Bail Out

I'm not really sure what to think about the possible bail out of the big three auto makers. I do know this: my thoughts are a bit different since owning my first (that I've purchased) American made car.

I like the Mariner. It's a great car - and certainly, using only $19.97 cents in gas the past three weeks is GREAT! I'm pretty much on electric the entire trip home each night - and on electric for a portion of my morning commute as well. I'm driving across town a bit in the AM to Starbucks and so the engine uses more gas at higher speeds. But the entirely residential neighborhood 'commute' home is all electric. I love that I fill up every few weeks...and that's a great thing.

But honestly, I don't love the Mariner. It's not as 'nice' as my Honda. There are so many little details that have been left out of this car - and maybe those who have driven American all their lives don't care - but if they'd ever driven an import before and are now driving American, I guarantee you they HAVE noticed. And like me, they probably miss those little niceties.

For example: there is a 'compartment' in the Mariner for glasses. Comes in handy for sun glasses, etc. Except we're currently using that to hold the garage door opener - because one of the missing 'nice touches' is the feature of a built-in button that you program to open your garage. Both my Honda's had it. J's Camry has it. But the Mariner does not - so I have to have an opener with me. So it's in the eyeglass compartment.

And that eyeglass compartment has a 'latch' - you have to physically 'click' the two pieces together to release the latch. On the Honda, you just 'touched' the compartment - a light touch - and it was 'spring loaded' and glided open, all on it's own. I miss that, too.

The Mariner is cheaply made - and it shows in these little details. It sort of bugs me every time I drive it - how you can't defrost the back window and the front window at the same time. NO, I'm not kidding. You can only select ONE option at a time - so you select and sit and wait. Then reselect and sit and wait. It'd really piss me off if I didn't find it kind of amusing.

I also miss having a 'hi/low' setting for my heated leather seats. Yes, the Mariner has them...a nice luxury on cold winter mornings. But the Mariner only has 'on/off' as the option - and the heating mechanism fires up to 'holy crap, my butt's on fire' pretty darn fast...so you turn it off. And then, only moments later, your tush is freezing again - so you turn it on. There's only two option: on or off. The Honda had 'hi and low' which helped with the 'extremely, uncomfortably hot' feeling you eventually got on 'hi'. In the Mariner, it's basically off and then on, with the accompanying 'wow, it's hot!' - no other option but off will resolve that feeling. I miss 'hi/low'.

So it's a bit hard for me to accept that the big three require billions of dollars in bail out money. They require it because, for the most part, they are not building cars that people flock to buy. They are building cars that people 'settle' for. I was feeling 'proud' of our decision to support our economy by purchasing an American made vehicle. But truthfully - it's not a well made car. It's full of compromises -all designed to keep the price down, I'm sure.

I don't begrudge American autoworkers making a decent living. But I'm not sure the product they are working on is ever going to reach the standards of imports. And that is the crux of the issue: we are bailing them out because they have failed to come up with a profitable business plan. They have failed to build a car with features that compete with imports - and they build these 'less-than' cars paying wages that many Americans would give anything to be making. THAT is why they are requiring a bail out. People aren't going to buy these cars - I doubt I will ever purchase another American made car ever again - and until they make a car that people covet, they will continue to require 'bailing out'.

While their CEOs fly everywhere in private jets and bring home millions of dollars in bonuses and incentives, they continue to build marginal cars. That's why they need a bail out. These are extraordinary times - no doubt. I know that if the big three fail, and those workers become unemployed, it will be a blow to our economy that will ripple through the economy for years to come. So maybe just the reality of 'we are where we are and we have to do something to stop the bleeding' is justification enough?

I'm just not sure our tax dollars should be used to bail out failing business plans. I'm not sure that's the right thing to do with our tax dollars.

If Obama were the guy in charge, I'd feel differently. But the guy in office currently does not have my confidence - nor the confidence of most of America - so it's hard to feel confident about anything that's currently being proposed. I don't think any of those people have any idea what they're doing....

One more month. Just one more month. I hope we make it.