it held the potential to go 250,000 miles. Mine insisted on
$700 repairs every 3,000 miles though. And since it only takes
about 10 minutes more to commute by bike. It was a quick and
happy decision to let it go. Now of course there is still what
I refer to as the 'family vehicle'. So I don't know if I can
say I'm truely CAR FREE, but at least CAR LITE.
Now our vehicle use is on a limited basis, but with a family
there's always a need. A mini van seemed to cover all the bases.
We skipped Chrysler, well simply put they suck, always third
rate, electrical problems, etc... Chevy couldn't offer up much
more, the Astro gets about 16 mpg, may as well be a truck, and
still poor performance. So we got a Ford, basic & dime a dozen.
Mpg is a little better at 20ish, and it uses a timming chain vs.
a belt that needs replacement every 60-80 thousand miles. Now
the van was purchased this spring with only 54,000 miles, coming
back from Portsmouth, Maine, the torque converter went out.
Luckily it was covered under warranty, ands o was part of the
rental car. But seriously? A tranny rebuild at 58,000 miles?
Skip forward three months and 3,000 miles. Little man and I are
driving along, running an out of town errand for the holidays,
when there's a huge shudder and loss of power. Sweet! Tranny is
out again. This time I have to get myself and kid back to town,
pay ALOT for a tow, and rent another car. And that was a week
ago, still no car.
The benefit from this was the conversation with the wife, that
after being a 'car guy' since I was a little kid, I finally was
to the point that I never wanted to own ANY car EVER AGAIN! I
was done. If I could live without a car for the rest of my life,
that would be MORE THAN IDEAL!
With all the talk of a bailout for the crappy three, the government
should just buy them outright. Each one is only worth a couple
billion. Don't give them anything. When the auto makers intentionally
disassembled public transport and pushed (lobbied) the government
for more roads, they effective made the US dependant upon the
automobile. They put aside progress in MPG, safety (NADER), and
alternative fuel vehicles,so they could market oversized SUVs and
trucks. Now they want help? They built themselves into an obsolete
market. Now it's time for them to go the way of the trolley,that they
decommisioned years ago. If they want to really stay in business,
build small alternative energy vehicles now, along with efficient
mass transit. The government can sell back these three after they're
profitable, and MAYBE that will offset a fraction of the Iraq war cost.
Welcome to the free market that you wanted so badly. No one trusts
your shit, so you change or go out of business. What do they say?
YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW. That's it.
No comments:
Post a Comment