Best Deals of the Month

With media coverage saying rebates on vehicles are starting to diminish, I was surprised to find that there are $4,500 rebates on the Dodge Intrepid and the Dodge Stratus.

According to Edmunds.com, with the rebates, you can get a Dodge Stratus SXT for just a little under $14,000, and an Intrepid SXT for just over $19,000. We might be able to do a little better with our A-Plan (or whatever Chrysler calls it).

I've always liked the Intrepid. I like the swoopy stying. I think the Intrepid is a lot nicer looking than the bloated tank (the Magnum) that will replace it next year.

Last year I rented a Stratus. I found that it was a pleasant, capable family car. It was roomy. The base 2.5 liter 4 cylinder gives sufficient pep for every day driving. It is a little loud, but not as loud as some reviews would have you believe. The most significant negative in my opinion is the real-world fuel economy. In a week with the car, I averaged a little over 18 mpg, about the same as my minivan, and 10 miles per gallon less than my turbocharged Volkswagen Passat, which weighs virtually the same as the Stratus.

The knock on both these cars is that they sell so many to fleets that the resale value is awful. True, but the cars themselves are pretty good, so let's say you buy a Stratus for $15,000. You drive it for 3 years, use up the factory warranty then sell it for $7000. That's an average depreciation of $222 per month. Not a bad deal, and it gets better the longer you hold onto it.

Let's compare to a Honda Accord. Buy it for $22000. Sell it in three years for $12,000 and it cost you 278 per month in depreciation, plus, because the initial sales price was higher, all else being equal, your finance charges would be higher too.

Best new auto prices from Edmunds TMV

Google & Blogger Blogs

Surprisingly, though Google purchased Blogger, it does not appear that this blog is being picked up on the Google search engine. I searched on "Hofer" and "blog" and it didnt' come up. Perhaps I need to add the terms "Paris Hilton" and "video". Naw, that would be cheap. I'd never do that.

And the Oscar goes to . . .
Teacher's Pet, The Movie

Ok, you probably will never hear these words again, but the Disney Saturday morning cartoon show Teacher's Pet has been a guilty pleasure of mine.

The plot, a dog named Spot learns to read and decides to dress up in his master's clothes and go to school. Through a mix-up he becomes known as a boy named "Scott". The television show was well-written and directed, and Nathan Lane as Spot/Scott does great voice work.

Now I hear a movie version will be released.


Yahoo! Movies: Teacher's Pet - Greg's Preview

Jimmy Carter and The Hornets Nest


The more I reflect on Jimmy Carter and his days as President and as ex-President, the more I think that he was a President that we didn't deserve. We weren't worthy. I think we knew it in the time. After all, here was a President who had an energy policy which told us that we need to conserve, turn down our thermostats, drive slower and drive more fuel efficient cars. We didn't want to hear that. We wanted an ex-actor who told us that all of our problems were caused by some bullies in commieland.

I'd give my eyeteeth to have an afternoon to just sit down with President Carter and talk (and perhaps fish). He's written a couple dozen books since he left office. This is in addition to his peacemaking, house-building and Sunday school teaching.

At age 79, President Carter has just published his first novel. I haven't read it yet, it's on the top of my Christmas reading list. It's called The Hornets Nest and it is a historical novel that takes place in rural Georgia during the American Revolution. Read the New York Times review linked below (free registration required), and ask yourself if the current Tenant in Chief would be capable of writing a book this detailed and nuanced.

One more thing: he painted the cover picture, and it's pretty good.



’The Hornet’s Nest’: Founding Bubbas

Chrysler Prepares to Roll out 9 New Models - Most of them Gas Hogs

Daimler Chrysler had very little in the way of new product to roll out at the beginning of the 2004 model year. To help appease dealers, they are showing off the cars (actually mostly trucks) that they intend to roll out over the next 12 months.


Chrysler plans crucial rollout of 9 new models

The one thing that most of these things have in common is that they are predominantly gas hogs. Chrysler was among the most fervently lobbying companies against raising federal fuel economy standards. It's clear from this product lineup that they don't care a bit about fuel economy. The entire marketing push is on the "hemi" V-8 engine. This coming year, the Hemi will spread from the heavy-duty pick-up to the Durango, the 300M luxury car, and the Grand Cherokee.

A current commercial for the Durango shows a husband, wife and baby child riding in a new Durango. The mom tells the baby about the video screen and other interior amenities. The Dad tells the child that there's only one word the child has to know: "Hemi".

Apparently Daimler Chrysler thinks the ideal family car is a 5,000 lb. Durango with a 330 horsepower engine.

It bugs me that the car companies justify SUV's by saying that's what the public wants, but yet they are active participants in shaping expectations and aspirations in their marketing campaigns.

The 300 series and Dodge Magnum replace the Chrysler Concord and Dodge Intrepid. When the latter two cars were introduced in 1998, Chrysler touted the cab forward design and aerodynamic profile, as well as front-wheel drive as adding to the cars' efficiency. All three of these attributes will be gone with the new models. I would be surprised if the new models weren't 20% less efficient than the ones they replace.

