issue now, I feel that that issue will never have to be dealt with and that N.Korea would be foolish to pull that particular trigger. That is out of my knowledge zone and is still not a deterrent to me in buying a Kia. Your other point, however, is one that I did think of back in 1999. And I felt that, even in 1999, there was so much sharing of designs, assemblies and technologies between carmakers, that my purchase of the Sephia was an insignificant drop-in-the-automotive bucket, overall. I know that these purchases can snowball and make an overall impact, truedat. A few points to ponder: Kia Motors built the Festiva for Ford back in 1988. Ford later assisted Kia in designing the ladder type frame for the Sportage. Carmakers share in building and designs and parts. I felt that by 1999 my purchase of a foreign car made less difference than a purchase of a Honda back in 1985 would have made to Ford instead of buying an Escort from them. Kia's reputation at that point was not stellar, I'm sure you know that. But Americans were buying Honda's and Toyota's by that time in a large manner. I felt that frankly I wanted the most for my money and had read countless articles by that time(because of the advent of the internet)on this South Korean carmaker named Kia Motors. Even though it wasn't all positive I was drawn in by their enthusiasm and wanted a part of it. Ford's Escort had me interested and by 1999 I had owned a 1986 Mercury Lynx(the Escort's cousin)station wagon and had bought a new 1994 Ford Escort wagon that was a good car. One Warranty-covered fix required on that '94 Escort wagon, a new exhaust manifold. But it was a good car. I liked the new Ford Escort sedan in 1997 and bought a used one(18,000 miles on it)at a reasonable price. That purple '97 Escort sedan would be the last domestic product I would own. Everything went absolutely fine with that car, I just wanted a Kia Sephia. My buddy from Boeing in Everett, WA(widebody jet plant)had just bought a bright white '99 Kia Sephia. "How do ya like your Sephia?" I asked him. "It's fine," he replied. "How's your gas mileage?", I asked. "Good!", was his reply. "I just wanted something cheap for the commute." We both lived in Burlington, WA, about 45 miles north of Boeing's Everett plant, where we both worked. "Reasonable price?" I asked. "Very reasonable," was his reply. By that time I was digging the look of the '99 Kia Sephia from the front. To me it was more than a foreign econobox. I was enthused by the entirety of it's body design, something about Kia designs that I always admired. Excellent flow of lines and curves and angles. I ended getting my 1999 Kia Sephia for $7,995 in May of '99. No radio and no A/C. Didn't matter to me. It was what I wanted and it was what I got. But, kernick, I do understand it when people feel like you do, that it's taking cash out of the U.S. in to foreign company's coffers. But wouldn't our President and/or Congress block imports to the U.S. if the matter was so negatory to the U.S.? Shouldn't they? Why is it OK to the President and to U.S. Senators and Congress then? We export shiploads to other nation's already. Now, to GM, Ford and Chrysler, the effect is specifically felt by them, keeping it in the car industry, true. But here's the cincher and the clincher for me. Neither Ford, GM or Chrysler Motors put out a product in 1999 that competed with my Sephia for the price I paid. I love smaller rigs, indeed, the '08 Lancer GTS is about as large a car as I would be interested in buying! Actually, I liked the body design so much that is wasn't just price of product that spoke to me. It was the product offered for the price paid. It's my right to make those types of decisions in this country. Unless there's a chunk of information I'm missing from somewhere. Like mentioned earlier, the 2010 Ford Verve 4-door has my interest and I would not discount the fact that I one day may return to buying domestic automotive products. That car holds promise and aside from a 1970 Chevy Suburban and a 1973 Plymouth Gold Duster(the Duster was a great rig BTW)the only products I've spent cash money on have been on Ford's, before these two new Kia's and this new Mitsubishi. So a return could ocurr in the future. Throw all-EV's in to the thought pattern and Mitsubishi's i-MIEV all-electrically propelled city car and BYD's all-electric car called the e6 are front-runners in my mind to take a good look at. I don't wanna mess with hybrids, just give me straight-up all-electrically driven cars once I leave ICE cars. But that's another long post for another time, eh? Oh, there are company's that would take my '08 Lancer GTS and fit electrical-propulsion units in to them and swap out the ICE, too. That is another thing to think about as I motor along in my Rally Red Lancer GTS. :shades:

Re: Bought EX-L RES in South Carolina [cheapdad000]

by dmitchell2 on Tue Feb 26 09:16:29 PST 2008

Yes, Breakaway's price was OTD. They did not break it down, but as a SC Resident it would have gone something like this: Vehicle (including destination): $28,936 SC Taxes (they're capped at $300) $300 Tags: $39 I'd suspect that the vehicle price is actually slightly lower, and they charge a doc fee, but the OTD is the same. If you're in NC, your taxes and tags will be higher, of course (sorry!). Here are the NC Dealer quotes I received. All are OTD, based on South Carolina taxes/tags (Taxes in SC = $300, tags = $39). Adjust as needed for NC. Auto Park Honda - Cary $29,558 High Country Honda - Boone $29,664 Vann York Honda - High Point $30,000 Asheboro Honda - Asheboro $30,273 Crown Honda Chapel Hill - Chapel Hill $30,599 Bob Barbour Honda - Greenville $30,754 Alan Vester Honda - Roanoke Rapids $32,508 The following NC dealers did not response with a quote (make of it what you will): Burlington Honda - Burlington Coastal Carolina Honda - New Bern Courtesy Honda - Goldsboro Davenport Honda - Rocky Mount Hope that helps!

