"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Canuck57" wrote in news:IQOkk.50593$nD.27486
@pd7urf1no:

At least if I buy a Tata Nano for $4000 I know I am getting a cheap car.



Dave, do they have Nanos in Canada, yet?

I'm seriously considering flying to Canada to buy a Smart ForTwo DIESEL
they won't sell me in South Carolina. I found out I can import it as it
is
on the EPA list of excluded cars way back to 2004 Smart Cars so bringing
it
home isn't a problem.

They sure don't lose their value very much. Used 2005 Smart Diesels are
$CN12000 in Toronto.



A storey you may find interesting...
http://www.wheels.ca/article/29504

"Don White" wrote in message
...

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Canuck57" wrote in news:IQOkk.50593$nD.27486
@pd7urf1no:

At least if I buy a Tata Nano for $4000 I know I am getting a cheap car.



Dave, do they have Nanos in Canada, yet?

I'm seriously considering flying to Canada to buy a Smart ForTwo DIESEL
they won't sell me in South Carolina. I found out I can import it as it
is
on the EPA list of excluded cars way back to 2004 Smart Cars so bringing
it
home isn't a problem.

They sure don't lose their value very much. Used 2005 Smart Diesels are
$CN12000 in Toronto.



A storey you may find interesting...
http://www.wheels.ca/article/29504

Amazing how they picked just past mid-summer for that PR test. Right after
seasonal road repairs and ideal driving conditions.

Now how about they try that say on January 10th. Bet it will not be so
easy. Say north shore of Superior, 1-6" of snow every other day at -10C.
Maybe hit a deer in NW Ontario. Or perhaps the -35C with blowing snow of
Manitoba. Get a slight break in SK as -15C is more typical. Get to Calgary
in time for a chinook inversion and get 1 good day before a storm. Rogers
pass, will be fun when you hit the 8" pothole followed with 4" of pack ice.
Then down hill to Vancouver if the axles are not broken.

As a second summer time car though, I bet they are neat. But here are the
economics. I only need one good vehicle. A vehicle depreciates
conservatively at a rate of $3,000 per year. I can't drive 2 at once. If I
have 2 vehicles, I would have to *save* at least $3000 in fuel for it to be
economical. That is 30 tanks! I don't use that much in a year total.

And 30 tanks, I could drive coast to coast easily and pull a boat with 5
passengers. A/C works too.

So, I keep my F150 V8. Works all year for all my needs. Even at -30C it
gets warm enough the inside is habitable. No space problems for 4 flats of
24 beer, fishing gear, hauls a boat and if I drop by Costco and see a fridge
or TV that works I just flip it into the back. Or a load of firewood for
the fireplace. Got me through that ugly December snow storm last winter
from a Montana/Alberta sneak snow storm.

They be fair weather cars. Seen them here, May through October.

"Canuck57" wrote in
news:xcZkk.154620$gc5.54872@pd7urf2no:

If it was in ace shape, offer them $9 or 10K? Also consider Winnipeg.

Canadians are just figuring it out, while it is nice to have one
vehicle that is "green" and efficient, the other still needs to be a
4x4 V8 or V6. Where I live, every 3rd vehicle is a truck, SUT or SUV.
They don't plough my road in winter and only see the Smart Car up the
road from May to early November. Makes more sense in SC, nice state
BTW.



Thanks for the advise. I didn't think of the snow problem. Here, it's the
heat. I have a remote sensor digital thermometer on the intake of my AC
unit where it can actually measure the air, not the radiation. It's
reading 92.8F at 1PM and I live on the river which cools the place off a
bit. In the parking lot at the mall, crowded today by an annual back to
school even the state runs called "Tax Free Weekend", where the sales tax
machine is turned off for ONLY A FEW items kids need for school making the
parking lot full, it will be 50C outside and 70C inside those locked up
cars! Air conditioning is to South Carolinians like snow tires and tire
chains are to Canadians....(c;

"Don White" wrote in news:48946978$0$4011
:

http://www.wheels.ca/article/29504

Wow! Thanks!

"By the numbers

Distance (Halifax to Vancouver): 6,168 km
Diesel fuel used (total): 337 litres
Average fuel consumption: 5L/100 km
Total cost of fuel (average $1.05/L): $353.85"

His diesel must be set a little rich and there are several programmers for
the EPROMS in it to improve the mileage. A team of Italian auto
journalists took a smart from Rome to Nuremberg over the mountains and got
3.3L/100km with two adults aboard and luggage. I think it depends on their
driving habits, too. He was trying to rush it in 9 days so probably kept
his foot in the injection pump most of the way, giving us a sort of worst-
case-scenario figure.

It's just awful that driving this tiny diesel car STILL costs $CN350 to go
across.....in a country with plenty of oil...but the same central bankers
as us.

"Canuck57" wrote in news:_D_kk.51817$nD.36480
@pd7urf1no:

Now how about they try that say on January 10th.

If they have any brains, they'd be driving it across from Miami to San
Diego on January 10th, leaving the snow to the boys from Possum Lodge!

"Eisboch" wrote in
:

That's how I understand the current situation. I also heard or read
that Mercedes was going after the company that was importing and
modifying them to curtail their business.

You need to make sure you are buying from a dealer who is officially
authorized by Mercedes. Otherwise, warranty issues may not be
honored.


I won't buy a warrantied new car unless I'm forced to. For the
difference in price between new and 2 year old used anything, I can set
up my own repair shop and staff it with the finest mechanics. I haven't
played the dealer-to-get-warranty-work-fiasco in decades. I want
professional mechanics to work on my cars, not some low life the dealers
hire.

