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Where’s My Auto Bailout?
By spokesman | December 4, 2008
This blog is about bicycles but today I am going to discuss cars - specifically my car. For the last 9 years I have owned a Ford Escape. When I bought it, I was happy to have an American car built by UAW labor. Over the years the car performed well and I had very few complaints. I was especially happy with how much I could fit in the vehicle and still get good gas mileage. I could fit 3 bicycles and 3 people in the car.
Two weeks ago the check engine light came on, when the odometer hit 120,000 miles. I thought that it might be related to a periodic check. When I took it to the dealer, I got the news that one of the cylinders had stopped firing and that the engine had lost compression. I was told that the fix was an engine replacement.
The heads of GM, Chrysler and Ford have been testifying before congress for a bailout for their companies. They have been talking about how the economy has hurt the companies and all of the great progress they have made in building better vehicles. While I am sympathetic to the workers, I am not happy about a tax payer funded bailout.
I am angry at Ford. The failure of my engine is inexcusable. The trade-in value of my vehicle has fallen to virtually nothing. There is a 2009 Escape with a hybrid engine. The Ford CEO drove one from Detroit to Washington to beg for his loan. However I don’t have enough trust in Ford to buy one. If they have not mastered the internal combustion engine after 100 years, how can I expect good reliability from an engine that has so much new technology.
Due to the current economy, there were abundant bargains as I began to shop for a new car - especially from the big three. A quick reading of car reviews backed up my experience and pointed to the real problem with Ford, Chrysler and GM vehicles - low quality. While I wanted to buy one of their cars, I did not want to personally contribute to their bailout or get stuck with an unreliable vehicle. I need my own auto bailout. I could also use a bailout for my 401K.
However, I did find a way to buy a reliable American car. I bought a Honda that was built in Ohio.
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Topics: Flotsam |
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