Bank Used Car lot.

You know things are looking bleak for the economy when the Banks repoed car lot is bigger than the car dealer across the street.

Wow, I drove past my bank this morning and their repo'd car lot is get'n pretty big.

OUCH!!

TC

that's not good!!!

I'm surprised they even repo'd them, They can't sell them most likely.

Maybe the gov't will buy them. No wait...the gov't can make their own cars now!!

TC

TC wrote:Maybe the gov't will buy them. No wait...the gov't can make their own cars now!!

TC

Yeah...and that sucks!!! I believe GM could make another go at it if the feds keep their hands off. But you know how that goes! Once they get their claws into you, they never let go!!! I may have to go to the dark side for my next TV....

I'd be willing to buy a repo, if we were in the market for an almost new car. But we're not. I'm sure the prices are reasonable.

You can probably get a good price on a repo right now. Videos of repo guys at work are entertaining. Doesn't look safe sometimes.

There are laws regarding how these guys go about repoing a vehicle, but I know many of them just do things their own way - which can be downright scary.

The scary thought is that the government is going to build cars that they want us to have. Sound like Russia to me. I am glad that Ford is still viable. The last three vehicles we purchased, we paid cash.... No payments... They can not repo them. Who knows what the warranty is going to look like on the new Chevy's and Dodges.
I think the money bailout is a very bad idea. Massive inflation is coming. Both political parties are doing their best to destroy the USA. We voted these clowns in, so we are the ones to blame. By we, I mean the voters of America. I am a conservative Republican, and my party is just as much to blame.
Government has a huge part in our economic problems. We consumers have a part also.
Kids in 2030 will be talking about the good ole days of 2008.

Maxtor : We voted these clowns in

I voted for the other 2 clowns,,,,, You really think they could have made a difference with this pile of mess left by the other 2 previous clowns ?

The snowball started with the professional clowns on wall street and the housing market and we can't leave out the Oil Gluts that gave the toilet that last little flush either, All 3 of Their messes sank the car dealers. And the rest of us that still have a job are hanging on to a over cooked noodle that could break any day now. From what I'm seeing we've still got a few more feet to go before we hit the bottom, i'm gonna try and do the " escape death jump up" just before it hits the bottom of the elevator shaft.

But it looks like the first rung on the ladder back up is broke also....

China just bought the Hummer , I guess I need
to give in and learn to speak Mexi-nese ,,,
That will be included in my " Escape death jump up "

Editorial: Some day our grandkids and great-grandkids will read about what's going on right now in their history books; about how capitalism had an achilles heel: greed!!

Repo'd cars are NOT cheap!! Most banks do their best to follow NADA.

As for new TVs, I just priced out a new Ford F250 with the additions we're accustomed to...over $42,000
I've never owned a truck over 5 yrs until we bought the one we have now (9 yrs). With these prices, I'll have to hang on to it a while longer.

Following the laws of supply and demand, the more the industry focuses on these new "hybrid" things, the less they'll be willing to focus on lower mpg vehicles, which in turn will make trucks a higher demand item. Be prepared to pay out the nose!! If the price I was quoted is any indication, it's already started.

TC

I think it started when dodge had the bright idea to add custom seats to a truck about 15 years ago.
Its been a major " get one broke off in the rear " ever since, with all brands.

I'm glad my mind set can't afford a new truck. My new trucks are anything I can afford and runs good. I'm not even picky about the tires that will come on it, I always slam it with a new set of
Mich-y's anyway.
The down side of that is your gonna see after market parts get spiked through the roof with everyone hanging on to their rides.

It popped in my mind the other day that we'll look like Cuba with all the old 50's cars still running around.
In the year 2079 we'll still have what we have now running and looking good. Might be running on salad dressing but she will be running.

It would be a horrible feeling to have young children and loose your job and be homeless. After all this mess is behind us, I hope young people will realize that being debt free is a goal to strive for. Many young people think that they need new cars and expensive homes with no way to pay for them. For the first 20 years of our marriage the wife and I bought used cars that we could afford. We always kept a zero balance on our credit card. Now everything we own is paid for and have no financial worries.
Everyone who lives within their means can also be financially secure.
It is no fun when you are young to watch others playing with all their new toys, while you and your family have less, but in the long run, you will be better off. The play now pay later mentality is causing many to have pain.
So my advice to you young people is to stop using your credit cards, tighten your belts, and live within your paycheck while saving a little each week for a rainy day, and soon you will be ahead of the financial curve.

