CARBIZ

I lived on top of Blue Mtn (well, Ontario's version of a mountain, anyway) for one year and the fog would be so bad that I would have to drive with my parking lights on and my head out the window. I am not exaggerating. A steep rise of 1,050 ft so close to a large body of water (Georgian Bay) creates some wicked fog. I can tell you definitively that high beams would have been a huge hinderance. Even the low beams would refract the light so badly that I could only see a white sheet in front of me. As to the rest of the debate, well it is just silly. People are dying in Afghanistan and Iraq, yet we are arguing about DRL.

I doubt the Japanese can be blamed for lack of interior color. Fickle consumer tastes, the internet and cost cutting have more to do with it, I am sure. For example: the Equinox comes in 4 basic packages, AWD or FWD, 9 exterior colors and 2 interior colors. By my math, that is 4X2X9X2 = 144 possible ways to build the Equinox. Do you want a sun roof with that? How about OnStar? Get my point? In 1969, it was easy for Chrysler, for example to offer gold, green, black and other interior colors because they had a lot fewer choices on the options list. Today, no dealer could stock every color/options possibilities and customers won't wait. If they get it in their mind that they want a blue interior with a gold exterior (because the internet shows them that combo!) that is what they want. NOW. In my father's time, you took what was on the lot or you factory ordered and waited. There are a lot of other things I would blame Japan for, but not this one.

My two cents: it is about the TIRES. I don't care if you have EIGHT WHEEL DRIVE and are a professional skid course driver - you're going nowhere in sh**ty tires! I live in the barren, snow-driven tundra, aka Canada. I had a '91 Caprice wagon and without snow tires it was pretty bad. With snow tires it was great. (Locking differential really helps, too!) My '87 Shadow was useless with the 50 series tires it came with! FWD or not, it couldn't even get out of my driveway on snowy mornings. I had to have my neighbors help push me out! M&S tires made a huge difference. I am currently living in Toronto and we just don't get snow any more, and with an army of salt trucks it also doesn't matter. My '98 Blazer 4WD got stuck in the worst snow we have had in years becaue of the crappy "all-season" tires. And I do agree, for the AVERAGE person, FWD is better. It can get them out of situations that they probably shouldn't have been in the first place, but then they barely passed their driver's test anyway.

This isn't about a class system any more. Doctors and plumbers both make a good living. The trouble is with the system itself. The so-called "checks and balances" are out of control. The fat is in the committees, studies and what I call "cover your ass" mode of business/government. When both government and big business spend billions to study a problem rather than DO something about the problem. When a nurse spends more time shuffling paper than actually sticking patients with needles. That is the problem.

The car business is cyclical, my friend. Don't get sucked up into the media's casting of this market share drop: GM's absolute numbers have not dropped by that much. And there was a time, not too long ago when people wouldn't be caught dead driving that "Jap Crap." I remember the reaction of my highschool auto mechanics class to a friend's Datsun 200SX, surrounded by a sea of Mustangs, Camaros, Skyhawks and the like. The buying public is very fickle. Some import buyers are defecting, once confronted with the sky high shop rates and prices of replacement parts. It is clear that GM has "gotten it" with respect to the product. The new Impala is better than the previous, one, etc. If the Malibu turns out to be amazing to look at there will be all kinds of people who will jump on the bandwagon, whether they are driving a Camry or not. Sheeple, remember? CR is slowly coming around. Even they are sucking in their breath about the new Avalon. They were cautiously optmistic about the Cobalt. I have said this before, but I will repeat it: not too long ago, Toyota only had 4 or 5 models to worry about. Now, they have triple that and adding more every year. Welcome to reality, Toyota - let's see how well you can juggle 20 balls in the air.

OH, boy. Let's not entirely beat up on the doctors. The entire medical system is a mess and from where I sit it has a lot to do with bureaucracy and protecting petty fiefdoms. It is not restricted to the healthcare industry either. Pick your field, whether the plumbers, electricians or fire fighters. They all have their turfs. They are all highly organized. They all protect their own. They are all "experts" that can outgun, outargue and outmaneuver outsiders who may take them on in their turf. Ever try to question an electrical inspector? Ever wonder why you have to walk through 3 metal doors in a concrete corridor because some obscure fire code demands this? Ever wonder why there are 4 people working for the education ministry (in Ontario) for every teacher actually in the front lines? It is all a mess. But you can't question it. You will get shot down and ridiculed because you "don't know what you are talking about." To try and get this topic a little bit back on topic, is it any wonder GM has had so many hurdles to pass in the past few years? It is always easier to set up a campsite (Toyota) than to take it down (GM). GM's campsite was set up at 50% market share. Now, decisions have to be made that have (or will) wipe out half of GM's jobs, benefits, perhaps even brands. It is all ugly. The UAW/CAW will have to admit that the gold plated benefits (including Viagra) that were set up 30 years ago cannot be supported any more.