The Dodge Magnum will only be available as a station wagon. Apparently Chrysler intends to call the vehicle a truck for federal fuel economy purposes. The manufacturer is catching flak from dealers for doing this, but there may not be a choice. The new cars might be such fuel hogs that the only way they will be allowed to sell them in quantity is to get them out of the CAFE car category and into the truck category.

Higher Speed Limites lead to more Deaths
But . . .

A study just released concluded that raising speedlimits caused 1,900 more highway deaths over a three year period.

Study Links Higher Speed Limits to Deaths

Here's the problem. You can say that any speed will cause more deaths than a slower speed. If everyone stood still, there would be no highway deaths. Of course, nobody would get anywhere. You have to do a cost/benefit comparison.

A quick few minutes with a calculator suggested that, assuming that the 1900 fatalities gave up 50 years of life each, the 260 million americans who didn't die and gained the benefit of the higher speed limit would have to save the equivalent of .00036 years worth of utility (spread over a three year period.) How much is this? 3.2 hours, or a little over an hour a year.

Is OnStar a Snooping tool for Big Brother?

Here's a link to a discussionon slashdot.org regarding whether government agencies can use OnStar to snoop on what's going on in your car. I don't see ho this could be true. After all, Batman uses OnStar, and he has to protect his secret identity.

See, whenever you confront a conspiracy theory, you have to attack it with logic. Once you do that, it falls apart.



Slashdot | Roadside Assistance System Used for Eavesdropping

FTC Sues Ameridebt

The FTC has finally started taking action against credit counselors. I've talked before about the problems with the credit counseling industry. Misrepresentations and conflicts of interest abound. Most of the customers don't know that the counselors take back-end "fair share" (their words) payments from the creditors. These "fair share" fees are a percentage of the debt paid. In other words, the counselors get more money the more debt is paid. Imagine if an attorney was hired to negotiate the best terms to get out of debt and the attorney took a back-end payment from the other party that increased as more debt was paid, the attorney's license would be gone in a heartbeat. And what are non-lawyers doing negotiating contracts on behalf of consumers in the first-place?

Secondly, when the counselor gets fees from the consumers and from the creditors, what are the odds that the consumer will get unbiased advice regarding bankruptcy as an option.

The biggest problem that I have seen as a consumer lawyer is that the counselor takes the first month's payment as a "voluntary" contribution. This means that an account that is two months late becomes three months late before the money even hits the counselor's office. By the time it is disbursed, the account might be four months late or more. Instead of improving the consumers credit, the counselor actually hurts the credit. The consumers also aren't told that when accounts are settled short, that is a negative mark on the credit report even if the account is eventually paid.

The AP Miami Herald article includes the quote below regarding increasing complaints against credit counselors:

Complaints against such companies are increasing, according to Edward Johnson, president and chief executive of the Better Business Bureau-Washington D.C. In 1998, 237 complaints were filed nationwide. Last year, complaints grew to 1,480, with the largest percentage naming AmeriDebt.

This coincides with my experience. Although I have been practicing consumer law since 1991, I didn't get my first complaint about a credit counseling service until about 1997. After that, the complaints started piling in.

Words to the wise if you are a consumer lawyer trying to pursue a case against a credit counseling company: These suits are very difficult. You have to dig into the relationship between the credit counselor and the related for-profit entities. In the long run, you have to prove your client's damages, when your client may have been a lost cause to begin with. The clients who come to you with these kinds of cases tend to be unreliable and not always honest. Finally, there is always the possibility or probability that the client will end up in bankruptcy, and the case against the credit counselor will become the property of the trustee.

Before you take on a case, Google the company, check the consumer complaint site message boards. Check your local court records to see if anyone has filed suit against the company before. Try to line up more than one client with the same problem. If you practice bankruptcy, consider filing the bankruptcy then working the credit counseling offensive case as an adversary action in the bankruptcy court. Don't take on one of these cases without plenty of time to spend on it. Consider networking with another attorney. Check with the National Association of Consumer Advocates for an attorney who practices consumer law in your area.


AP Wire | 11/19/2003 | AmeriDebt Accused of Misleading Consumers

Daimler Chrysler to sell diesel hybrid delivery trucks to Fed Ex

According to Thecarconnection.com, DC may sell up to 30,000 hybrid delivery trucks to Fex Ex, with deliveries starting next year.

Ironically, although Toyota's hybrid efforts have been getting most of the press, and have been the most visible, both GM and DC may be on the right track for more net fuel savings. General Motors has had demonstrator transit buses and airport shuttles on the road for a couple years now. Because of the size of these vehicles, and the fact that each is on the road almost all day, hybridizing one commercial vehicle can save as much fuel as hybridizing 20 passenger cars.

Diesel Electric vehicles aren't new to General Motors. General Motors has been producing Diesel Electric locomotives for at least 60 years.


The Car Connection [ The Web's Automotive Authority ]

Production of General Motors Pick-up Hybrids starts in Fort Wayne Indiana


GM Hybrid Being Built at Indiana Plant - Motor Trend