TC,

I did a similar thing. I got on Chevy's website and priced a comparably equipped truck to my '02, thinking this would be the last GM product I would buy if GM becomes Government Motors. When the truck priced out at $43k, my old '02 w/ over 211k miles started driving pretty good! I guess I'll keep what I've got!

With the direction we are heading, there is no telling where we will be in the next few years!

I think we'll all be driving Fords.

You could be right, the problem is the lack of competition. That isn't good for any of the consumers. It took dodge in the mid 90's to get GM & ford off their backside and step up the program a bit.

If GM & dodge get out of the truck business, toyota will probably step up with a 3/4-1 ton diesel to give ford some competition. I guess we'll have to see

The Achilles heel of Capitalism being greed is a somewhat true statement, but not greed of corporate America. It was the greed of the consumer to overspend and their lack of wanting to understand and play by some simple rules. If you can't afford it don't buy it. Granted there are some legitimately caught in a bad mess.
I thought it was great news today that Roger Penske has put in his offer to buy Saturn.
The closing of dealerships is a sham. It won't save the car companies anything because it doesn't cost them anything right now. Once the car leaves the factory it's on a hauler to a dealer that has financed the vehicle to be on the lot.
We bought our Cat from a guy who bought it a a repo auction. It was a sweet deal. It was repoed at our credit union so I called them to ask if since we were also members if they could tell us the amount of default so I didn't over pay. They weren't allowed to tell tell me. She then asked if I wanted to know financing terms. I said sure. She immediately started out at 7 years!!! They already got stung once and were willing to do it again. I said no thanks and paid cash.

Now a Penske Saturn sounds interesting.

If you can't afford it don't buy it

What about the one's that could easily afford it before their company went bankrupt or moved to Mexico ?

We've had a couple of big companys here in town move to mexico with no warning or little warning. Just like any other town in the USA, The big share holders want to squeeze as much out of their investment as possible, But none stop to think its the one's that their putting out of a job that "were" buying their product.

I don't want to sound like Suze Orman here, but you should have an emergency fund for 6-8 months of expenses. In that amount of time most people could sell there toys, as much as I would hate to. The problem comes when you don't put any real downpayment up front and have no equity so you go upside down on the sale.
I definately sucks when an American Job is lost. I try my best to buy Made In the U.S.A.
When it comes to losing jobs Michigan's got everyone beat. We were in a one state recession a year ahead of everyone else.
Our Canadian Governess is doing nothing but blowing hot air and waiting for the Obama money (read as "Chinese loan") to come rolling in.

Treekiller wrote:I don't want to sound like Suze Orman here, but you should have an emergency fund for 6-8 months of expenses. In that amount of time most people could sell there toys, as much as I would hate to. The problem comes when you don't put any real downpayment up front and have no equity so you go upside down on the sale.
I definately sucks when an American Job is lost. I try my best to buy Made In the U.S.A.
When it comes to losing jobs Michigan's got everyone beat. We were in a one state recession a year ahead of everyone else.
Our Canadian Governess is doing nothing but blowing hot air and waiting for the Obama money (read as "Chinese loan") to come rolling in.

I haggle my A$$ off on everything. Except Gas. That must be the reason all the full service stations went away.

I'm a firm believer in not jumping in upside down from the get go. But a lot of people/ young couples just don't get that concept. It took me a close call on a car way back , but I figured out how to get out with a even break. After that it was a lesson well learned.

All of us have been affected by the economy meltdown. In some ways it is good for us, because our income is stable and prices are somewhat lower, but in the negative, our house last year was worth about a $100,000 more than what it is worth today. The good thing, is we don't need to sell. Many people from Nevada and California have moved to Oregon, "no sales tax" which has kept their home prices stable. I just talked to a friend that just lost his home and now has to rent. He is a hard worker and it is sad that he lost all his equity in his home, and now has to rent. This is happening all over the country, and I feel bad for those who loose their homes. As fuel prices rise, and taxes increase, times are going to get worse for many more people. People that are honest hard working people can sometimes be pressured into doing things they would not normally do, especially if their wife and children are going without food.

