Yup, The car I purchased 3 years and 9 months ago turned 100,000Kms the other day. It was quite a momentous occasion. Marcy D'Arcy is purring like a kitten, and not those kittens who moan all night long, keeping you up, only after head butting the bedroom door open ;)
It got me thinking about the current plight of North American auto makers and a recent discussion I heard on talk radio. Yeah, I listen to talk radio in the mornings because I can't stand Dean Blundel; he's about as funny as a clown funeral, but that's another story for another day.
The argument came about after the president of Ford Canada proposed a $3,500 rebate for buyers of new Ford, Chrysler, and GM cars, if they junk their 10+ year old cars. I thought this was a pretty good idea considering the fact that Cars have become Greener, with a decrease in emissions of up to 50%. Mix the environmental factors with the stimulus the rebate would provide, and it appears to be a pretty good idea. The problem is that during the entirety of the discussion, only pro-old car and anti-domestic voices called in. Arguments ranged from people who want to keep their car for as long as possible, to use it as a measure of their own reliability no matter how much the car costs in monthly repairs, to callers who thought that domestic cars were pieces of junk. One caller even went so far as to misquote statistics from a CNN report, stating that 80% of domestic cars are not produced in North America (The actual story summary is that not all import cars are made outside North America, and not all North American cars are built in the United States).
Whatever the case, I want people to know that not all North American cars are crap. I just rolled over the 100,000KM mark on my mustang, and am proud to say my last mustang lasted 15 years and 389,000Kms. I bet there's plenty of people out there with domestic car success and pain stories. My issue is that people rely on ignorance and biased opinions when making car purchases. When looking to buy a car, do yourself a favor, and do some research. Check out Consumer Reports, ask current vehicle owners if they're happy with their car. Don't just rely on propaganda and slick marketing.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying to only buy North American, my point is to simply educate yourself before you buy, and hopefully, educate yourself before you open your mouth on national radio.
1 comment:
I've had an NA made Chev S10 for 12 years - still rolls along reliably.
It seems that this rebate will stimulate car purchasing (which is in dire need for canada's autoworkers) and will take steps towards decreasing fuel consumption (something our tree-huggers will like)... the challenge has been that NA automakers fell asleep behind the proverbial wheel, and delayed implementing new-age fuel efficient technologies - and have since been under scrutiny from the enviro-thumpers (i tried to steal the bible-thumper analogy there) irregardless, the NA automakers need to mimic and mime the development paths of foreign automakers in order to stay competitive - they hadn't done this for the past 12 years and kept rolling out SUVs to any takers... hopefully this rebate changes a few things...
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