It will if GM goes Chapter11. You think the Goverment will not use that to "Fix the Problem" or step-in.

The insurance companys are already doing a study of deaths caused by SUV's. Who do you think asked for the study. You quessed right, The Goverment. along with cell phone use in Cars, DVD players, and who knows what else.

 

So I pay more in premiums, so what. It still won't change what I drive.

 

I lived in the 70's with odd-Even gas days. They will come up with something, They always do. Knowing them they will issue stickers for your car for which days you can buy gas. And charge you for the sticker to boot

 

We are not in the 70's. The problem we have today is not a production capacity though we are getting close or a supply problem like the 70's. This is nothing more than the highest bidder winning, China.

Now if I remember right its around $50 dollars a barrel where it becomes profitable to start pumping our own oil again. Oil guys chime in here if you know. Anyway we are close to the point where OPEC can't really raise the price anymore without bring all the shutdown fields back on line. There oil is light and cheap to get at. Anyway I figure gas is going to hover betwen $1.50 - $3.00 for the next few years. I just change my budget to live in the new reality. I'll still drive the same big gas hogs.

 

Now if I remember right its around $50 dollars a barrel where it becomes profitable to start pumping our own oil again. Oil guys chime in here if you know. Anyway we are close to the point where OPEC can't really raise the price anymore without bring all the shutdown fields back on line. There oil is light and cheap to get at. Anyway I figure gas is going to hover betwen $1.50 - $3.00 for the next few years. I just change my budget to live in the new reality. I'll still drive the same big gas hogs.

At $35, it gets profitable. At $40, it gets real profitable. Problem is, startup costs are huge, so the price outlook has to be sustainable for a number of years, not just a price spike.

 

Thanks Ernie.

 

I have recently worked at Isuzu, left at the end of January, and I find this a little surprising. Isuzu doesn't make any non commercial vehicles anymore. They are all rebranded GM's. The Axiom is gone, and for the last year or maybe 2 was manufactured for them by Suburu, in the plant that was a joint venture between the 2. The rodeo and trooper are both history as well. The Ascender, is of course a Chevy trailblazer. I don't recall, but there is another model coming, not sure what the GM base was. If it wasn't for the legal agreements between Isuzu and the dealers, they wouldn't sell non commercial vehicles at all anymore. As it is, expect Isuzu dealers to slowly disappear in the next couple years.

A pretty large portion, if not all the Isuzu Commercial vehicles are now being rebranded as Chevy or GMC. All those smaller cab forward GM's are Isuzu's.

It was pretty grim working there the last year and a half. Very high turnover. It was like rats leaving a sinking ship.

The average warranty cost per engine on the Duramax is the highest of the big 3 light duty. I got that straight from charts on the wall at corporate.

Eric

 

The reason the dmax was the highest was the retarded fuel system. Itll get better as the trucks get 5 years old and drop off the 100k mark. The newer engines will be much cheaper to work on.

 

Isuzu do make vehicles eslewhere in the world though...

I regard Isuzu as the best small diesel manufacturer in the world.
But I have only seen products manufactured in Japan, and more recently Thailand.
I haven't delt with any American made Isuzu's.

 

The government won't let GM fail. They didn't let Chrysler fail, and they didn't let the airlines fail. My business and your business can fail and not get a nickel, but we don't have any power. All we can do as taxpayers is keep bailing out big business that goes on making mistake after mistake. The government says "SPEND", and we ask, "What corner?" When will everyone wake up and do something. I live in Michigan where we have about the lowest return on Federal Tax Dollars in the country, yet my tax dollars keep going to help California with it's earthquakes, fires, and mudslides. They go to Florida and the East Coast to rebuild after hurricanes and floods. It's about time that people take responsibility for their own actions. If airlines can't make any money, then why do we allow them to operate when they are offering 24 flights a day from Detroit to Chicago for $39? Let them fail. Let GM fail if it can't make it. Let California raise State taxes to pay for the disasters. Noone said you have to live in California. We have to stop bailing out everyone. Let them fix their own problems. Once GM does the Chapter 11, do you really think they will cut $1 off the price of their vehicles, or stop making the ugliest vehicles in the world? (Avalanche and Colorado-uuuggghhh) It should be survival of the fittest, like it is for the rest of us. As far as all the people that may lose their jobs at GM? I spend a lot of time in auto plants. Most of them don't do anything anyway. The UAW is just "employment assurance for the otherwise unemployable".

 

Seems that GM is the only one that hasn't had the government step in and keep from failing. They guaranteed the loans to save Chrysler, which were made and did not cost the taxpayer in that sense. They did switch most of their fleet to Chrysler products though. But lets not forget that they also stepped in and kept Ford from failing. Henry at one time was on the verge of putting Ford under when the government came in and with the help of Henry's wife and daughter in law forced him to step down and let Henry II take over. SO guess it may be time for them to step in and do something about GM.

 

I agree that the warranty cost will drop off as the vehicles reach 5 years old and pass the 100K mark. However, the repair cost will not drop but the expense will go to the owners. The diehard bow tie fans will buy another after they find out the true cost of ownership of the dmax but others may not.

 

Good point. I don't think the commercial that slams GM aired in the US.

I can't figure out how they failed in the US, when SUV's are so popular, and that's all that Isuzu makes. They botched the Axiom rollout though. 3/4's of the first ones where gold with an orange interior. You'd have a hard time GIVING me one. The guy responsible for the release is still there.

I wouldn't buy one, only because even Isuzu is having a hard time getting manufacturers to make spare parts for them. The backorder lists are a mile long. Pretty good vehicles though, I espescially liked the older Troopers.

The Direct Injection gasoline engine they released in the Axiom was pretty cool. Injecting the fuel directly into the combustion chamber has alot of advantages.

Eric

 

I agree with what was said a few pages back. GM has just gotten too big. They expanded to meet market demand and earn those available dollars but now foreign manufactorers are moving in and taking that market share away and brands under GM are competeing with one another for the sells. Will GM go under, no, the govt won let it happen. After Enron, WorldCom... the public doesnt want that to happen again. SHould it be let to happen. Not all at once because hundreds of thousands of lives would be drasticly changed.

OT-And I hate the way the tax payers have to bail out people from other states because they are complete idiots. But thats another thread.

 

This is going to be a much harder lesson for the 03 6.0 owners. Some of these engines had up to 30,000 in warranty work before 36k miles. This does not sound good for those looking out for the long run.