conversation with the automotive fascist

this was a conversation i had with my brother's friend, the automotive fascist, once he found out i was serious about a car-for-life. the opening sentence has to do with him predicting, 15 years ago, that my del sol would go 100k miles, then fall apart.

his email first, my ***embedded response*** below.

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I'm quite certain that we define a bucket of bolts quite differently. However, I have sold Honda short over the years.
You've left out the possibility that Chrysler doesn't make it as long as you do. I could see you driving that turd-burglar for three decades. Call it "30 years of humiliation, b1-66er's test of human and mechanical endurance". Chrysler has little chance of making it that far.
I also bought a Chrysler product, a truck with a Cummins diesel. I also got a service manual (a free pdf I got off of a diesel freak blog). I bought it to use it hard and then have it recycled into whatever.
I do see a culture shift away from pure internal combustion but I see it driven by Europe's CO2 standards more than our government but things change. We may one day wake up.


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I'm quite certain that we define a bucket of bolts quite differently.

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i'm quite certain that you're an automotive fascist.
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However, I have sold Honda short over the years.

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right.
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You've left out the possibility that Chrysler doesn't make it as long as you do.

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no.

i fully expect there will not be a chrysler in the future. in fact i'd say it's 50-50 that there'll be no chrysler by the end of the year and 95% that there won't be a chrysler by the end of 2009.

i'm *almost* as confident that there will be a contractual/financial obligation that GM and/or nissan/renault (it'll be 1 of those 2 that end up with it) will have to fulfill.

i expect the bumper-to-bumper wrap (and possibly the lifetime powertrain) to be offered for only the briefest glimpse of time. that's why i jumped on it as quickly as i did.

poke around on the internet ... there's a nearly infinite number of people who have a nearly infinite number of reasons that you shouldn't do what i've done here ... nearly all of them are either under-informed or just pessimistic at heart.

i've *never* had warranty work on *anything* questioned. and i, definitely, am johnny warranty.

i've got a really good chrysler shop right now. they fixed a rattle in the convertible mechanism -- something damn near every shop would ignore or not be able to fix. if those guys stay in some form of business in whatever the new world is, i should be okay-ish.

the car as a whole is remarkably solid and tight. extremely well put together. b1-67er and i rented a dodge calibre on our annual WY trip and that thing was a piece of crap (think electrical tape holding engine pieces flush). i don't know if it's the mexico vs. US build or what.
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I could see you driving that turd-burglar for three decades.

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i shouldn't be laughing at this.
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Call it "30 years of humiliation, b1-66er's test of human and mechanical endurance". Chrysler has little chance of making it that far.

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as a corporation, when you pick up chrysler, you pick up their financial obligations. the logo and company go away, the intellectual property (IP) doesn't. whoever owns the IP has to fulfill the contract, i'm nearly certain. (i'm positive that's true if it's insurance -- that's part of what insurance commissioners do -- i just don't know about warranty. whatever happens, it will have HEAVY government supervision.
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I also bought a Chrysler product, a truck with a Cummins diesel. I also got a service manual (a free pdf I got off of a diesel freak blog). I bought it to use it hard and then have it recycled into whatever.

I do see a culture shift away from pure internal combustion but I see it driven by Europe's CO2 standards more than our government but things change. We may one day wake up.


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nuke cars. that's what i'm waiting for.
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