Behind the Scenes @ Chrysler Dealers

[Mr. Bloom]

If you take Europe as a whole, instead of small countries, the land mass is the same-ish (okay well, it's bigger anyways).

You're right...and the population is about 750,000,000 - more than twice the density of the US.

I really agree with you...for instance, I love the EL in chicago and the Metro in DC, but why can't LA have better mass transit...they have the density...or Dallas, or Houston...but overall, the majority of our land mass lacks the density...and the dense areas are too far apart...

[smilingcat]

I love the EL in chicago and the Metro in DC, but why can't LA have better mass transit...they have the density...or Dallas, or Houston...

Way back when, LA did have a very good trolly system. Some large companies bought out the trolly system and shut it down so they could sell more... That is if you believe the history according some "historians". Not sure who to believe these days.

Only reason I brought up the kind of cars seen in my company parking lot was a bit of thread drift. Drift was along the line of is it fair to completely blame the big three. Afterall, if the buyers don't buy into the idea or if the buyers don't demand, would they have manufactured these monster cars? At times the argument of why detroit built all these monster cars seem like a chicken and an egg question. Did the buyers demand it or detroit created the demand through sexy advertisement. ???

Dear Tuckerville,

if my post came across as "painting the canvass with wide brush/broad stroke", it was not meant to be. There are other regular cars in our parking lot. Honda Accord, small pkup, older jeep... The point I wanted to make is that there are segments of our society where consumerism has run amock. The technician who bought the hummer said that he bought it because the sales person and the finance person at the dealer assured him that he could afford the car. OKAY he said. AND HAS DETROIT BEEN FEEDING ON THIS OUT OF CONTROL CONSUMERISM? The guy who owns the Audi RS4 or is it R4 also is the same one who owns one of the corvettes. He also owns a vintage car. He is single and in his 40's and real motorhead if there ever was one. He was replacing a radiator for his vintage car in the parking lot one day during lunch hour. And the another motor head drives a BMW M3 with modified suspension system. He also races cars. Again single and in his early 40's. no not your typical guy.

The question is: are Detroit feeding on these people and creating a demand by making it look sexy or making it look as though you made in the game of life where winning is determined by the toys you have acquired? And has the general public bought it hook line and sinker on the ad campaign?

Or did Detroit's failing partially due to the demand of the public with desire for the behemouth cars and failing to see the complete picture? In other words, Detroit was led to the behemouth cars by the demand of the public and failing to see the rest?

on side note: if you mention global warming to my co-workers, they will laugh at you and will become beligerent toward you and belittle your intelligence. They and I have agreed to disagree. It's an off limit topic.

Dear 7 rider,
Very good point that the three cars I listed were foreign cars. They are not immune either. The difference is they didn't put all their eggs in one basket like the big three. In all honesty though, I really don't have a clue on the MPG rating of those cars. just knowing how they drive, it can't be good. One brags the fact that his low profile tires last less than 15,000miles and proud of it. At $250-$300 per tire its mighty expensive. Again the number is what they told me. Or was it just bravado on their part?

oh one more thing:
Yes both my parents are Japanese and I may have been born there. But my home is here. My livlihood is here. In Japan, I am a gaijin literal translation is outside person. I am a foreigner in Japan. I have no desire to make mockery of our society. It is my home too.

[papaver]

Perspective: The US is 309x bigger than Belgium by land area, but only 27x bigger by population. We'd have to tax everyone 10 times more to build the same infrastructure (and taxes are un-American)

I know that people in the US or Canada just can't live whithout a car, that is just impossible. That's why I find it bizarre that American car companies just don't ( or hardly, or just too late) invest in cars that don't use as much gas.

It seems to me like it's a more a status thing than anything else. Because of my work I nearly live in my car. I look at two things when I buy a car: how much it uses and safety. I drive a Renault Mégane and it uses 4,1l diesel/100 km and it still is a powerful fast car.

Oh and I pay 62% taxes on my income.

[crazycanuck]

There is no way we could live without a vehicle. If we want to travel anywhere in Aust you do realize how big this place is... There are two ways to get around in the rest of Western Australia..Drive or fly. I'm not flying as i'd rather see WA from the ground in a reliable vehicle!!!

I wanted to suggest to my mom (yay she's comin for a visit!!! ) taking the train from Sydney to Perth but then saw the price . Umm no, cheaper to drive!!! I hate being ripped off by train companies. Urugh..don't even mention Via rail in Canada

I trust Toyota to make a reliable vehicle. Ian says it's funny that i'm the short chick(with a speed fetish hidden somewhere) driving a Hilux.

I'm a fan of Top Gear but wouldn't want to drive some of the cool vehicles they test.

[Mr. Bloom]

papa: I understand and apologize for missing your very good points....and for misunderstanding the extent of your taxation

[smilingcat]

papa: I understand and apologize for missing your very good points....and for misunderstanding the extent of your taxation

But it all evens out in the end. Funny it works like that. We may not pay 62% in tax or 90% tax, but is her livelihood any better or worse than ours? Does she have less 'toys" than you or me? We may not pay the tax man but I'm sure papaver does not pay huge out of the pocket medical insuance/bill. In place of tax man, we pay the insurance company.

smilingcat

[Grog]

But it all evens out in the end. Funny it works like that. We may not pay 62% in tax or 90% tax, but is her livelihood any better or worse than ours? Does she have less 'toys" than you or me? We may not pay the tax man but I'm sure papaver does not pay huge out of the pocket medical insuance/bill. In place of tax man, we pay the insurance company.

smilingcat

Exactly what I was thinking...

