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RexHea;130415 [B said:
Anyone:[/B] do you know why they are closing dealers that are successful? None of this makes since to me, please clue me in. I thought that by the dealership being privately owned, they are financially independent of the manufacturer. I know that dealers finance their orders through their Financial Services (CFS,GMAC, FFS,) but they are a separate Corporation from the manufacturer (sort-of :D).

Many in the Birmingham area will have to drive 30 or more miles just to get their cars serviced and it is worse in the smaller towns (a Chevy dealer in Eutaw, AL is closing and the car owners will have to drive 55 miles to T-town). I know if I were looking for a new truck, I may think twice about having to drive many miles to look at one. Probably go with a second choice that is within my area.

Just don't see how this helps the manufacturers' financial woes.:confused: I saw on the news that several of our Congressman are asking the same questions and want to investigate the viability of all this.

WAIT!! I got it...they are going to go to the HUB system like all the airlines.:eek::mad:
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This is all I'm going to say on this and leave it at that: JMO

Simple math Rex, If yer not with him your against him and they will hurt you! Trust me when I say this it's starting slowly but when it gains momentum LOOK OUT! They start going after the talk shows and popular figures who are not with him. Then when they get them out of the way everyone else is next! SIMPLE really:rolleyes: Sounds crazy but it's happening:( This is all I'm going to say on this! JMO


On the lighter note, The track Came in for my N scale diorama!:D I got trains running:D:D I just need to get one switch and I can start on scenery:D:D I'll do that during my vacation! I'll post some pic's tonight in my album of what I got so far!
 
Good morning folks

It was 66 F as I headed out this morning. High will be 74 F with the possibility of thunderstorms. We had quite a light show roll through about 3:30 AM overnight. The booming woke the entire house at one point.

Yesterday was easier than most. The only evening activity was my daughter’s softball game. Afterward I had to do some Scout stuff. After that it was just sitting around and enjoying the evening.

Tonight my son has a baseball game.

I hope everybody has a good day.
 
Good morning folks.

I forgot to mention that my sister in-law is twenty nine. Most of the people will be between the ages of twenty five and sixty. The graduate did say something about having her hot friends come over. Then she said, " why am I telling you this, you're a married man?" Then she proceeded to joke about her getting drunk enough to get naked and jump in the pool. I said I would pay for the whole party if that happens!

My thinking on the car situation is this. They are looking at total volume of cars being sold, not just profitability. A smaller dealership may make money, but they are selling ten percent of the cars that the big guy is. If they shut down the dealerships that are small, the big ones have a better chance of being profitable while selling more cars. I'm not sure this is a good idea, but it would seem that this would seem logical to them. Now the downfall is relying on the theory that bigger is always better. In business it sure hasn't helped the consumer. This is my two cents on the subject.

I have a busy day today trying to get ready to go to Vegas. Really all I need to do is pack my bags. That is, if my wife does everything she said she'd do. She's a stay at home mom now with no kids! She had better get everything done!

I hope to resume my modeling when I return from vacation. I made great progress over a few weeks, now nothing. I think it's because my days off are being ripped from me and filled with family stuff. That will have to stop after five days of family, group living. I think we'll all need a break.

After three days, family, friends, and fish stink!

Have a great day!
 


Good Morning People --

Some of you guys---Phil?--got clobbered pretty good last night. NOT fun. We're going to get a mix of sun/cloud with the possibility of a few showers later. Afternoon highs of 19-22C for the next few days and lows going to 8-11C---somewhat normal this time of year----

Chris, Rex I'm seeing some of that up here. I'm suspecting that what they're going on has NOTHING at all to do with how well the dealer is doing but on sheer panic. This is what a few of my sociologist friends are calling "Panic Leadership for Panic Times". This is what happens when certain members of the Ruling Classes go all coocoo and start running amok. But to think that some areas are getting absolutely hammered when it comes to the closing of dealerships makes me wonder whether they have it out for some areas that didn't vote in a certain direction-----keep the ear close to the ground-:eek::(

Client I was going to see is seriously ill today:eek::( so I'm doing office work today instead:rolleyes:----give me my Friday a little earlier----heeheehee:)
After all the paperwork is done then I'll get some more of the rolling stock wheelsets switched out-----:):)
 
Y'all are going to give me a complex!
You moved the Coffee Shop and didn't leave a sign on the old door....twice in a row. I promise to buy a new deoderant today!

