Most people are pegged on the predictable and reassuring.

It’s not that they hate. It’s that they are comfortable in their world and prefer familiar borders over new horizons.

Our human mind may have gradually evolved to a higher state of being and capability when it comes to complex problem solving and reasoning.  But it acts not too differently from other simpler life forms when it comes to the ‘daily routine’. It takes pleasure in re-mastering the known… and avoiding the unknown.

Fear, familiar pleasures and adrenal driven instincts are reflected in the vast conformity and commonness of what we buy.

Do our choices eventually come about because certain products are truly better than others? Not at all. We’re slaves to the marketing of ‘great’, and the mental satisfaction that comes with accessing ‘good enough’. Any product, service or person that simply does what is promised, and nothing more, will almost always win out over an unknown that has neither the name, nor the societal track record.

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Everyone around me is talking at 100 miles an hour. Sometimes it seems like I can’t even get from one place to another without running into a familiar face.

Am I at an auction? Nope. I am at home on a Saturday morning talking on the phone with NPR member-station reporter David Pitman about public auctions.  While my wife and kids get ready for the day in their own noisy way, I am given questions that range from the instructive helper type to, “Oh boy. If I answer this one the Georgia Auto Dealers Association is going to put me right up there with Ralph Nader!” Then again, I am not a member of that group so the pressure on those questions was minimal.

Here is a link to the story on Morning Edition. For those who want to simply read the text of the interview feel free to do so after the jump.

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I was in a $50,000 luxury car the other day. Don’t worry about the manufacturer because it seems to be all the same these days. There was cheap plastic chrome that surrounded the air vents, the buttons on the dashboard, the cupholders. Even a smattering on the door panels and steering wheel.

Was it always this way? Of course not! Back in the good old days of the Clinton Era we had plenty of fake wood to choose from as well. Diamantes, Roadmasters, Town & Countrys… even Camrys were sometimes given the drop dead phony wood treatment throughout the interior if the dealer wanted it so.

Some looked nice. Others were cheap enough to flake into a near confetti state as time wore on. Either way, wood was the thing to have back in the day.

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Editor’s Note: A few weeks ago we discussed, “What vehicle was the last bad car sold in North America?” This is my definitive answer to that question. Enjoy!

Kia is one of the only car brands sold in America that’s never built an enthusiast’s car.

Sensible Swedish Saab offered the 900 SPG. Before their core clientele started losing their pulse, Buick ran the Grand National. Saturn looked to the Sky for salvation. GMC got caught up in a Typhoon. Even Hyundai had the Tiburon circling its enthusiast oriented customers. Kia? Nothing but cheap.

Or… maybe not. “Being practical doesn’t mean you have to take the joy out of life,” their web copy proclaims. “That’s the thinking behind the Rio. It’s affordable and likes a good time as much as you do.” What exactly does THAT mean?

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Imagine a luxury car that could out-Cadillac a Cadillac back in the day.

No, we’re not talking about a BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, Volvo, Lexus, Acura, Infiniti, a Chrysler 300M or a Toyota Avalon. We’re talking Buick. The great American roadcar that would soon be the envy of all upwardly mobile car buyers… in China. (Read More…)

Which cost more these days? Car or building?

I had a 2013 Hyundai Genesis R-Spec Sedan as my proverbial press fleet mule this past week.

The car gave me flashbacks. The quiet of the 5.0 Liter V8 engine reminded me of the first time my neighbor bought a brand new 1995 Lincoln Town Car. That car offered folks a whisper quiet ride, and enough space and luxury to make a Mercedes E-Class envious.

The dirty little secret of that time was that I enjoyed driving that Lincoln more than I did the last of the W124’s.

See, the miseries of commuting always took a huge bite out of my driving enjoyment. Instead of feeling the bumps and hearing the honks, it would have been nice to be cocooned in a big beautiful quiet world that the last of the good Lincolns offered.

The 2013 Hyundai Genesis sedan brought that world back to my daily grind. If only for a brief moment. So with that in mind… I wonder…

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The 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix looked like it had got in a fight, and lost.

The front bumper was hanging perilously close to the ground. A big lick on the left hand side had smashed it up well and good, along with the left fender and hood. The body cladding on both sides of the vehicle had been stripped off. Leaving holes and plastic screw holders as the proverbial abusive pockmarks of the unloved.

Her seats were tore up… dashboard smashed… forget about a plain old beater. This one was beat all too hell. And you know what? (Read More…)

Like a sign on a door, this sum of financial flammables has indeed been given two meanings.

