CARBIZ

No worries there, my friend. I've sold two this month already. As I have said, people don't buy vehicles in a vacuum. When someone takes them onto Honda.ca (like me, for example ) and shows them the payment difference - well, it is kind of hard to justy $100 a month, wouldn't you say? This is, after all, an 'entry level' vehicle, not a Porsche.

Since the small car market is very important in the GTA, GM seems to be pretty well on top of keeping the Aveo priced right. The Kia Rio and Hyundai Accent look cheap if you paid CASH, but what person who can only afford a $12,000 car is in a position to pay cash? The trouble with Kia/Hyundai is that they do not (in Canada!) write their own paper, which means GE Capital or Financial Lynx or some other '3rd party' lender steps in. So, throw in a $350 'acquisition fee' on top of freight, licensing, PDI and other such nonsense - and in Ontario, add the 14% federal and provincial sales taxes on top of all that. As I indicated above in relation to the Fit, the Aveo is actually SUBSTANTIALLY lower priced when PAYMENT is factored in.

There are only 3 shows that I am 'hooked' on: Heroes, Battlestar Galactica (and PUHLEASE do not confuse it with the totally sh%$ty early '80s crapola version!) and Scrubs. I have my digital box programmed to record all three of those. Medium I watch from time to time, although Allyson's constant whining makes me want to scream.

Education is the key to everything. India and China are pumping out more engineers and more computer programmers in a month than we do in a year. Fast forward that twenty years. This is not the 1950s. Quitting school in grade 8 (like my father did) and driving a bulldozer for the astronomical (then) sum of $5 an hour is not the way of the future. SKILLED trades people will always be paid well. Just ask my sister: she makes $80k a year as electrical site inspector, but she worked her ASS off apprenticing and going to school (learining municipal codes and other uncomprehensible stuff) to get to where she is today. I am not saying watching engines drop into an engine bay all day is not mind numbingly boring, and that the jobs should be rotated to alleviate stress and said boredom; however, the days of starting a job turning a wrench at $25 an hour on the FIRST DAY are over. I agree (to a degree) that someone who has worked at GM for 10+ years should have some type of protection and benefit, but covering new workers and forcing GM to treat them the same way does not only defy logic, it is business suicide. Paying all workers the same amount, regardless of ability or education has a name, my friends: COMMUNISM.

....and so I did. Being as I just sold a loaded 2007 Aveo LT with RS package (15" alloy wheels, 6 speaker sound system, free 2 GB iPod, spoiler, radio controls on the steering wheel), Security Package ( side air bags and ABS), FREE power sunroof option, automatic, fog lights, power windows, locks, heated power mirrors, cruise control, car alarm, keyless remote - the works, for $20k, freight in. Total payment, including all taxes and fees at 0% financing for 60 months = $388, plus the lady has a '95 Caravan (worth about $300) going to Car Heaven for a $1,000 credit, cash to her. Now, over to the Honda.ca website, and we price out the 'AT Sport,' (which you have to go to if you want 15" wheels, keyless remote and car alarm - not even an option on the much crappier AT LX) and it works out to be $22,155 freight in: no sunroof, no heated mirrors and 5.9% financing for 60 months = $485 a month. Honda also charges $172 for floor mats and the payment I just quoted does not include dealer admin, licensing, gas taxes or PDI, so I would add at least another $900 to the upfront costs to buy the Fit. SO, YEAH: FOR $100 A MONTH MORE, THE FIT IS A GREAT CAR. BUT THE IMPORT HUMPERS WILL LINE UP FOR IT, I AM SURE.

But if it puts out 130 lb ft of torque at 5,500 rpm, like the rest of the Moulinex-inspired Honda engines, the ecotec won't lose any sleep.

No, no - you have it all wrong. This justifies the jobs for those clowns at McClaren McCann, and whomever else is involved in such memorable marketing plans such as: 'Say Yes,' 'Let's Go,' and all those fantastic iPod and gas card giveaways that we still have trickling in. It helps keep all those Ryerson Marketing 101 kids in jobs!