And there's quite a bit less people in jail in Belgium....... (Just checked the data: 88 per 100,000 population versus 107 in Canada and 725 in the USA in 2004.) (This is worse than I thought.) (This is a secondary use of OECD data, found on Swivel: http://www.swivel.com/data_columns/show/2499139) (I'm really amazed.)

[papaver]

What do we have in return? Well lets see:

Free transportation (train/tram/bus) for children and pensioners.
Free education, exept for university students, that costs +/- 600 €/year.
If a doctor comes at my home in the middle of the night during the weekends it costs me 10 € max (we have to pay more but our almost free insurance pays most of it back within a week).
When it comes to healthcare we have a thing called 'maximum invoice', especially for people who are sick for longer periods. That's to make sure that no one becomes poor because they are sick.
Last year i've stayed in a hospital for about 9 days. I had to pay about 100€ in total.
If you have a baby, the mother gets 3 months leave (fully paid) and the father 10 days (but that will change - as from next year the parents can choose who stays at home).
If you get fired you get 90% of your salary the first year, after that you'll have a minimum (around 1250 usd)
We have a thing called 'the right to have a home', so even when you have no income (which really doesn't exist in Belgium) you still will be given a home. Of course there are still homeless people but that's mostly because of alcohol problems and people who don't want help (those people exist too).
When you're sick, the first week your salary will be fully paid by your employer, after that you'll be paid 90% of your salary by the state.
Because I'm self employed my healthcare insurance (full coverage) costs me 600 euro's (whole family) per year, as an employee it's less than 100 €/year.
And of course there is our pension, and that too is 90% of what you earned the last year you worked (but there's a maximum on that, same for when you're sick or fired).
And there's lots more. That's why I really don't mind that I have to pay that much taxes. I love the fact that when the going gets tough, you'll be looked after.

another positive thing, say when you're fired and you don't find a job within 3 months you'll get guidance (to find a new job) or you can study again (for free and you'll keep 90% of your salary or a maximum of 1900 USD, I think it is).


And still people dare to complain...

[OakLeaf]

I might mention the #1 drain on the US economy, but that would be "political"....

It might not be practical to build lots of passenger capacity to go from, say, Cheyenne, WY, to Pierre, SD, but that's not where most of the driving in the USA happens, anyhow. There's no practical or monetary reason at all why we couldn't RE-build the local and regional commuter transit systems that even small communities had 100 years ago.

[shootingstar]

It might not be practical to build lots of passenger capacity to go from, say, Cheyenne, WY, to Pierre, SD, but that's not where most of the driving in the USA happens, anyhow. There's no practical or monetary reason at all why we couldn't RE-build the local and regional commuter transit systems that even small communities had 100 years ago.

Good point, even when Canada is huge (even larger than the U.S.). Majority of people are not driving every day 100 kms. either 1 way or even a round trip.

So let's extrapolate into the future, when boomers get frail...and with our present disgust of some frail seniors who shouldn't be driving a car, how will this burgeoning population get around? AFter all, the aging population don't all have children, and not all have adult children who care about them so much, they will be around /want to chauffer around aging parents for appointments.

Many people when they age, are still quite healthy..they just aren't as alert enough to drive anymore. What is the transportation solution for this???

[shootingstar]

Not sure I got my facts straight, but apparently in Germany there is an annual tax..to own a car.

In my last job, there were alot of German ex-pats on staff. I had one working in my dept. That's what she told me...amongst many other things about life, taxation, benefits in Germany.

She worked for the national rail company in Germany for a few years. She did tell me of some company/line mergers that were occurring there.

[papaver]

Many people when they age, are still quite healthy..they just aren't as alert enough to drive anymore. What is the transportation solution for this???

That's a difficult one indeed. I saw a bbc reportage not too long ago about elderly people driving their cars for the very last time. Some were happy to live without their cars, but there was one lady who was really bitter getting older and the fear of getting isolated was obvious. My father is a horrible chauffeur, so they do most of their shopping by bycicle. Luckily the supermarkets are not far away, but I can't see them doing this in ten years or so. We'll have to think of an alternative...

[papaver]

Not sure I got my facts straight, but apparently in Germany there is an annual tax..to own a car.

In my last job, there were alot of German ex-pats on staff. I had one working in my dept. That's what she told me...amongst many other things about life, taxation, benefits in Germany.

She worked for the national rail company in Germany for a few years. She did tell me of some company/line mergers that were occurring there.

yep, we have that one too... and the smaller the car the less you pay.

[ny biker]

We pay a car tax in Virginia. It's based on the value of the car. I think they have the same thing in Connecticut.

[shootingstar]

yep, we have that one too... and the smaller the car the less you pay.

Yes, I recall that was true for Germany also.

What is the annual car tax for you NY?