The first is that it represents the daily gasoline usage of all of us here on planet Earth.  Scooters, cars, industrial machines, toys, generators, plastics and petrochemical materials the world over all amount to this “deficits don’t matter” level of daily consumption.

That number alone will be incredibly hard to change on a voluntary basis. Heck, it may indeed be close to the realm of impossible barring another financial crisis. But there is a smaller usage level that can be altered depending on… well… you!

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Every few months I get an unwanted creature in my life.

It smiles. It makes nice conversation, and for as long as I’m at the auction it almost never leaves me alone.

“What did you think about that car Steve?”, “How’s business going Steve?” “Are you going to bid on that car Steve?”

Rarely do I get sick of hearing my own name. But when it’s said for the sake of a one sided relationship, my mind wanders to deviant thoughts.

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The automotive world is infested with lists and rankings.

The 10 Best Here. The 10 Most There.  Sometimes you may even find a 10 Least or a 10 Greatest. The range of expertise for such rancor can vary from truly knowledgable souls to borderline literary dope pushers with monetary agendas.

Personally, I enjoy the mental exercise. When you look at 20,000+ vehicles going through the lanes at the auto auctions every year for well over a decade, ranking becomes part of your work.  The same is true for folks in traffic.  Or those who take strolls through our streets. Or our junkyards.

Since every publication in the car business offers some type of “Best Car!” article,  we here at TTAC have decided to do our own…

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Commitment. It’s one of those words that is either an affirmation of your beliefs, or a fear ridden long-term deal with the devil.

Commitment also happens to be the double edged sword of automotive ownership.

It means sacrificing the fickle fashions of tomorrow for a vehicle that may gradually become more of a ‘daily companion’ than a passionate lover. While many of your friends and neighbors find new love and new trysts, you must chose to do more with an all too familiar partner for the open road.

Yes, the acceleration will gradually be in the rear view mirror of tomorrow’s front runners. The seats will age. The maintenance needs will lighten your wallet, and the avant garde of newness will give way to the less thrilling realities of beaterdom.

But then again, some partners offer a far better bang for the buck. Even when you’re reelin’ in the years and rollin’ away the time.

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Did I really buy that car? Ohhh....

A base 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 160k miles was coming to the auction block. Zip ties were holding up the passenger mirror. Options were minimal, and the various dings and dents did the trade-in no favors. It’s the type of vehicle that usually does no more than $2500 during most times of the year.

But with April comes tax season, and with tax season comes prices that hold only the lightest resemblance to reality.

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There was a time when Ford had the luxury equivalent of three little pigs.

I’m not sure if Jaguar, Lincoln and Volvo were the industry equivalent of straws, sticks and bricks. But they were by all measures an ungodly mess of marques that bled billions out of Ford’s coffers by 2007.

Something had to be done. Enter Alan Mulally who blew out two of the brands, and only kept Lincoln after a Deliverance level of squealing by managers and executives at Ford.

In today’s exercise, you will need to pick one brand for Ford to keep. Yes, crystal balls and Monday morning quarterbacks are a common thing at most automotive blogs.  So instead of shooting from the hip of the modern day, let’s look back to the time that was the late, late, late Bush era and figure out which brand offered the most potential.

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Car owners have a warped view when it comes to their automobile’s cost.

When you ask someone the, “How much did you spend..”  question, their usual response is to take the price they paid and just let that be that.

“Oh, I got this Mercedes for $50k.” They then will usually go about telling you the options they chose, and other trivial realities related to the car.

But as we all know,  that’s not the question.

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Taxes and fees are the pedal and the metal of state governments. Without em’, all you would be looking at is a bunch of big buildings with no one doing anything in them.

Most police cars would be busy hiding out in secret hideaways awaiting the next revenue source. Property taxes would go way up. Appraisals for those properties wouldn’t follow market realities, and the state and county governments would be busy up trying to drum up every pork barrel budget possible from the Federal government. From airports with no aviation traffic. To winding roads that lead to the eternal fountain of no accountability.

But then again, my kids need to be educated. Roads and sewers fall apart. Bad guys (and girls) need to be put away and rehabilitated.  Parks need to be protected. The roads need to be repaired. Restaurants need to be hygenic.  Fire departments. Libraries. Electric power. Water.  Disaster relief…. and dare I say it… health care. That last one is a real big issue for a lot of folks.

How does the government pay for it all? Simple. By trying to be fair. Stop laughing.

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