For accountants, there are two certainties: golf and taxes. Together, both are tedious enough to make me want death. Unfortunately, I knew I’d be hearing a lot about both of these moribund subjects at our firm golf tournament. I was in the parking lot that morning, praying to the heavens for divine intervention when I heard my boss’ 1976 Corvette growling and lazily pulling up. As soon as I saw the ‘Vette, I decided to cash in the goodwill I’d earned by working 300 hours of overtime between November and March. “Fifteen minutes – no more,” he said. Score.
Allah. I live in a state where turning left in the face of oncoming traffic is such a routine occurrence that drivers on the opposite side of the intersection actually wait to be cut off. Seriously, if someone is stupid or timid or conscientious enough to obey the rules of the road, the driver who didn’t get cut off acts like deer caught in headlights. WHAT DO I DO NOW? You want me to go FIRST? Me, I don’t mind getting cut off when I’m driving. That would be like worrying about the denomination of the bill an attractive woman uses to snort a line of cocaine off your/one’s penis. What’s the point? Besides, the left-turning cutoff gives you a chance to lean on your horn, which is always good fun. But I get furious when someone cuts me off and gives me “the wave.” Who gave YOU permission to cut ME off? Not ME. And they NEVER make eye contact. The “thanks for letting me cuckold you automotively” wave has to be the most arrogant yet po-faced gesture known to man/woman. If I ever shout “ramming speed” down to my right foot, refer the arresting officer to this blog. Or, on second thought, don’t.
Although taxpayers may recover some portion of their investment in Chrysler and GM, it is unlikely they will recover the entire amount. The estimates of loss vary. Treasury estimates that approximately $23 billion of the initial loans made will be subject to “much lower recoveries.” Approximately $5.4 billion of the loans extended to the old Chrysler company are highly unlikely to be recovered. The Congressional Budget Office earlier calculated a subsidy rate of 73 percent for all automotive industry support under TARP and recently raised its estimate of the cost of that assistance by approximately $40 billion over the previous estimate. Because Treasury has not clearly articulated its objectives, it is impossible to know if this prospect, indeed, represents a failure of Treasury‟s strategy.
Hey Guys, this problem (in my 2001 Saturn) occurred first when I was driving at night and and my dash illumination went dark! I had probably blown a fuse. Yes, it was a 10AMP mini fuse labeled BRAKE LP in the engine fuse compartment. Does LP stand for “Lamp”? I believe the dash illumination went out as a warning for what was really wrong – the running tail lights (constant lights) on the back of my car were out!! Now, when I press on the brake, the bright brake/tail lights still respond. It is only when I turn on my running lights that I get NO lights in the back of my vehicle.
Another observation: When this originally happened, I replaced the fuse. It lasted about a week before it tripped again. Replaced that fuse, it lasted a few days. Now, the fuse blows within seconds of inserting a new one. Sounds to me like a wire may be short circuiting somewhere?? What is the likelihood that this wiring is bad near the engine opposed to back trunk location?? Any insight or help would be greatly appreciated.
According to the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) and Redflex Traffic Systems, a stringent review process guarantees the accuracy of every citation issued under the statewide photo radar program introduced last year. Evidence obtained this week from a confidential Redflex ticket processing manual, however, suggests that the state police and its Australian contractor may be misleading the public with such claims. “Redflex employees under our contract review the civil queue,” DPS Lieutenant Jeff King explained in a written presentation on the photo ticketing program. “If a driver can be identified based on comparisons of the license description and ‘flash photo,’ they accept the violation and a Notice of Violation is automatically printed and mailed. If photo quality is poor or face is blocked, etc., it will be rejected and placed in dormancy.”
Jesus Christ. Isn’t it enough that car dealers rape you on finance charges and extended warranties and paint sealant and God knows what? Oh NO—they have to put an ugly ass sticker or cheap chrome applique badge or hideous license plate frame on the back of your car that ADVERTISES THE FACT THAT YOU’VE BEEN SCREWED BY A DEALER. [Note: I’m not saying that Mr. Barrett was anything but open, honest and above board. May the Bricklin owner rest in peace.] If you want to advertise on TTAC, you have to pay for it. ’Cause that’s how advertising works. But if a car dealer wants to plaster his or her name on the butt of YOUR car YOU have to pay for it. And even if you accept this ass-backwards idea, why for FS can’t these guys at least TRY to match the manufacturer’s typeface and style? I’d recommend CarMax to all my friends who chew gum. But I had them pull that sticker off my GL before I ever rolled out of the customer handover area. Not on MY gas-sucking SUV you don’t.
Subaru’s first US-market continuously-variable transmission (CVT) was a major factor in the 2010 Outback’s recent two-star TTAC review. Not in the “one niggling fault” way either. Think more along the lines of the “metaphor for myriad brand betrayals” kind of dislike. Subaru’s vehicles are getting heavier, their interiors are becoming more plasticky-gimmicky and much of the driving fun once available in say, a stock Impreza, has gone the way of quirky styling and rugged functionality. And guess what? Subaru’s mainstream trend-encies look to be here to stay.
“We’re building more than one car; we’re building a brand,”
McLaren boss Ron Dennis, on the announcement of the one car that McLaren is bringing to market in 2011, the MP4-12C. By 2015 McLaren hopes to offer a 911 competitor and a Carrera GT-class super-duper car, bringing total volume to 4,000 units per year, reports the Times. The MP4-12C is named for Dennis’s 1997 Formula One-winning race car, and will be rocking all the mid-engine V8, adaptive suspension, carbon-fiber chassis, gullwing doors and seven-speed accoutrement one expects at a $250k price point. Meanwhile, the designer of McLaren’s first road car is betting on tiny city cars. And it’s tough to tell which of the two is crazier.
The United Steelworkers had a big hand in putting Barack Obama in power. Now they want some payback. The United Steelworkers lodged a complaint that a flood of cheap Chinese tires had cost more than 5,000 union jobs in recent years. Obama has until Sept.17 to rule that the White House put a 55 percent tariff on tires imported from China. Which would be the end of Chinese tire imports. Tires? Steelworkers? (Read More…)
Aw shucks, I was wrong. In my usual exuberance, I had said that triple digit growth could be in the cards for August auto sales in China. Big mistake. China’s passenger vehicle sales, including sedans, MPVs, SUVs and minivans grew only 94.7 percent year-on-year to 849,376 units in August, China Daily reports.
“The booming sales in August have surpassed even the boldest prediction in the industry, as sales in August were previously the weakest of the year,” said Cui Dongshu, deputy secretary-general of the National Passenger Car Information Exchange Association.
China is well on its way to sell more than 12 million vehicles this year.
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