The Aspens Rust in Clusters

I read that it’s going to take 18 months to get the Fiatlers on the road. I’m wondering what the few remaining Chrysler dealers will be selling in the mean time.

Blongenfreude: ‘The aspens rust in clusters.” Now, that’s poetry.

@lynnlightfoot: Scooter inspires me – what can I say.

And here’s the original brochure for the sad POS above.

Aspens rust in clusters
FIAT cuts deal; hope for style
teeny cars? Back hurts!

If the hedge funds decided to take the offer instead of getting greedy, they would have gotten something instead of the nothing they’re going to get. I agree that there are some sore balls on Wall St today.

Ugh. I’m driving a total P.O.S. Chevy or Chrysler something or other as a rental car. The guy at the rental company told me it was a P.O.S. (he used those words) and I should upgrade, but I’m too chintzy. Motherfucker started shaking like it was going to fall apart if I went over 60, and then the thing started to overheat (even though I was going 60 w/o A/c) and I had to drive for 45 minutes with the heaters going full blast and windows down in an attempt to cool it off. Oh and then the plastic hubcap shattered when I hit a pothole going around a corner and the hatchback doesn’t align correctly. And it has a total of 22,000 miles on it. Who would buy a fucking car like this? Is this the American carmakers’ idea of what a “compact efficient” car should be? Did monkeys assemble and align the doors? Did graduates of Regent University School of Engineering design the engine system? Do the carmakers just make these crappy cars to deliver directly to the rental car companies?

@ManchuCandidate: They insured the short sell. They’re going to make money off the bankruptcy, courtesy of the insurance from AIG and others like AIG.

@SanFranLefty: I think they were maintaining market share by making and selling POS cars directly to the rental fleet. The only decent rental cars I’ve driven in the last couple of years have been Hyundais.

@Dodgerblue: I seriously think there are entire lines of American cars that exist solely for the rental businesses.

I had a Mitsubishi as a rental last year. It made my day.

Now I’m in to Zipcar – that’s the fun way to use a rental car and super cheap for quick day trips or two hour meeting trips where I don’t want to use my own car, pay $32 to park for three hours by my office, and then drive 15 miles to a meeting. I’m sure they have them in LA by now. If you get a corporate account and your business is a 501(c)(3), they give you a discount – namely, they waive the monthly fee requirement.

@SanFranLefty: I always get the cheapest compact thingy when I rent on biz trips, and they always try to talk me into something bigger. “Don’t you want to feel safer in a more…robust…vehicle?” or some such line. And it’s not just the company line, I can tell, these poor fucks at the counter seem to be really concerned for my safety, as if to drive in a sub-compact car is a death wish.

I love the Zipcar model, but I’m still not sure I could take full advantage here in Sandy Eggo even if they penetrate our market someday.

I really loved making a statement by driving a Mini when I first bought it, five years ago. I should have known, since it’s really a scaled-down Beemer, that my Mini-malist “fuck you” to the SUV culture would bite me in the end. Just when the warranty ran out I took it in for the first service I had to pay for. They wanted something like $1500 to do…I’m still not sure what. Rotate tires, “put it on the computer”, oil change, etc., and to recommend a few other misc. things, each of which would cost at least $500. I won’t buy another one.

Anyway, I’m hoping that by the time I have to consider buying another vehicle circumstances will have changed so much that even here, in Carlandia, we (myself included) will be forced to adapt to alternative modes of transportation.

Let’s Motor! Indeed.

@Pedonator: Have you replaced the clutch yet? BMW put undersized clutches in for some reason.