What would cars cost if they left off the silly frills?

On 2005-01-29, Laura Bush murdered her boy friend > wrote:
>
> Most americans are not loonybirds who fall in love with cars. We jsut
> want a vehicle that gets us from A to B and there is no reason why a
> perfectly functional brand new car should cost over $5,000.

While this may be true for most Americans, it is not true for
the group of Americans who buy new cars. New car buyers are
basically buying status symbols. This is why probably the most
expensive frill exists--which you failed to mention--the annual
model change--something which adds enormously to car costs.

--
Jonathan Grobe Books
Browse our inventory of thousands of used books at:
http://www.grobebooks.com

"John Lansford" > wrote in message
...
> "Sherman Cahal" > wrote:
>
wrote:
>>> By the way, if you want to know why brand new cars are so expensive,
>>as
>>> well as why jobs are going overseas, talk to a union employee.
>>
>>Please cite where automotive jobs are going overseas. The opposite has
>>occured -- foreign auto manufacturers are investing on US soil. Toyota
>>and Hyundai are two major examples.
>
> Actually, they are assembly plants. The parts are mostly being made
> overseas and shipped here instead of sending the finished vehicles
> over on a ship.

and R&D is done overseas. Assembly is minor in the scheme of things.

"Laura Bush murdered her boy friend" > wrote in message
oups.com...

>BS. I lived in hot muggy sothern illinois for a long time and although
>my cars came with AC (i bought them used) i never used the AC. Just
>roll down the damn window.

Fool, at highway speeds (even 55MPH) the increased hit to fuel economy from
wind resistance from rolled down windows is higher than the increased hit to
fuel economy driving with AC.

Around 1/28/2005 9:11 PM, Aunt Judy (Pride of Diarrhea)
<http://tinyurl.com/65nqz> wrote:

> Most americans are not loonybirds who fall in love with cars.

Which America are you living in, Judy? Most Americans I know are in love
with at least one car.


--
~/Garth
"I am patient with stupidity
but not with those who are proud of it." - Edith Sitwell
(Mail for secure contact information)

Bill the second wrote:
> "John Lansford" > wrote in message
> ...
> > "Sherman Cahal" > wrote:
> >
> wrote:
> >>> By the way, if you want to know why brand new cars are so
expensive,
> >>as
> >>> well as why jobs are going overseas, talk to a union employee.
> >>
> >>Please cite where automotive jobs are going overseas. The opposite
has
> >>occured -- foreign auto manufacturers are investing on US soil.
Toyota
> >>and Hyundai are two major examples.
> >
> > Actually, they are assembly plants. The parts are mostly being made
> > overseas and shipped here instead of sending the finished vehicles
> > over on a ship.
>
> and R&D is done overseas. Assembly is minor in the scheme of things.

Toyota has devoted much of its resources for its American vehicles to
the United States. There are research and development centers on US
soil, and the majority of the components (I am recalling from a tour I
took of the Georgetown, KY plant not long ago) are manufactured on US
soil (85%?). This is evident from the many Toyota 'sub-plants' that
produce specific parts, such as the Buffalo, WV factory. Many smaller
operations have opened their doors on US soil and provide parts to
Toyota (an Italian auto parts manufactuer recently started construction
in Prichard, WV that will supply parts to Toyota).

While Toyota does a LOT in the US, that is not the case for Ford,
Chrysler, etc...

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 02:10:33 -0500, "magnulus" >

>
> wrote in message
roups.com...
>> By the way, if you want to know why brand new cars are so expensive, as
>> well as why jobs are going overseas, talk to a union employee.
>
> I doubt unions have much effect on the price of cars.
>
> The US auto industry has been sucking wind for decades because the
>management at the car companies had a lack of foresight and poor long term
>strategies (GM and Ford falling behind Toyota and Honda on hybrid
>technology, for instance, being the latest example).
>

Yeah, right. Anyone notice hybrid cars taking over the market?

> Actually, the Japanese are building cars in the US because labor in the US
>can be cheaper than in Japan.
>

Jonathan Grobe > wrote:
>
> > Most americans are not loonybirds who fall in love with cars. We jsut
> > want a vehicle that gets us from A to B and there is no reason why a
> > perfectly functional brand new car should cost over $5,000.
>
> While this may be true for most Americans, it is not true for
> the group of Americans who buy new cars. New car buyers are
> basically buying status symbols. This is why probably the most
> expensive frill exists--which you failed to mention--the annual
> model change--something which adds enormously to car costs.

Most new car buyers want the advantage of being the first one to own the
car, the advantage of being in control of the care and maintenance of
the car from the very beginning; and then quite a few of those new car
buyers then keep the car until it is completely worn out.

--
Scott M. Kozel Highway and Transportation History Websites
Virginia/Maryland/Washington, D.C. http://www.roadstothefuture.com
Philadelphia and Delaware Valley http://www.pennways.com

Laura Bush murdered her boy friend wrote:
> I think an automatic tranny is truly useful but power steering,
brakes,
> and windows are a joke. Same with tinted glass and fancy paint jobs
> and a million other doodads like the warning light for the windshield
> washer fluid and turn signals emebedded in the side mirrors. No
> question to me but that it's a conspiracy. They add all these
gadgets
> and make a 30% profit on each one. And more money when the damn
things
> go bad .
>
> Most americans are not loonybirds who fall in love with cars. We jsut
> want a vehicle that gets us from A to B and there is no reason why a
> perfectly functional brand new car should cost over $5,000.


There is such a car that has like no extras, specifically the Kia Rio,
which is pretty damn cheap for a new car if you ask me. Now as far a
brakes being a joke, you know what would happen if you didn't have
them?

"Bill the second" > wrote:
>
> >Yup - even though an AT is much more complicated than an MT, it has
> >fewer things go wrong. I guess because in an AT there is no meshing
> >and unmeshing of gears. And you don't have the damn clutch wearing out
> >every 10,000 miles. Keep an AT full of fluid and it will last forever.
>
> How do you wear out a clutch in 10 000 miles? For most people it lasts the
> life of the car.

Hey, that's Judy for ya! :-]

I drove over 420,000 miles on manual transmission cars (1968 VW sedan
and 1975 Chevy Nova) between 1971 and 1990, and a clutch would typically
last about 80,000 miles before needing replacement. The last clutch job
replacement cost about $270 in 1989 on the Nova.

I've driven over 370,000 miles since 1990 on cars with an automatic
transmission. The first two cars I kept until over 150,000 odometer
miles each, and the next car to over 140,000 miles (the one that
developed major transmission problems), and the current car has over
50,000 miles. Like I said, on the automatics, the only transmission
work I've ever needed was a fluid change about every 50,000 miles or so.

--
Scott M. Kozel Highway and Transportation History Websites
Virginia/Maryland/Washington, D.C. http://www.roadstothefuture.com
Philadelphia and Delaware Valley http://www.pennways.com

"Mike Z. Helm" > wrote in message
...
> Yeah, right. Anyone notice hybrid cars taking over the market?

It won't happen overnight. What you are seeing now is the high end, the
early adoption phase. Toyota and Honda have beaten Ford and GM in that
part. That will give them an edge in hybrids, and also gives them a
marketting edge for their whole line of vehicles (brand identification).