Treekiller wrote:I don't want to sound like Suze Orman here, but you should have an emergency fund for 6-8 months of expenses. In that amount of time most people could sell there toys, as much as I would hate to. The problem comes when you don't put any real downpayment up front and have no equity so you go upside down on the sale.
I definately sucks when an American Job is lost. I try my best to buy Made In the U.S.A.
When it comes to losing jobs Michigan's got everyone beat. We were in a one state recession a year ahead of everyone else.
Our Canadian Governess is doing nothing but blowing hot air and waiting for the Obama money (read as "Chinese loan") to come rolling in.

hello neighbor, when obama got elected, i knew what was coming...obama was the people rebellions against the two parties. kind of like the jesse ventura thing.
our governor has chased many, many businesses from this state and still don't get it. the small business tax is getting higher, the personal property tax was supposed to be abolished, but stayed in effect.
i have two businesses in st louis , the one does very well and has been recession proof, however the boiler cleaning business has suffered due to businesses closing or leaving.
queen jenny is going to use the stimulus money to balance the budget, it won't help anyone else... and don't you think it's funny how her second in command (cherry) all of the sudden has these great ideas that will bring michigan back to the top...... why didn't he share those ideas with jenny ?
let's hope people aren't so stupid during the next two elections.

rant over.....

I run a 2 man surveying business near Midland and got a nice letter from the state saying that since MI hasn't been able to repay its federal subsidy for unemployment that now my Federal unemployment rate is increasing as a penalty to Michigan.
My preparation for things to come has been to keep my debt to a minimum, purchased a new handgun (XDM .40), an AR-15 and about a 2000 rounds of ammo.

as stated before we vote these people in and let them have a lifetime job that has no oversite . The social security and medicare / medicade problem would be fixed in 30 days if the elected officials in washington had to be on it instead of their own system . Obama said that if any of Bush's cabinet had done anything illegal thy should be prosicuted , if he feels that way then why are we not prosicuting the illegal people that are in our country breaking our federal and state funds. Ill get off my soapbox now but it makes me mad that the people that have paid for ssi can not get it but people that are illegal are given the money open arms by the gment

Truth be told, most of our gov't leaders run for office because they know they won't have to live like the rest of us once they get elected!

I believe these are the classes that exist in this country today...

the poor, the middle class, the wealthy, the gov't.

TC

My preparation for things to come has been to keep my debt to a minimum, purchased a new handgun (XDM .40), an AR-15 and about a 2000 rounds of ammo.

My brother in laws opinion of that is :

" If you ain't got 5000 rounds : you ain't prepared "

Good luck buying ammunition. Here on the west coast, stores sell all boxes of ammunition just as soon as they are put on the shelf. I called wally world in Redding, Anderson, (Calif.) Medford and Grants Pass (Oregon) and they all say that the bullets are sold minutes after being placed on the shelf. I found one box of 9 mm at the Anderson store, but I was there just has he was putting it on the shelf. When buying a KHAR PM9 last week, I told the store that I would not purchase the pistol, unless it came with shells. He had to hold one box while I waited the ten days to pick up the pistol. Our paper just came out and says that our California law makers are going to release 16,000 state inmates due to over crowding. 400 in our county. Guns and ammunition are being sold at a record pace.

I think some of the stockpiles may be getting full. A couple of weeks aga at Walmart I was able to get 2 - 100 round box's of .40. The big shock was that there were 3 full shelves of 9mm under that. I'd have to estimate over 5,000 rounds at less than $10 a box just waiting to be had.

Treekiller wrote:I think some of the stockpiles may be getting full. A couple of weeks aga at Walmart I was able to get 2 - 100 round box's of .40. The big shock was that there were 3 full shelves of 9mm under that. I'd have to estimate over 5,000 rounds at less than $10 a box just waiting to be had.

Last box of 9mm I bought cost $28 and I was glad to get it. I think the shortage out here is due to politics and the State going to release thousands of inmates due to a court order. 400 inmates are going to be released here in Shasta County. We all know, the bad guys do not apply for work, they just steal what they can find. Our local police department is reducing staff, and releasing prisoners due to over crowding. Just recently, a guy was caught three times in five days stealing cars from our local car dealerships, and all three times released.