I doubt you'd want to come up here! Canada is the King of Taking it Up the A$$. I can barely read the paper or sit in a Mall these days without shaking my head in shame. The Canada I grew up in is dead and gone. We have gunfights and stabbings in the schools almost daily. The city is bankrupt (well, $500 million in the hole this year, to be exact). Traffic is a nightmare. The city will spend $300 million to build new airconditioned palaces for the 'homeless', but not a dime to fix our subways or highways. Every day yet another Canadian company gets sold to foreign interests. There are entire shopping centers going up with not an English sign in sight. People go to the States to have MRIs and life saving cancer treatment because it can take 6 weeks to see a specialist here. We have 'First Nations' peoples occupying housing projects that they claim their great-great-great-great-great grandparents owned (too bad they didn't have a concept of 'ownership' 200 years ago). but of course a billion dollars will make them go away. And the big political issue this Ontario election? Crime? Illegal immigration? The total collapse of our infrastructure in our major cities? NO: funding of religious schools. That is the hot button issue. The Muslims and everyone else want their own schools and expect the government to pay for it. And thanks to the historical mess left behind when the British conquered the French 250 years ago (just our luck the Brits were getting a moral conscience at the time!), funding of religious schools just might go through. After all, the Catholic (French) school system gets funding. Fair is fair, isn't it? So, let's take a 500 million out of the public school system and let everyone have their own school. Under the guise of religious freedom, the Trojan Horse has been snuck up to the gates of the fortress. Now all that remains to be seen is if the Ontario electorate is stupid enough to let it in. We in the West deserve everything that is coming to us. Never in the long history of humanity has a dominant culture so foolishly and deliberately let itself be overwhelmed.

I would love someone to do an indepth study of the demographics of who buys what type of vehicle. Go beyond the usual statistical crap about household income, education, etc. Really get into the meat of it: number of speeding violations, driver infractions, arrest records, hobbies and interests. It would help to lay to rest some of my sneaking suspicions.

It's a good thing we sell lots of Aveos and Optras! Those aren't built by the UAW.

Plain and simple: we are being gouged. On a happier note, when I am in Vegas and LA next week, I intend to do lots and lots of shopping. IT IS SO NICE TO BUY $1,000 U.S AND ONLY PAY $1,000 CANADIAN!!!!!! The last time I travelled to the U.S., I had to got $650 U.S. for $1,000 Canadian.

This is just going to cascade. The guys at Toyota must be popping the champage corks! GM can kiss good bye any hope of being #1 in sales for a very long time now. Even though we have hardly any new 2008 vehicles on the lot, I hope GM hangs on there. Most Canadian dealers will be shut down in a couple weeks, I'll bet. We don't have the same level of inventory as most American stores. The '98 strike left us without cars within a month - and we had a helluva lot more on the lot then than we do now. I am glad I have a lot of savings. Looks like I may need them!

I wonder what kind of car Obama drives.

I am bipolar, so I have owned pretty much everything.... '67 Dodge Polara (very used) '82 Dodge Rampage (new) '87 Dodge Shadow ES (new) '91 Caprice wagon - on purpose, factory ordered '98 Chevy Blazer 4WD (leased) many, many company demos after that '87 K-car (very used) for 3 months until rear-ended by yet another nutjob woman brand new Optra 5 ( a month ago) Practicality has always reigned supreme with me. The Caprice and Blazer were dictated by towing my power boat all over the country. The Polara was damned near free. The nightmares of the Rampage and Shadow killed Chrysler for me. The K-Car was a lark: $300 and it ran wonderful - well, that is relative, I suppose. Cars are a horrible investment. I would never spend big $$ again to buy a car. I am beyond impressing people. I just want cheap, reliable transportation with a good stereo. Every time I buy anything that I like, some stupid woman crashes into it, so spending a lot of money makes no sense.

I have gone to a couple of these type of recruiting seminars, once for Primamerica and more recently at a travel agency pyramid scam...er, I mean scheme. Brainwashing is too nice a way to put it. I felt like I was in a bad episode of the Twilight Zone. All of these pyramid schemes are the same: a great idea for those who got in early, but overall just another tax on the stupid.

Yeah, my 'ex' was bragging about that the other day: as HD, just spent $800 on an Onkyo surround system, but had to cut back on his HD programming because it 'cost too much.' Gas prices only matter to people who commute to work or for industry in general. I drive barely 600 miles a month, so a 50 cent swing in gas prices may piss me off, but doesn't effect my 'bottom line' that much.

I don't want to knock you because you are young (we were all young once), but if you think you can coast through life and not have to play by somebody else's rules, or learn to bend them youself, then you will need the protection of a union. To truly make it in life, learning how to play the 'game' or how to run circles around your boss/manager/HR department or whatever - that is often more essential than knowing the job itself. Take a good, hard look at people who have really made in in business or their careers: they are experts at playing whatever game they have chosen to be in.

I guess Madison Ave. has figured out yet another way to re-invent the family station wagon. Incrementally, we are going to go the direction of the ROW (Rest of the World) and get into 4 cylinder, FWD hatchbacks and minivans, just like we were 25 years ago, before we THOUGHT we were awash in cheap oil.