In Charleston, SC, that would be Star Motor Service:
http://www.starmotor.com/
The best Mercedes mechanic, one of Star's owners, was killed in an
unfortunate motorcycle accident a couple years back, but his brother
still owns the business and you'll find him, not in the office, but out
under the cars where he's been since I met him in the 1980's, when they
worked out of a rented garage and didn't have a pot to **** in when they
came here from Germany. The facility and reputation speak for
themselves. Owners drive from Charlotte and Atlanta to Star for expert
overhauls on fine Mercedes cars. One of the classics they stow for a
millionaire collector is Chairman Mao's 1966 600 Pullman limo, complete
with Chinese Communist flags and a phone stalk of rotary dial carphones
in the passenger compartment that is fully bullet proof. I've ridden in
it right where Mao sat! Star rebuilt it for the owner when he bought
it, drove it to Charlotte for the Mercedes car show and brought back
several trophies for their trouble....in grand style, of course. It's a
monster!

When Stephan was alive, I called him to see if I could get some help for
a Canadian sloop that had a cracked fuel filter housing on its Mercedes
aux engine. Steve said sure and for me to ask the owners if they minded
him bringing his boys with him to see the boat. It was fine. Steve
lived for his kids and this was on their time with him, the weekend.

He removed the cracked fuel filter and took it to his shop on Saturday
morning. He heliarc welded the housing and machined it so you could
barely detect where the crack used to be. Back to the boat, he
reinstalled it and they all took the boat out into the harbor for "sea
trials" as the Canadians called it to let the boys have a hand in
sailing this beautiful yacht. Sea trials lasted until nearly dark,
Steve's boys now proper sailors, and he refused the yacht owners offer
to pay him for his lost Saturday.

It's too bad he's gone. His boys miss him something awful, all 4 of
them!

With service like this at our disposal, warranty service by some clods
at a dealership just isn't a good idea. I'll be glad to pay. My
mechanic is Melan at Star. He's from the former Czechoslovakia and is
simply amazing to watch working on the cars. Unable to get a ball end
socket that's part of the windscreen wipers for my 1973 220D antique, he
fabricated a new one in short order that's working perfect. Like the
Reinerts, he worked for Mercedes in Stuttgart, too, going through their
whole apprentice program before working in the factory....(c;

No thanks. I don't need warranty service and a $20,000 depreciation.

"Canuck57" wrote in
news:1IYkk.51720$nD.39029@pd7urf1no:

http://jalopnik.com/343003/the-2500-...eiled-in-india

Doubtful, they would have to price them for $25,000 not $2500. Easier
to import them. Once the India market is saturated, maybe they will.
I also hear China has a 4x4 SUV for under $10K.


The Tata Nano rollout video is on YouTube.

I think America IS ready for another Yugo-priced car. I suspect the Nano
is far better quality than the Yugo was, however. Asian cars, even the
cheapest ones, are better than what UAW slaps together, not giving a damn
about anything but paycheck.

Our corporations are the ones at fault. They built the crap, now are going
to have to eat it, too.

GM took back all the EV-1's because the DEALERS were furious it didn't need
so much SERVICE at their overpriced shops. The lucky people who road
tested them for a year loved them and begged GM to sell their cars to them.
GM said no and sent around the repo companies to steal them back when the
testers refused to turn them in.

GM is the stupidest elephant on the planet....

On Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:07:04 +0000, Larry wrote:

o thanks. I don't need warranty service and a $20,000 depreciation.

We bought a Lincoln Navigator, two years old, for twenty less than
new, with sixty five thousand on it. It developed a leaking valve
guide at one seventy five. What service? The spark plugs that we
replaced at a hundred thousand were still good.

Casady

"Richard Casady" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:07:04 +0000, Larry wrote:

o thanks. I don't need warranty service and a $20,000 depreciation.

We bought a Lincoln Navigator, two years old, for twenty less than
new, with sixty five thousand on it. It developed a leaking valve
guide at one seventy five. What service? The spark plugs that we
replaced at a hundred thousand were still good.

Casady


Ever see how they replace the spark plugs on a Navigator?
Interesting.

BTW .... Mrs.E. wouldn't part with hers even if gas went to 10 bucks a
gallon.

Eisboch

"Larry" wrote in message
...

GM took back all the EV-1's because the DEALERS were furious it didn't
need
so much SERVICE at their overpriced shops. The lucky people who road
tested them for a year loved them and begged GM to sell their cars to
them.
GM said no and sent around the repo companies to steal them back when the
testers refused to turn them in.

GM is the stupidest elephant on the planet....

GM, my guess will be bankrupt inside of 16 months if not bought out. The
only thing holding them up is would you want to be the banker to go to your
boss and say guess what, we are just about to have a multi-billion dollar
default? How they can eat a loss like this with the debt load... has to
hurt. In fact, bankers probably are moving in now (if they were smart).

Chrysler has been quiet as of late. But the private equity partners via
Cerberus Capital Management in the Chrysler deal must be livid. They seem
to be restructuring (shell game) putting possible winners into one pool and
liabilities in another. Sort of like dump the dogs into one company and let
it die. While the other one takes off. Legal yes, moral, not so sure. The
20B+ pension liability is a dog. I feel sorry for those that will get the
pension burn here.

Ford, hard to tell. They are on a knifes edge but the only Detroit 3 that
has much of a chance if any. Depends if the "family" can motivate lethargic
management and kick some union ass real hard. Tata would like a peace of
their market and the competition fierce.

I wouldn't invest in these three unless they were well timed shorts. Looks
like a company I left in 1995 is also drowning more shareholder value,
NorTel. But that is another story.