I have to take exception to the remark that there is a whole generation of people who will NEVER consider an American car. First of all, never is a LONG time. Secondly, from what I am seeing/hearing, this is going to be a cycle that will work itself out. Both Ford and GM have gotten religion, product wise, but even if that turns out not to be true, the horror stories from the Honda/Toyota camp are increasing. It is inevitable that the circle will complete itself. The generation that is being referred to will drink the Japan Inc koolaid for a while, but as their quality problems mount and the true cost of ownership becomes evident (and those who bought these cars take their blinders off and realize they paid too much), there will be a backlash. I am already witnessing some of it. Customers complaining how they were treated at the import stores, either during the sales process or a service horror story, and the sheer audacity of the employees at the dealership level is going to haunt them in the long haul, too. And the constant GM/Ford bashing by employees at the import dealers is starting to annoy people, too. This too shall pass.

For those of us who lived through the gas spikes of the late '70s/early '80s, it was a scary, scary time. My dad had a '76 LTD and it went from $15 to $30 to fill it up in no time. Anyone who has ever driven ANY RWD, automatic sedan from the late '70s will know what I am talking about: anemic power, questionable reliability, awful gas mileage. Terrible combination. Then there was the piling on of federal emissions/crash standards. Remember the early generation hydraulic bumpers? Talk about rust and weight problems! FWD seemed like the only answer, before electronics and high energy ignition systems saved the day. The thought of 140 hp. V-8s is laughable today, but not 35 years ago. Cars shrank. Lower carbon steel was used. Rust was an epidemic. The original K-car was the epitome of small car/great interior space, which is why it saved Chrysler. We can all look down our noses at the early to mid-80s Big Three offerings, but they were all products of more desperate times. Europe and Japan, used to high gas prices and shortages, were ready with zippy, small manual shift 4 cylinder econoboxes. Detroit was not. I undersand the physical properties of RWD and the joy of driving, but for the average driver, FWD is the better way to go for sure: weight savings, compactness of design, relative safety in adverse driving conditions, etc. The recent popularity that RWD is enjoying will be short lived, I am certain. $100 a barrel will make the Aveo and Fit look very attractive.

Okay, is it only me who wonders why Toyota would pick "TRD" for an acronym? Doesn't anybody advising their marketing boys in Tokyo speak actual English? I mean GM was smart enough to rename the Buick to Allure for Quebec, why not Toyota?

There are two reasons Toronto has the highest insurance rates in North America 1. Because they CAN - take a good look at those marble towers downtown. They are all banks and insurance companies. Makes ya wonder, eh? Two governments went down to defeat in the 80s over the threat of public insurance. 2. Sigh. I'm gonna catch hell for this one, but here goes: "new" Canadians. Now before ya all get up in my face about being "racist," hear me out. I've had two insurance agents and somebody high up in Motors Insurance tell me this. I also had one rather uncharitable client observe: "well, what do you expect? Six weeks ago they were herding goats and now they are driving a cab." I have driven in other whacky places, like Montreal and Sao Paulo and let me tell you why those places work: everybody drives badly the same way! In Sao Paulo, the scooters and motorcycles squeeze up the lanes between the cars on the freeways. It scared the hell out of me, but there it works because everyone can anticipate how the other bad driver is going to react. In Rio, the bus driver hands out change, shifts gears and careens around twisty roads at 80 km/hr. in a packed bus! In Toronto, we have 150,000 new people every year from all over the world. Nobody knows how the other guy is going to drive. You get the proverbial "polit Canadian" trying to be courteous and being over run by other, ruder more aggressive drivers. YOu get people from countries like China where road signs are mere suggestions totally ignoring the rules of the road. This is the reason ALL new drivers, whether 18 or 50 get treated like criminals with insurance in this province. It isn't really a matter of whether or not new Canadians are worse drivers than the locals (although I would challenge that), but rather that they have different "habits." Insurance companies are experiencing "significant" losses from "new Canadians" and because they can't descriminate base on nationality, they charge everyone a higher premium.