Took final delivery today

by slackjaw on Thu Dec 20 16:20:23 PST 2007

Signed the papers today after "test" driving since last Friday. After driving if for almost a week on dealer tags, they washed it, pulled all the stickers, and filled the tank back up. Clearwater blue Touring M package Premium sound Swivel & go Power 3rd row Sirius backseat TV MSRP 35,985 Pull ahead program for our early 2005 Grand Caravan SXT with 2 more payments and the $275 out. Sell price on 2008 is 32,178 $0 down 36 month lease .00198 MF 55% residual $449/mo Freedom Chrysler in South Burlington, Vermont was total aces. No pressure and no turn-offs. Well done with a strong recommendation. Nicely done gentlemen. We'll be back when my 05 Durango Limited needs to turn into a Aspen hybrid.

humblecoder...

by iluvmysephia1 on Sun Oct 28 19:20:13 PDT 2007

exactly my point, Mr.Bond. In the spring of 1999 I noticed that my friend brought home a car I had never seen before. "What kind of car is that?" "A Kia Sephia," he blurted out. It was white and it had a 5-speed tranny installed at the factory. "D'ya like it?", I wanted to know. "Ahhh...it's fine for what I want it for...gets good gas mileage." "What does it get," I asked. "30+ mpg", was his response. Both of us had a 45 mile commute each way from Burlington, WA, south to Everett, WA. We both built Boeing jetliners at Boeing's widebody jet plant. "Humm...it drives OK?", I asked again. "It's fine, I just told them I wanted to leave the lot for as cheap as I possibly could." "So you got a good deal?" I asked. "Oh, yeah!" "Humm." As I stared at the front end of his white Sephia I studied the body design and noticed an obvious superiority to the boring bland style coming from the Toyota and Honda camps round about 1999. At that time I was driving a 1997 Ford Escort sedan I bought used in the spring of 1997-it had 18,000 miles on it and I got a decent deal. I liked my purple 4-door Ford Escort and had possibly one recall pickup needed done in the coupla years I'd owned it. I went to Jerry Smith Kia of Anacortes and test-drove a 1999 Violet Mist colored Kia Sephia that also had a 5-speed manual tranny installed straight-from-the-factory. The light purple Sephia had no A/C(one doesn't absolutely have to have air conditioning in Washington state)and no radio. I ended up paying $7,995 after a $2,000 Kia manufacturer's rebate was taken off of it. And the rest is history as they say. We traded the '99 Sephia in in Sept. of '01 (with around 80,000 miles on it) for a 2001 Kia Sportage 4X4. Before I traded my '97 Escort in I thought of the whole "ya gotta buy American" thing. By that time I was reading on the internet pretty much daily. I read of the horrible time Kia and big brother Hyundai were having with the de-valuation of the Korean won, illegal Chaebol involvement, strikes against both carmakers, currency manipulation figurings, etc. Kia got an assist from Ford on their Sportage truck-like ladder frame and Kia built the Festiva microcar for Ford. Manufacturers were and had been trading materials, knowledge, people, deals on parts and assemblies, etc., for a long time before that deal for my Sephia in May of 1999. What did it matter if I bought American cleanly and clearly? Is a purchase of an American car really a cleanly-American purchase? Nope-it's not. Sharing everything under the automotive sun was in full operation. So I bought my Sephia with no feeling of guilt whatsoever. Then the '01 Sportage 4X4 and now we have just one car...I have left Kia Motors to buy a 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS. I may return one day to buy another new Kia vehicle, possibly a new Cee'd 5-door crossover. They are awesome and if a diesel engine and a 5-speed tranny could be had in one I'd leap that way like Kobe Bryant leaping out of Gary Payton's way as Gary floated to yet another unmolested layin against the Lakers. So, no, the "buy American" crowd need to consider what they're building and they need to build small and subcompact with earnestness. Otherwise I will look to new love Mitsubishi and old favorite Kia Motors for my next purchase in another 5 years down the road. I include my Lancer in here, even though it's considered a compact car. Because even though Mitsubishi doesn't really build a small subcompact Kia does(Rio, Cee'd)and they are way too good for me to push them forever to the side, like a smelly old Kobe Bryant Laker sock. That's too much cash to spend to not get what I want, gentlemen. Kia and Mitsubishi deliver and GM does not. Simple as a GP steal and unmolested drive to the hoop for another nice layin over Kobe and his hapless dorks in L.A.