REX-My cousin and wife left this morning and are headed back to Hoosier Land. Even in T-town, we frown on bragging about being married to your cousin.:rolleyes: How long a list of honey-dos did she leave for you?

About the auto dealer "consolidation", what do you expect after Obama told Chrysler and GM, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you."

And the funny thing is the small town banks are solvent and are the ones with money to loan for new cars. Just another example of government supply and demand economics!

Sorry! Hope this dosen't get edited by a moderator for political content.
 
MAN! That was INTENSE!
Golf ball sized hail (and LARGER!!!), nearly 5" of rain in 30 minutes, and 70mph straightline winds (the rail and hail were going sideways!). Lots of cars around here have massive hail damage, but it's the goofiest thing......all the damage is on the sides of the cars! The hood, roof, and trunk are fine! The doors, quarter panels and fenders are shot! And a few minutes later, the sun just came out! Go figure!

Here's some shots:
http://blogs.wishtv.com/2009/06/02/hail-pictures/
http://blogs.wishtv.com/files/2009/06/vipir20.jpg
 
Morning gang!
Hmmm,,, Corey is gonna be gone for 3 days??? Hey Chris, road trip/party????
Phil all I can say is YIKES!! :eek:
As far as the Car bidness,,,I wonder how many dealers are closing just cuz they are not making money? We recently had a LARGE Chevy store of the west side of B-more close because they couldn't pay thier rent. I guess that happens when you go from selling 350 cars & trucks a month down to less than 100. Another area dealer just closed all his Domestic stores (4 or 5) and kept his Hyundai dealership only! :confused:
Chris, Methinks you are paranoid. The way I see it, the tide is slowly turning, and by the end of his 1st term, the "wunderkind" will have the media nipping at his heels at every turn. I'm not saying that anyone else would do better in that position, just that the "love affair" will be over by then.
Well, gotta run, I'll be back later.
Oh! BTW, REX, were you calling me OLD???? :mad::D:rolleyes:
TTYL
 


You guys ready for some lunch? Hey Flo, bring yourself and the menu over here.

About the car dealership. Naw, I'm not trying to get anything political going, just trying to understand the logic or reasoning used to close profitable dealerships (:eek: Sorry, delete logic and reasoning.) and see if my forum colleagues may throw some light on this . My understanding that at least on the surface, this is a corporate move. It doesn't seem based on anything (obvious). Is this not like firing all your salesman? How does it help the corporation to close something that doesn't cost them a dime, but makes them money...or am I missing something? One dealership in Birmingham was 3d in the southeast for total sales of their brands. Seems cutting about half of the produced models would do more good. I have given up trying to identify the types of autos out there now.

For you Economists: explain to me why retailers continue to raise prices when they know people are losing jobs and tightening their monies....if they have any at all. It would seem that more sales at a lower price are better than fewer sales at a higher price. Jeeze, there I go using layman logic.

REX-My cousin and wife left this morning and are headed back to Hoosier Land. Even in T-town, we frown on bragging about being married to your cousin.
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Uh...let me rewrite that: My cousin and HIS wife.....LOL:D:D

.....Then she proceeded to joke about her getting drunk enough to get naked and jump in the pool. I said I would pay for the whole party if that happens!
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:eek: Careful! You're going to get into deep doo-doo :D.

Karl: Why, heck no!! Just saying you may have some insight. :rolleyes::D

Bob: Looking forward to seeing photos of that layout.
 
Afternoon everyone.