Move to Ontario: you'll get $1,000 toward the purchase of a new GM product through the "Car Heaven" program. Serioiusly. Why are you trying to revive a 20 year old car that is never going to be a Classic? I drove one for four years, remember? When it was new, and they were no great shakes. YOu could probably buy a better car in your area for $500. I know how emotional attachments can be, but at some point you are just beating a dead horse. If it was a '87 Riviera or LeBaron convertible - okay, rescusitate away! Just yanking your chain. LOL

You know, if you want to kill yourself that certainly is your perogative, but DRL are there so you don't kill other people. I can list so many times when DRL are, in fact, life savers that it would fill this screen. Really. LIfe, liberty and all that crap, but sometimes people get their backs up over the silliest things. DRL cost next to nothing and inconvenience no one. Twenty years ago when seat belts became law I remember my father ranting and raving like it was the End of the World. DRL is a life saver. Auto headlights are a convenience, sure, but who wouldn't want them?

Do we really need cheap nannies and housekeepers that badly? I know that is over simplifiying that issue, but the next time I hear some meat packer or apple picker whining that they can't find anyone to do their labor, I want to scream: of course, nobody is going to do it for $5 an hour! Try $10 an hour and see what happens. I would gladly pay 5 cents more for an apple to keep the jobs and money here. Without getting into a huge discussion on this, I want to make one point clear about immigration TODAY and the immigration of 75 years ago that built both our countries: 75 years ago immigrants got off the boat (literally), were often told where to go (fill up the Prairies) and received NOTHING. No medical, no grants, no free housing - nothing. Today, they can get an apartment, free medical, dental, $1,500 a month bursary - all while waiting for a refugee claim that can take 3 years to wind through the system. This costs BILLIONS. Today, with $5 phone cards, the internet and cheap air fare, these peope do not need to become Canadians or Americans. They can come here for the money, send it back home, not pay taxes and never even learn the language! GMAC and other banks will not lend to taxis. Do you know why? Because they pay everything cash, live here for 3 years, then head home and live like kings with their $80,000 they horded away. Yeah, I know there are tons of exceptions: my partner is Brazilian. But the cost to both our countries in terms of defending and protecting these "expatriates" around the globe is enormous. These people are also dragging us into conflicts we should have nothing to do with because they picket and protest our capitals here. Sorry, too early to be ranting and I realize this is way-off topic with healthcare and GM.

Trade it.

I am going to make over $50k this year. My partner makes nearly the same, so that helps. Add Toronto and Vancouver to your list, too. With our housing prices (can't buy anything for less than $350k anywhere near either of these cities) and insurance prices (Toronto has the highest auto insurance in North America, probably the Western World), you have to be rich to live in either of these cities.

It is a problem, plain and simple. My '91 Caprice had automatic headlamps, for Gawd's Sake! I don't know how many times I've swung around a corner in my underground parking and nearly hit some idiot (usually in a $45k Infiniti or something like that) because they are driving around with no lights on! Daytime running lights have been law here for over 16 years in Canada, longer in Europe. The sky never fell. It is a relatively cheap (as opposed to side air bags, ABS, etc.) way of improving over all safety. You and I may be smart enough to turn on our headlights in the rain or blowing snow (on a sunny day) but from what I can see of MOST drivers out there, I am glad that some of these silly Big Brother things are being passed by our law makers. Until our governments get the balls to stiffen driver's tests and get a lot of these idiots OFF the roads, we will have to settle for DRL and other things to make an attempt at keeping us safe.

Unlock shareholder value????? Isn't that what is destroying American businesses right now? Wasn't the wave of greed in the '80s that got us into this mess now? Shareholder value is all about the here and now - screw the future generations and the environment. There is no accountabiliity. Wall Street and corporate raiders have no conscience. It was the Henry Fords and Walter Chryslers that built your country, not vultures like Kirk! The Japanese have a far better understanding of the future. That is why Toyota can borrow billions from Japanese banks for FREE, while the likes of GM have to fend off corporate raiders. I need a drink.

