Best Of

I can see scapegoating Daimler, Cerebus, and the 2008/09 meltdown, but what are the excuses for Chrysler's first round of bailouts, at a time as I understand it, the other Big 2 didn't need bailouts.

Less of a bailout and more loan guarantees. Chrysler paid back the loans early.

Same thing by a different name. I'm sure there are a lot of failed businesses that could have used loans and loan guarantees prior to going out of business to keep them from going out of business.

People say the more recent bailouts were "paid back" but the truth is that statement is false if you understand basic math and accounting. Billions were lost/wasted/thrown away.

Opportunity cost.... not even factored in.

Sorry, no. A bailout has no expectation of being paid back. Uncle Sam worked with the banks to set up the loans to Chrysler, with pretty favorable terms. Chrysler paid back every dime, with interest, ahead of schedule.

Can't speak to the more recent "bailouts" of GM and Chrysler, or all the banks in 2008.

I do know our small business was awarded a COVID relief "grant" from the gov't when we were shut down. That money, while not a lot in absolute terms, allowed us to keep the doors open - when we were allowed to reopen them. No expectation of paying it back.

And, to set the record straight, these were not the "payroll" loans or relief which were highly scammed. We never have had enough staff - full or part time - to qualify.

Thoughts on replacing a spare donut after 10 years? Getting the tires rotated on the Outback, and Discount is recommending that I do this.

I don’t think I’ve ever had the spare out of the well, but I do know that they can dry rot over time.

Roughly $100, give or take.

Really depends on the condition of the spare! It lives in close to the best possible environment down in that well.... no sun, no abrasion, no risk of damage. The biggest risk with a donut spare is that you won't have good pressure in it when/if you do need it simply due to being out of sight and out of mind.

If you have used it before, left it outside for extended periods, or run it while low on air, then yeah, probably worth replacing. If you put some 303 protectant on it once every few years, it will last forever even with some use or abuse. Otherwise, It will most likely last the life of the car.

You can probably usually find a compressor, but a replacement wheel/tire may be much harder to come by, especially in remote areas or on a weekend. So the worst that could happen is your spare doesn't get you all the way to where you need to go; so if remote driving isn't in your future; I'd take my chances.