With regards to why car dealerships are being closed up, Slate has a real good article explaining this at http://www.slate.com/id/2218761/. It comes down to the economics of fewer dealers selling more cars per dealership. I also sense a certain amount of revenge in the closings. Car dealerships that gave GM amd Chysler too much grief over the years about warranty work reimbusement and finance pricing are now getting whacked as payback. We had a local dealership that was well known for trying to help customers get work covered by the warranty when it fell into a gray area. Everyone loved them for treating the customer right. They were first on the Chrysler list to get terminated even though they were profitable.

Rex, I resemble that remark about being old. :) OTOH, I'm wise enough now to know when a good nap is more important than working in the sun for a few hours. Did you ever get any of the rain yesterday? It looked good on radar.

Chris, I'm not much into tinfoil hats or black helicopters but I agree with your basic premise. We have seen an unprecedented amount of subtle and not so subtle threats that you'd better be on the right side of issues if you want help or don't want to be punished.

Corey, I'm with Rex in saying that naked sister-in-law's are the path to trouble. Of course, we'd all like to see the video if the party gets going good. :D

Phillip, that's some pretty impressive hail. It is kind of odd that most of the vehicles got hail damage on their sides. I guess it must have been the high winds blowing the hail in a horizontal plane or something.

Karl, we've had several dealers close in the Montgomery area, including one of the largest and oldest multi-line dealers. These were not mandated by the car companies, it was pure economics. When you have your sales volume fall by two-thirds, it gets mighty hard to pay the bills. The figures I've read anticipate a sales volume of 10 million units this year, which I think is wildly optimistic. There were over 17 million units sold in 2007. With a volume drop like that, something has to give. I like your dad's comment to the nurse. Us old guys can be pretty witty at times. :D

Jeffrey, how is you mom doing?

Hotter than blazes down here again with a temperature of 94. I'm hoping we get some thunderstorms on yesterday's old outflow boundries but, so far, we are being cut off from moisture by convection along the coast. That may change later this afternoon and evening. I hope so since we really need some rain now.
 
Went to Alexandria this morning while it was still cool (no AC in the car) and picked up two more covered hoppers at the LHS. One is a 55' Southern Pacific ACF center flow and the other is a Santa Fe PS 2003 covered hopper. Both are from Athearn. They will both be patched for the L&A.

Went to Wal-Mart after returning to Leesville and did my grocery shopping. I was on my way home when my sister flagged me down to tell me my mother has to have emergency surgery, NOW. She and my father are on their way there now. I told them to keep me appraised of the situation.
 
UP2CSX said:
......Corey, I'm with Rex in saying that naked sister-in-law's are the path to trouble. Of course, we'd all like to see the video if the party gets going good. :D.........
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On the other hand, Chris is probably drooling wishing it were him and his SIL.:D:D ROTFLMAO:D:D

JIM: yesterday's rain skirted the Eastern side of T-town; we didn't get a drop. Looks a bit promising this evening, but better tomorrow.
 
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UP2CSX said:
Phillip, that's some pretty impressive hail. It is kind of odd that most of the vehicles got hail damage on their sides. I guess it must have been the high winds blowing the hail in a horizontal plane or something.
Click to expand...

Just 70mph!
 
UP2CSX said:
Afternoon everyone.

Chris, I'm not much into tinfoil hats or black helicopters but I agree with your basic premise. We have seen an unprecedented amount of subtle and not so subtle threats that you'd better be on the right side of issues if you want help or don't want to be punished.
Click to expand...

I'm going to keep wearing my tinfoil hat and run and hide when the black equipment comes around if it's all the same!:o There is a CHANGE in the air!
 
Hello people--

Got home to find out we now know where MIA-SIL disappeared to. She moved on us and now we find she's getting married for 3rd time--;);). This might get interesting--:rolleyes:

I also got told our dog and pony show--AKA "meeting"--will be held on Friday(!?):eek::eek: with our even crabbier chair telling me he's going to be reading the "Riot Act" out to all the " members of this fine board"--notice the dripping venom here--:eek::eek::eek: that morning---here's hoping---:):eek:

Jim That would not surprise this little puppy in the least if a lot of that was the case---makes perfect sense to me:eek::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:---although that would be a case of shooting oneself in the foot--:mad:
 


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