Although we have beaten to death the discussion on Japan not being a level playing field with the rest of the world, I would expand that to all of Asia. Toyota is very much representative of what is wrong with our trade practices with Japan and, indeed, the rest of Asia. Look at the struggles Toys R Us had getting into Japan a few years back. Time and time again, the Japanese system blocks or prevents foreign competition, right up to the point of cancelling travel visas for key foreign personnel. Not only does this prevent any kind of real foreign ownership of assets or technology inside Japan, it also means that foreign companies are forced to form "alliances" with Japanese companies, thus the influx of technologies are "shared" with their "partner." And we all know where that ends up! And I cry when I see all the American and European companies lining up to do business in China -of course that business entails showing them our manufacturing secrets and teaching them to build things so that they can then turn around in a few years and dump them on our markets. This naive type of diplomacy only works in lesser countries and where free markets are encouraged. Neither Japan, Korea or China pass the test for true free market economies. The U.S. has been trying to give a hand up to Mexico for about 25 years - and where is that getting you? Don't get me wrong: I am very much for Free Trade, but what we are witnessing is not true Free Trade. That is my point.

I am going back to Brazil in February for 3 weeks. Last time I was there I snapped pics of the Chevy Montana ( a neat little pick up). I will take more pics when I am down there again of the cool stuff (even from Peugeot and Renault) and post them here, if I can figure out how to post pics that is. There are a lot of cool vehicles down there that would sell well in Canada, for sure and probably the U.S., too.

I have no doubt there will be more mergers and acquisitions in the auto industry over the next few years. The market is over saturated with models and choices. The landscape looks a bit like it did 60 years ago when there were a couple dozen players in the U.S. market I just don't think at this time or in this place. GM already has all the small car technology it needs - in Opel and Vauxhall. All GM has to do is stop dumbing these vehicles down for our market. When I was in Brazil last year, I saw many, many cute small cars - some even from Chevrolet (Opel). We need these here.

National Healthcare is a holy mess, but it has more to do with unions pushing up costs, horrible bureacracy and patients crying over every little thing. A lot of GM's problem is because its biggest competition doesn't have to face the same healthcare costs, partly because Japan has national healthcare and because what few plants they have built here are newer, their work force younger, etc. I am all for national healthcare, but I also believe that it should be blended with hospitals and clinics competing for customers. I also believe in some form of deductibles, or at least a damned invoice so a patient knows how much they just cost the system. There are a lot of reasons Canada's system is a mess (see above) but the Elephant in the Room that no one is allowed to talk about is the real cost of the immigration system. I saw a recent study that compared Canada's system to Sweden's and the analysts scratched their heads over why Sweden spent less per capita but had shorter waiting lists, etc. HELLO? IS ANYBODY HOME? Canada is host to 300,000 new people every year, many of whom have NEVER even been to a doctor in their lives. Hazel McCallion (who is about 100 years old!) has been Mayor of Mississauga (city of about a half million people adjacent to Toronto) for about 25 years, and she caught a lot of flak a few years ago for saying just that. A recent example is the 15,000 Lebanese-Canadians who were "repatriated" and the Canadian government waived the usual 90 day waiting period for health coverage, even though many of these people hadn't stepped foot in (or paid taxes either) this country in decades. SHHHH, we can't talk about this. I will never understand why governments in both Ottawa and Washington sit back and let our countries slide into oblivion when the solutions are obvious.

Why does every damned article I read for the past year have to begin by reminding the reader that Toyota is pre-ordained to overtake GM as #1. Last year they were content with "largest vehicle manufacturer by market valuation," but that apparently didn't make the f'ing media happy. Now, they've moved onto creating the news once again. Self-fulfilling prophecy, wouldn't you say? Tell enough people the sky is falling and they will eventually make it fall. More and more I am in awe of Japan Inc.

Well you gotta admit GM's numbers aren't that bad when taken IN context, which is to say that a lot of dealers probably held off buying too deep with the new truck coming soon. I know we did. Just like we did a year ago with the '05 Impala. Even with huge discounting, a lot of customers would rather wait for the new truck, ESPECIALLY because the reported gas mileage is better.

This sad little article reads more like a press release from Lexus. I am disappointed. I thought the WSJ was little more "hard news" than this crap. OH, and didn't VW try out a vehicle a few years back that parked itself? The lawyers in the STates would crap themselves! Who can you sue if nobody is in the car when it is parking itself?

Japan Inc: the orchestrated attack on industry in foreign nations by MITI in Japan. In his first book, Lee Iaccoca talks about the "cooperation" and pooling of information that the Big Five were doing in Japan in the '80s, things that would be illegal if done in the U.S. MITI directed Toshiba, Sanyo, etc. in the '60s and '70s to wipe out the American television and radio business, through direct subsidies and dumping of products on the American market. We all know how that ended up.