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Too bad usury laws went away.
One, usury laws should be in place. If the person is a poor risk don't loan them money. I am tired of picking up the tab when the banks make bad loans.
Second, the high risk borrowers need to lower their standards on car purchases. This gets back to the usury laws. Buy a $5000 whooper at 12% interest for 3 years and keep your payments under $200 a month. If you cannot afford that at minimum wage better get a bike and a job close to where you live.
10 year Old GM cars can be great buys.
Bloomberg is trying to put a different spin on VW's numbers.
"The Volkswagen Group further strengthened its position in the global markets in the first three months of fiscal year 2013, despite the challenging conditions and intense competition. Including China, deliveries increased by 4.8 percent to 2.3 million vehicles worldwide. The Group's share of the global passenger car market rose year-on-year to 12.6 percent (12.2 percent)."
I'd be more concerned with a student loan collapse than car loans.
My sister has lived gone to college and worked in Seattle since the late 1960s. She has never owned a car. Rides her bike everywhere she goes. I would imagine she takes it on the bus as well.
The student loan issue is big as well. The difference you cannot get rid of a student loan with foreclosure, repossesion or bankruptcy. Dying is the only way to get rid of a student loan provided you are not married and pass it onto a spouse.
Student loans also have zero collateral. At least with a car or cardboard house, it can be sold off.
Try getting to work in your part of San Diego County. :shades:
Now go get a job waiting tables in Seattle and try finding affordable housing without a two hour bus ride. Maybe in a VW Bus, shared with a half dozen co-workers.
(like the way I slipped VW in there? )
As a matter of fact the owner of a snowboard and skateboard factory lives near me. He rides his skate board to the bus then transfers to the trolley and makes it all the way 35 miles to his San Diego Harbor factory every day. Fact is we are spoiled having cars. Last I checked we are still free to live where ever we can afford to live. Get close enough to walk if you don't want a two hour bus ride or a 3000 mile airplane ride that I had every 3 weeks for 25 years. Don't make excuses for people that feel entitled to more than they have.
If you feel you have to have a car, buy an old VW Bug.
“While it was a challenging month, particularly in the compact and midsize sedan segments, we remain solidly focused on our long-term growth strategy,” said Jonathan Browning, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, in a statement."
Detroit 3 gain market share in April on strength of pickups, crossovers and luxury cars (Detroit Free Press)
Reality is what it is. Lamenting will not change it. The folks running the show feel they need to flood our country with more cheap laborers and while regulating the jobs out of the country. The Elephants and jackasses agree that making citizens out of anyone that crosses the border is a win win for both of them. The working man on the bottom of the pile is screwed.
It is only the lucky few that get jobs in the VW auto factory.
I won't disagree about your basic slant regarding those workers. They'll end up taking those high interest high risk loans that keep some GM models moving, and most of them will pay the note, too.
Are you sure? I see more and more people living in tents and their cars. Just announced that we are at the lowest home ownership in 18 years. You can afford a condo. That puts you in a higher bracket than most.
With the banks borrowing from the Fed at near Zero and lending at very high rates, emphazises this Federal Government is not interested in the American people. Consumer interest should be capped at 5% over prime.
Lower home ownership might not be all bad. The very unstable work climate today demands it - I know quite a few people who have moved many states for jobs. Hard to do with a mortgage looming over you, especially if you aren't old enough to have any real equity. It might make for a more flexible workforce, like can be seen in the competition we are supposed to mimic, right? Also more money for other things if the situation is like it is here, and rents are often far lower than the carrying costs of a mortgage.
I would have been dumb to buy that condo when I moved here, and I still see it as a bad investment.
Maybe interest other than mortgages should be tax deductible, too. No reason realtors and contractors should receive defacto subsidies.
I agree with you. You can rent in CA far cheaper than owning. I am sure Seattle is the same way. Out here in small town midwest you pay $1100 to $1200 rent on an $80k home. Makes buying a much better option.
I would have been dumb to buy that condo when I moved here, and I still see it as a bad investment.
Again I agree with you. I don't think Seattle has felt the pain of CA, AZ, NV or FL homeowners. With our dollars shrinking in value how much longer will the rest of the USA maintain higher prices?
I wandered through the Toyota, Lexus, Chrysler & Jeep showrooms this morning. They were all dead here in So Indiana. I think the only thing keeping US going is the Fed printing more money.
PS
all consumer interest was deductible at one time. Not sure who took it away.
So most all the working stiffs at the Volkswagen factories down in Toluca and Veracruz State own their own spots. Great bus system down there too. :shades:
The economy and property values aren't dead everywhere. Seems PNW, Bay Area, Austin, NYC metro etc are slowly coming back, and I've read Phoenix and some parts of FL are stable now too.
