The Official Complaint Thread!
- Thread starter Jacques Strap
- Start date
Bullfrog
Active member
Frank E said:
All the dealers (of new cars) locally are definitely in the wealthier crowd. But the money comes mostly from the service side, from what I've been told. One I talked to was upset because of the money he had to spend on renovating his dealership to meet the manufacturer's new image. He said he was one of the first to renovate to meet the dealer image program in the 80's but stated this time around he was going to wait until they threatened to pull his license because the $1M it was going to cost him "won't sell a single additional damn car." And I think he's right.
Frank E
Active member
Nik the Trik said:
Good point, but the Leaf is the size of a Corolla which can be bought for about $18,000. But I think we need to understand the sustainability of manufacturing the vehicles at that price point.
Nissan loses money on every single Leaf, Tesla still loses money on every car as well.
The government rebates are supposed to help bridge some of the cost realities to help make them affordable, but manufacturers are reluctant to build a business case taking into account a rebate that may not be there by the time they get a competitive EV to market...and without some hefty rebates, they can't at this point make them make sense.
I'm all for cleaner vehicles and technologies, but I'd just like to see them invest in removing the big problems before investing in further infrastructure. You may think they can do both, but the required resources are a finite thing, especially given the bank balances of our provincial government.
Kin
New member
Frank E said:
It's not so much a case of me thinking they can, it's a fact that they are and if we're going to get into a wholescale discussion of the provincial budget I'd lay decent odds I could come up with 20 million dollars spent on stuff I'd rather see go towards this.
Anyways, that's largely a separate issue. New technology always comes along slowly and, if there's a good case to be made that there's a public good in it, it makes sense for the government to support it even if it's not exactly where you want it to be. Government built railroads and the ARPAnet well before the commercial necessity was there. Electric cars are not only attainable for the fabulously wealthy right now and it's exactly the sort of thing the government should be promoting both for individual consumers and private industry. Give Nissan and Tesla tax breaks, like Potvin says we've been doing that for companies who are bad the environment.
Because ultimately to reduce our carbon emissions it's not going to be a case where we can lay the entire burden on the government or think we only have an obligation to act once the car companies have figured out how to make a Chevy Tahoe sized behemoth charge in 12 minutes and cost us 50 bucks. It is going to require individual sacrifice and a rethinking of how we use energy. We might not be able to get every single thing we want, when we want it, just like it is now.
hockeyfan1
New member
My vehicle is from 1991 -- many people think I just bought is recently. Yes, even the mechanic shop people. Not kidding. Why?
Well, first of all I have low mileage on it, and secondly, I've taken judicious care of my car for the longest time. In the early days, I used to maintain it really well -- washing & keeping it clean/upkeep, etc., as well as keeping it in the garage and not parked on the driveway (my father kept his car outside). I have also had yearly rust-proofing done.
Car still runs well, but have had to replace parts. My mechanic tells me he hasn't seen a cleaner car (not overloaded with too much gunk/grease in-between door jambs, under hood, etc), and he tells me it's still got a "great engine" (23 years strong!). it has also passed the emissions test each and every time.
I'm planning on buying a new car and if it ever came to the point of choosing between a hybrid or electric, let's just say, I believe the better choice would be hybrid. If the government of this province (Ontario) truly wanted to reduce vehicle, carbon emissions, it woukd need to offer incentives to those who's situation does not make it feasibe to purchase a new vehicle while ditching their older version.
i am not in that category, but, for those who are, there should be some sort of enticement/incentive/etc., to better facilitate the transition.
Until people are convinced that an all-electric vehicle can withstand our winter climate and at the same time make long treks (highways, etc.) similar to the cars we drive today, and are easy to maintain, charge, are safe, etcetera, etcetera, only then true changes in tackling our environmental challenge begin.
For now, i myself will stick to tradition when I will soon buy a new car.
Well, first of all I have low mileage on it, and secondly, I've taken judicious care of my car for the longest time. In the early days, I used to maintain it really well -- washing & keeping it clean/upkeep, etc., as well as keeping it in the garage and not parked on the driveway (my father kept his car outside). I have also had yearly rust-proofing done.
Car still runs well, but have had to replace parts. My mechanic tells me he hasn't seen a cleaner car (not overloaded with too much gunk/grease in-between door jambs, under hood, etc), and he tells me it's still got a "great engine" (23 years strong!). it has also passed the emissions test each and every time.
I'm planning on buying a new car and if it ever came to the point of choosing between a hybrid or electric, let's just say, I believe the better choice would be hybrid. If the government of this province (Ontario) truly wanted to reduce vehicle, carbon emissions, it woukd need to offer incentives to those who's situation does not make it feasibe to purchase a new vehicle while ditching their older version.
i am not in that category, but, for those who are, there should be some sort of enticement/incentive/etc., to better facilitate the transition.
Until people are convinced that an all-electric vehicle can withstand our winter climate and at the same time make long treks (highways, etc.) similar to the cars we drive today, and are easy to maintain, charge, are safe, etcetera, etcetera, only then true changes in tackling our environmental challenge begin.
For now, i myself will stick to tradition when I will soon buy a new car.
bustaheims
Active member
TBLeafer said:Tigger said:
Honda and Toyota. Japs are to Japanese what Canucks are to Canadians.
Let's ease off on the casual racism, shall we?
EDIT: Also, let's avoid its use for the females of Nik and my people, as well - though, I don't think they're making any sort of concerted effort to get into the fuel cell game.
louisstamos
Active member
Uhhhh....
herman
Well-known member
TBLeafer said:
I was in the middle of saying, "Let's ease up guys, it's probably an innocent mistake; he now knows that isn't the right way to refer to people because they might have different interpretations of the words than he intended"... Clearly I was wrong.
"Well, I didn't intend to pull the trigger, so he really shouldn't be bleeding like that."