With parts coming from everywhere, does "Buying American" have much meaning anymore? Is quality and price the bottom line?
- #6683 of 7263
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Re: Big Day Coming Up!!!!!!!! [bumpy]
by gagrice
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Dec 05, 2008 (7:14 am)
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Replying to: bumpy (Dec 04, 2008 8:38 am)
You got me on that one. I guess in my mind there is NEVER a good time to buy a Prius or any other hybrid. Right now is a good time to buy most any car you like as they are all pretty much red tagged. I got a notice from my Mercedes dealer. As much as $30,000 off of selected models.
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- #6684 of 7263
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Re: imidaz [marsha7]
by gagrice
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Dec 05, 2008 (7:28 am)
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Replying to: marsha7 (Dec 04, 2008 9:48 am)
the actual name for that, no surprise, is "pattern bargaining"
That is how it works. The Teamsters moved our contract date to be first every 3 years. They knew our management was weak. We were also a Co-op so it was easy to get past the board. We would get a nice raise and then they would go after the much bigger AT&T bargaining unit showing the current market wage. Most of the time it worked as we had a reputation for stealing the good techs from AT&T.
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- #6685 of 7263
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Re: Big Day Coming Up!!!!!!!! [gagrice]
by fintail
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Dec 05, 2008 (7:36 am)
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Replying to: gagrice (Dec 05, 2008 7:14 am)
Of course that's for a car that bases at around 150K and has many witheringly expensive options available...and has such steep depreciation that if you trade it in 5-6 years and only 30K miles, you'll cry at the offers you receive.
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- #6686 of 7263
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Escalade Hybrid [62vetteefp]
by gagrice
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Dec 05, 2008 (7:42 am)
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Replying to: 62vetteefp (Dec 04, 2008 10:53 am)
The new Escalade Hybrid does not match up in any way to the competition. The GL320 CDI is also made in America and will tow 2000 lbs more and is rated 23 MPG highway. I talked to an owner that gets 28 MPG cruising 75 MPH all day. And the Mercedes is about $10k less than the Caddy. Is the Escalade built in the USA or one of our neighbors?
To me the Escalade is better looking than the Mercedes GL. Unless they have changed the seats in the Escalade since 2007 they are not comfortable for me. I really liked the seats in the 2006 and earlier. New ones are too hard, feel like foam on plywood.
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- #6687 of 7263
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Re: Big Day Coming Up!!!!!!!! [fintail]
by gagrice
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Dec 05, 2008 (7:50 am)
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Replying to: fintail (Dec 05, 2008 7:36 am)
Why don't the high end Mercedes hold their value better? I had a couple try to trade a S600 with very low miles on my Mercedes Sprinter RV. I was tempted as it was a NICE car and the V12 sounded great. They only wanted $30k in trade which seemed very good. I just did not need another big car.
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- #6688 of 7263
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Re: Big Day Coming Up!!!!!!!! [fintail]
by imidazol97
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Dec 05, 2008 (8:41 am)
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Replying to: fintail (Dec 05, 2008 7:36 am)
>...and has such steep depreciation that if you trade it in 5-6 years and only 30K miles
It's now a US car. I thought from reading opinions here that only US brand cars had depreciation? Mercedes Deutsch ist.
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- #6689 of 7263
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Re: Big Day Coming Up!!!!!!!! [gagrice]
by grbeck
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Dec 05, 2008 (9:05 am)
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Replying to: gagrice (Dec 05, 2008 7:50 am)
gagrice: Why don't the high end Mercedes hold their value better?
They cost a fortune to fix when out of warranty. Unless you have very deep pockets, or are friends with a competent, reasonably low-cost mechanic, it's best to stay away from used, high-end German luxury cars.
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- #6690 of 7263
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Re: Big Day Coming Up!!!!!!!! [gagrice]
by fintail
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Dec 05, 2008 (10:55 am)
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Replying to: gagrice (Dec 05, 2008 7:50 am)
What grbeck said, and a W220 S600 is an especially risky proposition as it has an endless amount of problem areas compared to earlier V12 models. They are beautiful comfortable cars, but so insanely complex and made of such expensive parts. They have a siren song that lures you in, but unless you know what you are doing, you'll be eaten alive. 30K would probably get you an (updated) 03 model that stickered for 150K+ when new. I'd keep away from all but AMG models, which do seem to have somewhat better luck - but some of those can be iffy too, especially 03s it seems.
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- #6691 of 7263
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Re: Big Day Coming Up!!!!!!!! [imidazol97]
by fintail
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Dec 05, 2008 (11:27 am)
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Replying to: imidazol97 (Dec 05, 2008 8:41 am)
The bigger they are, the harder they fall. I shudder to think what a 150K Caddy would be worth in 6 years.
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- #6692 of 7263
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Re: Big Day Coming Up!!!!!!!! [fintail]
by lemko
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Dec 05, 2008 (11:32 am)
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Replying to: fintail (Dec 05, 2008 11:27 am)
There is no such thing as a $150K Cadillac and if there was, I doubt very much I'd buy it... that is unless it looked like my 1989 Cadillac Brougham, had all of today's technology, Corvette-like performance and Maybach-quality materials.
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