I always said and still do that tough economic times will simplify the car industry. As the economy dives so too will the price of new cars, used cars and so on. People will seek out and drive vehicle design to be simpler and more cost efficient. Let me tell you how nuts it was back in "the good old days" of the last decade, the 90's.
A 1999 Lincoln Continental came into the shop this week. Besides needing an oil change the other complaints were the heated seat on the driver side no longer worked and the inside rear view mirror was always stuck in night time driving mode. The seat problem was nothing more than a bad heating element. A fairly straightforward repair the estimate of parts and labor was about $400. The rear view mirror was another story. After some careful circuit pin testing for voltage, ground and signal the mirror was deemed bad. Here is where the repair went off the tracks... A replacement mirror was
a:] obsolete and b:] $700. Huh? How can it be that much money and not available? Or more incredulous how can a piece of glass and plastic filled with a dampening fluid be worth that much? And to rub salt in the gaping wound, it's not available. So if you want to continue to drive your otherwise clean older Lincoln you need to squint in the mirror or pick up something used on Ebay.
It must be prediction time, Hmm, why yes it is. Here you go. If the economy continues to dog all of us you will see simpler and more cost effective vehicles with less frills come to market. Let's see where the road takes us.
In a previous blog, “A Runners Wife” I spoke about my husband training for the NYC marathon. All I have to say is that the months of training all came together of an amazing race. Race day is a grueling day for runners, and the family. But a miracle happened...
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder testified before the senate judiciary committee and basically shrugged when asked if any other enemy combatant captured overseas had ever been brought to civilian criminal court to face justice. Talk about an incompetent boob, not to mention a disgrace.
Here is a list of wines all from Spain, and menus from restaurants in Brooklyn where a crew of us did a food / wine crawl through Carrol Gardens and Williamsburg recently
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