Gas Prices making a dent ... finally!

Is this why Toyota recently voluntareed raised prices to prevent political retribution in the form of tariffs?

This discussion began by someone posting to suggest that GM was in trouble because their sales were off and it would be a good thing for them to go our of business. My purpose in replying was to point out how wrong it was to assume that. The fact is the market is expanding every year and GM even with a smaller piece of the growing pie is selling more vehicle that it did years ago when the market was only 8,000,000 rather than 17,00,000. Why go off to another field, we were taking about GM and its ability to out sell all other manufactures?

Someone suggest so called junk bonds being a bad thing, again to make it look like GM was going down the tubes which is far from the truth. I earn a lot of money on junk bonds, because they pay a guaranteed higher interest with little or no expectation of losing money.

I wonder what Sigmund would think? One does not read negative posts about other brands all the time in other NGs, like we read in this NG.. It is almost like Toyota owners are trying hard to reinforce there buying decision by pointing out that they think all the models of all the other brands are no good and that simply defies logic.

mike hunt

You are referring to share price alone apparently . How does one adjust for inflation without looking at the dividends over 40 years? I relayed to you my personal experience with GM over 40 years of ownership. GM has done so well that it is the ONLY stock that I did not buy and sell over time as I have with all others

mike hunt

"Mike Hunter" sez:

I Personally would never judge everything a manufacture builds, to be

Indeed, however the infamous 4L60E transmission valve-body torque converter solenoid defect and the notorious leaking intake manifold gaskets on the 5.7 Vortec engines are NOT a single vehicle issues ... they are systemic in GM's designs. As a degreed Mechanical Engineer and lifelong mechanic who does all of the vehicle maintenance and repair on our fleet of cars & motorcycles, I can appreciate good design and disdain poor design. My sole GM ownership experience was the quintessential experience in the latter ... even the factory shop manuals suck compared to the ones put out by Toyota, Honda and Mitsubishi.

Good wrenchin' to ya, VLJ

Again what is you point and you forgot to say in my opinion. I've been on all sides of the business in my time and one vehicle good or bad does not mean they are all good or bad. I've seen Toyotas tyranny's go at as low as

mike hunt

You would have to ask that question of someone at Toyota. Personally I don't care what Toyota does with their pricing. I discovered a long time ago, after owning several Lexus V8s, that they were overpriced and no longer buy their vehicles . I would be happy if they would just offer to pay federal corporate income taxes on the millions they take out of this county every year.

mike hunt

Toyota #1: 1982 Tercel, their cheapest model. Made it to 240,000 miles, would've gone another 240k if someone hadn't driven into it at 75mph. No body rust, even though it spent its life in Rochester NY where road salt is used heavily. Still hadn't finished the quart of oil I bought when I first got the car. It used pretty much none.

Toyota #2: 1987 Corolla wagon, bought used in 1989. Reached 185,000 miles before we sold it because we needed something to tow a small boat. No odd problems whatsoever. Same "quart of oil" situation as car #1.

Toyota #3: Current vehicle. 2002 Tacoma. No nonsense whatsoever.

Previous to owning the Toyotas, and intermingled with them (company cars), I drove 2 Fords and a Chevy. All 3 had ridiculous problems based on poor initial quality control and/or design mistakes.

Now that Toyota is selling car by the millions, rather than the hundreds of thousands, more of their bad one are showing up as well. Get real how about all of the V6 engines with the 'gelling;' problem or the blown head gaskets on Toyotas? Does that mean all Toyotas are junk, I don't think so.. Every manufacture makes good vehicles today and yes some are not up to par even Toyotas

mike hunt

Among others I have a 1941 Continental, a 1974 Mustang and 1971 Pinto that cost $1,985 when new with nearly 300K on the clock that all look and run like new, what's your point. Any vehicle given the proper maintenance will last a long time. What is available on the market toddy is far superior to anything build back when we bought those cars.

mike hunt

Here's an idea: When the big 3 reimburse millions of customers for the total pieces of crap they bought in the mid to late 1970s, then Toyota can be appropriately "punished" for behaving like any other overseas conglomerate.

Just for giggles....

You may run across bonds that are not rated. An unrated bond is not necessarily high in risk. It may be unrated because the municipality is so small or has such modest debt that its bonds have never been rated.

If you personally know the community and if it is well run, you should consider adding its municipals to your portfolio. But plan to hold them to maturity as there probably is very little demand for them and therefore a very small secondary market.

If you know nothing about the issuer of an unrated bond, move on.

The return on bonds isn't "guaranteed" unless you mean by the company. That's why they're rated by bond rating companies.

GM's rating are "junk" meaning "non-investment grade". Meaning pension and banks shouldn't own them. They are high risk. High risk of you not getting back your principal when/if the company goes bankrupt.

You can collect all the coupons you want. If you get back 50 cents on the dollar in principal it won't be worth it. Moreover, if GM wants to borrow new money, it has to pay high rates, because it is such a crappy profitless company. It's a catch 22. Higher interest rates will help push it into bankruptcy.

Re: Gas Prices making a dent ... finally! Group: alt.autos.toyota Date: Tue, Oct 4, 2005, 3:24pm From: snipped-for-privacy@mailcity.com (Mike Hunter) Now that Toyota is selling car by the millions, rather than the hundreds of thousands, more of their bad one are showing up as well. Get real how about all of the V6 engines with the 'gelling;' problem........

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Actually I think gelling was more prevalent in the 4 cyls.

----------------------------------------------- ..... or the blown head gaskets on Toyotas? Does that mean all Toyotas are junk, I don't think so.. Every manufacture makes good vehicles today and yes some are not up to par even Toyotas mike hunt

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I'd have better luck trying to convince a discussion group full of GM owners that Toyota is superior to GM than you do trying to convince this DB that GM is on 'par' with Toyo...

My 95 Chev. Blazer was not unlike the above posters suburban (one problem after another). My pontiac GP was the same way.

I (also) would never, never , ever buy another GM. That is the only way I can ever get justice from a company that ripped me off and could care less of my opinion 'after' they cashed my check.. I hope they go out of business sooner than later.

CP

Death would be the best thing for GM.

I heard on the radio recently that GM starts every vehicle with a $1500 disadvantage compared to the Japanese manufacturers because of medical obligations to retirees. If GM goes truly belly up, someone can buy the wreckage or reorganize them without their crushing obligations. Too bad for the retirees, but that's what you get when you squeeze the company for mega benefits for years even in the face of increasing competition.

My health insurance sucks. I can only dream of the kind of benefits that the UAW gets from the Big Three. Soon, I fear, they will only dream of them as well.

It certainly gives the freedom-hating people of this country enough reason to raise tariffs.

You also have to consider the fact that the government will not have money to bail GM or Ford out, as it's tapped out from Katrina, the bridge to nowhere, and Iraq. GM will have to die a miserable death on its very own. Investors can hope all they want for government intervention...it ain't gonna happen. It will go the way of Enron, Worldcom, Eastern Airline, Arthur Anderson, etc.

No, pretty much just Iraq.

Aren't those the same people who get bent out of shape when other countries raise tarriffs on our exports?

Name a country that tariffs our steel exports.