I’d say the prime competitor for the ID4 will be the Nissan Ariya. Ford went the “Mustang” route with the Mach E, and that’s going to attract some and repel others. The Nissan seems like it will be another middle of the road EV as far as styling and packaging.

This is something very important to a salesman to explore with the customer. As it is, it’s the salesman’s job to make sure the customer finds the right car to suit their needs, and there could easily be cases where an EV is not a practical choice for a customer, depending on access to charging stations etc. 

Standing around bullshitting is exactly what thy do all day. They get in at 8-9 am, and have all day to do virtually nothing. You get off work at 5, all peppy and ready to shop, but by that time they’ve been there all day in mind numbing boredom and don’t want to work anymore.

#7: the dealership could be part of a group of dealers, and the car you came in for is actually at a totally different store. Not wanting you to leave and go find it, the salesman tried to switch you. That’s why he had to make calls (to the other store), and then send someone to get it. I worked for a multi-store auto…

“I volunteer to overpay, so that I don’t have to worry that I’m overpaying” - online car shoppers

Is it too late for Montana to sue for all the emotional damage done by Pontiac’s crappy minivan?

Wireless charging pads. Useless! You take up valuable real estate in the center console with a cubby that you must keep totally empty if you want to use the charger. And if you use the charger, you’re putting your phone out of reach when you need it.

There are times when there is just a back up of customers needed to meet the finance guy, but many times your paperwork isn’t even getting worked on. He’s shooting the shit with the sales manager.

Ride share can be a full time, successful job for some people. Markets vary wildly. The pay varies from market to market. And drivers’ ability to learn the market and keep busy varies. If a driver is logged in for 12 hours a day, but sits parked for 4 hours of that over the course of the day, they are doing it wrong. 

Chevy servicing involves them taking it for a 5 minute drive around the block, scanning the ECU, then guessing what needs fixing. If they can’t easily diagnose something, they’ll just tell you it’s fine and charge you the diagnosis fee. Zero mechanical curiosity, and they’d rather tell you you’re dumb about cars than…

I look forward to her interviews where she says “I worked really hard to get where I am today.”

When you are driving on slick roads, the most important thing is to not make sudden changes - no sudden acceleration , braking, or turned. All sudden moves can initiate a slide or spin. That said, , if you just take your foot off the gas, a car will slow down fairly quickly without using the brakes. And it’s not going…

Don’t assume the salesmen are making huge commissions. I worked at Ford store when the GT500 first came out, and the dealer had a huge mark up on the, but capped the commission at $1000 for the salesmen. 

There is no purpose to Chrysler at this point. Imagine how much it would cost to restart the brand with all new models and all new model names (do you really think they’d bring back Imperial, New Yorker, etc.?). The brand has ZERO brand equity left, except with a few 70 year olds. The minivan could easily just go back…

It’s impossible to make warning labels long enough to cover every conceivable stupid thing someone might do with a product. Personal responsibility has to kick in at some point.

$35k fully loaded doesn’t sound bad. The new Buick Envision is $45k fully loaded, and the Lincoln Corsair can go to $50k. Even the new Buick Encore GX (with the 1.3T 3 cylinder) is $37k loaded.

The solution to these apps’ fuckery is to switch apps and do something else. Uber doesn’t try this scam, but they do “manage” the drivers’ earnings with strategic downtime and long pick ups out of the busy area.

Perhaps instead of increasing the gas tax, which would be regressive, we start charging an annual road use tax on EVs equivalent to the average miles driven by a gas car. This would tax vehicles currently escaping the gas tax, and tax wealthier EV vehicle owners who can afford it (which is why this type of tax will…

The flaw of penalty taxes like this that people avoid the tax by changing their behavior, which would be fine, but politicians want to spend the tax revenue from these penalty taxes, and are perpetually frustrated that people rearrange their lives to avoid the tax.

There are plenty of places to put EV charging stations. Urban areas invariably have vacant lots from urban blight being cleared. The suburbs have abandoned restaurants and strip malls. Since most driving is local, yes we need to focus on neighborhoods where people rent and wouldn’t have access to a personal charging…