To your point about speculation - we’re obviously in the ‘bigger fool’ part of a bubble.

They cost about as much the aforementioned trucks. However, the average household income of a 5 series owner is somewhere between 150k-200k/yr .

I can understand leaving the car in neutral or gear, but why don’t you set the ebrake by habit?

I’m amazed they have repeat customers. If you hang onto a Ram / Jeep you’re way more likly to have problems than if you bought a comparable vehicle from nearly anyone else. But if you sell them before they start getting problems, you take a massive depreciation hit.

It’s really amazing how more more expensive vehicles depreciate faster. A loaded GMC Sierra might cost 2x-3x as much as a 4x4, V6 Chevy Colorado when new. But after 5-7 years, I’d be floored if a loaded GMC Sierra cost more than 7k more than a V6 4x4 Colorado.

Eh. Oil will stay cheap. But America has very little reserve refining capacity. All it takes is some ‘unexpected maintenance’ at a refining plant and gas goes up 75 cents/gallon in a night.

Years ago when I was a cashier, I saw a customer pull up in a honda element and park his car by slamming it into park while he was still moving. The car made a terrible lurching sound and he got out and came inside. After a moment, the car began to roll backward and out into the road, nearly hitting another car.

You nailed it. I used to be really down on crusier then I got a chance to ride a few. And now I own one myself. I just had to find the right one - a metric crusier with an inline 4.

And got effectively the same MPGs as a Highlander and was way slower accelerating than a comporable camry.

Then why do so many short women drive large SUVs like body on frame luxury SUVs?

That vaguely sounds like relationship advice from a video game message board.

Those tax credits are available to people who buy an electric car from any manufacturer. It’s hardly a bail out specifically for Telsa.

Like I was saying, Ford was much better managed than GM at the time the recession hit.

Go ask someone who thinks that the Federal Government should underwrite loans. I sure as heck don’t defend it.

It concerns me that the Government isn’t a better loan shark.

1. Because they could get a lower interest rate through the Federal government.

From Reuters “The $11.2 billion loss includes a write-off in March of the government’s remaining $826 million investment in “old” GM, the quarterly report by a Treasury watchdog said.”

Cool story bro!

Musk didn’t grovel and Tesla wasn’t old enough to peddle shit for decades. They were a few years old at the time they got their loan.

Of course electric vehicle tax credits and emission credits are government subsidies. But they’re available to everyone. Whereas the $40 billion to save GM was only really available to GM. And if those subsidies went away Tesla may or may not survive.