Last Sunday, Honda, Toyota, and Lexus here were packed, and even the MB dealer had people coming in. I bet the domestics had customers too, with their improved lineups. The economy is now as regionally divided as politics itself.
We will soon be in this condition in CA.
I think this is the way it should be, and mortgage interest should also not be deductible, in my opinion. Why? Deductions distort markets, for homes and consumer goods alike, and were motivated by political motives. That's not a good thing. We don't need these two types of social engineering measures. For a reality check, look at Canada's housing market. It's very viable and serves that country's needs well. Also, our car and truck markets seem to be doing just fine without interest deductions on auto loans.
Since homes are often peoples' biggest asset, I believe that the elimination of the mortgage interest deduction should be done gradually, over a period of, say, 12-15 years, to give consumers and investors adequate time to adjust.
The revenue gains from eliminating these deductions should be used to balance the budget, to pay down our national debt, if possible, to reduce tax rates, or some combination of these. Better minds than mine could determine how the revenue from closing the mortgage deduction loophole should be allocated. This would benefit all Americans, in the long run.
"mortgage interest deduction who benefits"
The average working stiff does NOT benefit from the mortgage interest deduction. I have worked hard all of my life, I have been a home owner for the last 35 years (4 different houses), and I have never once claimed that deduction.
Another issue is that I think we just don't do a very good job teaching people about incremental math or marginal analysis. Too many seem to have trouble understanding that if they get a 28% tax write off on a big mortgage, they are still paying compound interest on 72% of the balance. Then they forget about maintenance, insurance and taxes that are incurred each year. Not just individuals, I've seen many businesses like local restaurants fall for this realtor "tax" propaganda and end up out of business. They did fine in rented storefronts, but once they built I don't think they thought out the total cash outlays involved each year.
End 'em, use the proceeds to lower corporate taxes, and see if the squawkers who support that can put up.
...and in the US the federal reserve will create and pop financial bubbles for you (seems about every decade)
Country: Germany
Industry: Consumer Durables The world’s largest automaker is also the only one to make the top 25 this year. Volkswagen sold 9.3 million cars in 2012, up 12.2% from the prior year.
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/edjl45efeik/volkswagen-group/
"Toyota sold 9.7 million cars and trucks last year, compared to GM’s 9.29 million and VW’s 9.1 million."
They're all very close, that's for sure.
If I were a shareholder, that would concern me because those warranty costs hurt the bottom line. If I were a car buyer, that would concern me because I'd worry about being in the shop too much. At least the trend for VW is down, even if the numbers are still higher than the other big manufacturers.
I have a question concerning those warranty costs. When I had my Passat TDI in for a new gas cover. They gave me a free loaner car. I understand MB and BMW do that as well. I know Toyota does NOT do that. Not sure about Lexus. It was hit and miss with my wife and her Lexus warranty work.
And VW has actually increased US production with the new VW plant.
GM's obligations are to the shareholders and the taxpayer/shareholders are bailing out.
Don't forget about all the incentives VW got from various city, state and federal entities down in Chattanooga. I bet the payback period will be a couple of decades, assuming they ever dry up. Something tells me Chattanooga State will be teaching "how to work at VW" for a long time.
One of my nephew recently got a degree there in "how to work for an auto supplier" not long ago. Got a job right away making plastic interior bits for cars, among other things.
I am sure all the domestics have benefited from that sort of corruption as well. That is far different than taking Federal dollars and bailing out an automaker or a bank or whatever. Not only bailing out the auto maker, but bailing out the Union Pension plans that were way underfunded.
Then GM shows their gratitude by slowly moving their factories out of the USA. Spending OUR Tax dollars to screw US workers. Biggest GM seller Silverado PU truck. 2007 model 90% US/Canada content. 2014 Silverado 40% US/Canada content. You be the judge.
All the rest is just trying to categorize and justify how the money is spent.
GM gets massive pile of tax dollars to keep jobs and expand in USA. Instead they expand elsewhere protecting a few union jobs and pensions in the USA. How have I the CA tax payer benefited in any way? If the states with GM/Chrysler plants had ponied up the tax dollars that would be different. Not only did they use a disproportionate amount of CA tax dollars. They closed the only domestic auto factory in CA. Putting 4700 UAW folks onto our welfare roles and breadline. CA is broke, with the highest poverty in the nation. We cannot afford to keep Michigan afloat.
Did I get a car, cooler, T-shirt with GM's logo? Nope.
Did I want my money going to this "bailout" NO.
Fiat paid us back.
How long before more clowns from GM fly to DC in corporate jets to try to steal more of our money?
That's just another name for tax dollars.
One example of how bailing out GM helped California - GM has ~225 dealers there (the largest car market in the US).
Meanwhile VW profits go back to the German state of Lower Saxony. I don't know why Upper Saxony got left out in the cold. :P