Comments | elphaba_of_oz: It's starting to look as if the auto industry bailout bill is going to fail

elphaba_of_oz

It's starting to look as if the auto industry bailout bill is going to fail

Dec 11, 2008 15:53

And I'm glad. I'm not gloating at the thought of a million union worker on the unemployment line. That won't be a good thing. But I think the US automobile industry is a source of evil in the world. I think it deserves to die ( Read more... )

Comments 8

Nissan! dawningday December 11 2008, 21:43:11 UTC

Mine does not get quite such excellent mileage, but that also has to do with how I drive it... :) But, that said, I think that Nissan has me for life. My last car, also a Nissan, was 18 years old when it finally became too expensive to keep running for its age.

Re: Nissan! jasminewind December 11 2008, 22:11:09 UTC

I had a nissan sentra that didn't last as long as yours but it lasted many, many miles. When it needed more maintanence than I could manage, I sold it to a friend of a friend and it lasted several more years. Alas, I couldn't afford an import at the time so I now have a 12 year old manual transmission saturn. It is treating me nicely and I hope to keep it for a few more years. I promised myself it would be my last internal combustion engine and there just aren't many other options right now - my husband has a prius but I don't really like it very much. The rest of the options - $$$$$!

Re: Nissan! dawningday December 11 2008, 22:14:50 UTC

I hear you on their being few affordable options outside of the internal combustion engine. But that is one of the things I am loving most about Portland - it really is exceptionally bicycle-friendly. Right now, I drive about once every two weeks. Otherwise, I can walk or bike everywhere I need to go.

I keep meaning to give you a call. Are you crazy busy next week?

Re: Nissan! jasminewind December 11 2008, 23:33:03 UTC

If I didn't have the kids to truck around, I'd be in my car a lot less. We are planning to get the equipment to bike more next spring - trail-a-bikes for the kids and T needs a bike too (I've got one and the kids do to but they're still on training wheels). We could bike to school, to the Hawthorne district, to parks & all sorts of stuff. My daughter takes tri-met for field trips all the time, I love it!

I have at least one thing daily Mon-Thurs next week but that doesn't mean I can't fit something else in as well, or we could do Fri - email me and we'll figure something out!

See... my sister had the right idea... twotoedsloth December 12 2008, 03:15:34 UTC

Her suggestion is that they figure out a dollar amount for the bailout, and just divide it up amongst the unemployed auto workers.

Re: See... my sister had the right idea... elphaba_of_oz December 12 2008, 03:34:34 UTC

Word!

thicknwild December 12 2008, 03:23:17 UTC

i agree that japanese cars are much better as far as gas mileage and over-all reliability goes.

however, i think it would be foolish to think that japanese car manufacturing plants are less polluting than american ones. their end product (gas sipping cars as opposed to gas guzzling ones) is more environmentally friendly, but that says nothing about their manufacturing process at alll. they don't have the same EPA regs there as we do here and overall, do badly by way of the environment on a regular basis. according to a study that A has read, the land surrounding the prius plant looks like the surface of the moon because of how toxic and blasted it is.

don't get me wrong, i'm for the japanese cars. i don't like american cars. they're unreliable and use more fuel. they also tend to have more over-all probs.

but japan isn't exactly totally clean when it comes to this whole environment thing. at this point, i don't think anyone is...

altamira16 December 12 2008, 04:11:12 UTC

Most people are having their kids two years apart. Child seats are huge monstrous things mandated by the government until kids are between 6-8 even though their safety is proven to be most for kids under about 3. To find a car that will fit two of the things, you are usually looking at some monster gas guzzler.