But you direct all of your anger and venom at GM, as though all of their problems are directly a result of poor management. Undoubtedly, management has made some blunders, but the degree of 'piling on' by the media and the total ignorance of government is far more galling, IMO. It isn't as though GM is the only grand American institution that is failing because of apathy or ignorance on the part of the media and government. Indeed, Western Civilization as we know it is showing some serious cracks in the foundation, and we may be witnessing the beginning of the end, for we have raised at least two generations of fat and lazy citizens who do not give a damn about anything but their own, tiny sphere in life. I DO NOT FOR ONE MOMENT BELIEVE THAT I AM OVERSTATING THE CASE HERE. GM's future may very well hang in the balance, but it cannot fight the battle alone. If we, as so-called GM 'enthusiasts' don't do our part EACH AND EVERY DAY in dispelling the misinformation and outright LIES that are out there, then we are to blame as well.

All of these devices sound great on paper and make sense to most reasonable people; however, the real enviro-weenies won't be happy with these compromises. I read a paper recently that talked about the effects of all the devices that sit on stand by (like your DVD player, motion sensors, etc) and they, too, can be blamed for a lot of wastage. We all need to do our share, but unfortunately, volunatary cutbacks won't be enough. Six cent a kw is not covering the 'true cost' of that energy production to the environment. Try twelve or fifteen cent at kw. In Ontario, the government is pushing 'smart meters' that charge more per kw for peak hour usage and less for usage over night. This will encourage people to set the dishwasher for 2 a.m. (like I do anyway) and to do laundry first thing in the morning. In Brazil, everywhere we went - condos, hotels, even Malls, had motion detector technology on lights and I don't think I saw an incandescent bulb anywhere. Brazilians pay a helluva lot more per kw/hr of electricity than we do.

But didn't Wagoner hire Lutz 6 years ago, long before GM was so obviously in peril? Doesn't that take a bit of courage and leadership?

There is a Cochrane, Ontario too: gateway to the Polar Bear Express and Metropolitan Moosenee!!

But that isn't new. A country's strength is constantly a balancing act between military spending and the economy itself. If a country doesn't spend enough on the military, it will be conquered. If it spends too much, the economy suffers and the country will go into decline. The hyper-inflation of the '70s masked years of government over-spending on the military. In fact, I remember reading articles years ago that speculated about inflation being a good thing because it hid the Vietnam era over spending on the military. I don't think oil prices are particularly over-priced at this time. There is perhaps a $10-15 a barrel 'war premium' due to Iraq, but the mess in Nigeria and Venezuela are creating their own pressures. You Americans are starting to feel the pinch because your dollar is beginning to sag, just as we Canadians are not paying $6 a gallon by now, which we would be if our dollar hadn't risen 50% in the past 4 years! There is one big difference between now and 30 years ago when oil spiked the last time: now, the U.S. is importing nearly half its oil, whereas then it was not.

Well, I suppose in hindsight, the Captain of the Titanic should have been thrown off the ship before they left port, eh? Every manager we have ever had has the same refrain: "Look at this f'ing mess!" Then he has to spend a year clearing out inventory that he is stuck with and never ordered while trying to figure out what BS statements he is being fed by the dealer principle, and then has to figure out which sales guys' asses he must kiss. He has to do all of this and pray that he can get it all done and get things going his way before the next market downturn; otherwise, he is toast and we get to train a new manager all over again. Now multpily that by 1,000! Would changing Wagoner & Co. be a smart move at this point? All eyes are on Mullaly to see if that could be true. Yes, Wagoner has been around for a while, but Lutz has not. It would seem (at least publicly) that Lutz is responsible for getting a lot of things done at GM. We can debate the shortcomings of the Cobalt, but I was told that when Lutz saw the Cavalier replacement in 2002 he did not like it and so the Cavalier was 'refreshed' and hung out for another two years. The Cobalt may not live up to some people's expectations, but it was a rush job and has not exactly flopped on the market. More recent offerings (GMT-900s, etc.) have been even better, as they have been nurtured fullly under the gaze of Lutz & Co. If Wagoner can get through this latest round of UAW talks without giving away the family China, then more resources and effort could be poured into the Volt to meet those 'promised' targets.

Although common sense dictates that 6.5 billion people must have some kind of impact on the planet, I am very skeptical about news like this BECAUSE there are no accurate records of what the polar caps looked like BEFORE the mid 1950s when American subs routinely cruised under them. Good photos of the area never occured until the early 1970s. I just watched a show on TV two nights ago about an expedition to a little explored mountain range in the Antarctic and measurements were taken of glaciers there that seemed to prove the ice sheets were stable - not receding or advancing, in the past 20-30 years that they dug down.