When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
How about a place to post things of interest that cover the entire automobile spectrum? Well, we can see if this thread has legs.
BUT, don’t drag this to Politics . . . please. What any government in any country does can be a driving force for where the automobile world goes. We all get that. You may agree or disagree. Just don’t bring it into this thread.
If you learn of something of interest or wish to comment, please do it here.
I will start with a couple examples. . .
Many here are licking their lips as you see the price of a used S2000 go to some numbers you never expected. Me too. But consider this: the average price of used cars in compact & midsize cars jumped 40% and vans 49% in just the past 12 months!! WOW. More premium cars, like Jerry's, did not grow as much but none the less they did.
The demand for chips for today's car's are high and it takes at least 2 years to build a new plant. But the demand for today's cars is nothing compared to the cars every auto maker says they are going to bring out in the next 5-10 years which require 5 times more chips per car. WOW.
How many people are on board for EV’s? EV's are currently are only 2.5% of the total market and 90% of them are the T-car brand Patricia invested in (smart lady). But did you know 40% of all Cadillac dealers elected to sell their dealership back to GM rather than invest in EV sales! GM wanted $200-500k to sell electric Cad’s, install chargers, and do whatever GM said they needed. That was almost 400 dealers. So rather than invest $200-500k they sold them back for a similar amount. WOW. Your thoughts on why?
Do you think car dealers are crying because they can’t get cars due to the chip shortage and supply delays? Well, maybe or maybe not. The discount dealers are offering on average is the lowest in 20 years! Profits are up. They will sell you a car for less if you ordered it rather than take one off their lot. They really don’t mind having low inventory when demand is high and profits high.
How long will the ICE engines sales be around? If you listen to all the auto manufacturers you would likely think only a few years. Unless something totally dramatic happens I personally think they will still be selling them in 2050. What do you think?
Any subject on automotive is welcomed as long as it doesn't involve politics!
I was asked by a wealthy customer if I could remove some keyed scratches on his new Range Rover and 1 year old Porsche. They were fairly deep so I said I can’t promise I can get them out. He brought them to my home garage where I do my detailing. I used some aggressive compound with my most aggressive foam pad and German Flex Orbital polisher. It took some time but I got them out. I followed up with a good polish and a ceramic coating. I charged him a fair price and he gave me a very nice tip as it saved him a lot of money if he had to get the cars painted. When he picked up the cars he checked out my garage. He was impressed with the heat/ac split, sound system and 50 inch TV. I said that the only thing missing was a compact fridge. His personal assistant dropped off a compact fridge the next day as a further gesture of his appreciation. Not all rich people are snobs, He was a regular car guy.
I think it was pretty obvious 2000's were about to skyrocket in value. Right after I sold mine.
What amazes me is some "used" cars selling for 100k over retail.
I was intrigued by the Cadillac dealers selling out when I first heard the story. I mean a couple hundred thousand to your average car dealer isn't that much money. I think part of the issue comes from a fear that automotive repairs will decrease with electric vehicles, and car dealers are most profitable from auto repairs and not sales. Nonetheless I thought that was an interesting story.
I don't want an all electric car. At least right now. I don't drive much and still enjoy the sound of the engine. I also enjoy a stick shift and that isn't happening on an electric car. I realize they are hard to come by. Of my five Hondas only the 2007 S2000 and the 2005 NSX are manual shifts.
There was a post on Facebook today, in the "Second Generation NSX Owners Group". As an aside, someone started the group because first generation owners kept bashing the new model, but many owners including me have one of both; the NA1/NA2 and the NC1.
ICE, internal combustion engine. I know you'll be gone by 2050, Dave, and I'm fairly sure I will be, too. In any case, I think they'll be rare if sold new at all, in 2050.
....ICE, internal combustion engine. I know you'll be gone by 2050, Dave, and I'm fairly sure I will be, too. In any case, I think they'll be rare if sold new at all, in 2050.
The best thing about that is I won't be here to see it. If something isn't done to upgrade the grid and increase the generation component there won't be enough juice to charge all of those electric cars.
The best thing about that is I won't be here to see it. If something isn't done to upgrade the grid and increase the generation component there won't be enough juice to charge all of those electric cars.
It's amazing in the rush to go electric and all of the investment in developing the cars, that nothing has been done on the electrical supply side. We're all the same boat too. Hopefully hydrogen starts to come into production before all vehicles go electric.
There a whole bunch of challenges facing the grid and EV are a small slice of that.
As ore sources come on line there is a lot of power but balancing where it is insertion and the localized grip capacity is non-trivial at vest.
Kind of make s me wish I had focused more on power when I was in school.
When a source adds power it has to do so in phase with what is on the line.
Measuring that phase while you trying to adjust to it and add to it is very hard.
Solar coming in and out during the day, wind coming in and out during the day. They infer energy costs differences.
A utility might give you a price break on a sunny day and charge more at night when it's a cold night.
Putting in a battery back helps there, balance that into your energy plan..
yup shoulda studied power, this digital computer stuff is a dead end.
1. The price of used cars has skyrocketed both because of all of the people leaving the cities due to Covid-19 and because of the chip shortage. Little by little people are beginning to feel that the virus is coming under control, and sooner or later the chip shortage will come to an end. I expect that in the not too distant future, perhaps a year or year and a half, the prices will stabilize and probably fall. I don't know if this will effect that price of the S2000 but I don't expect the price to keep rising at the speed it is.
2. Like it or don't, the future belongs to EVs. Pretty soon, probably within 5 to 10 years the vast majority of cars on the road will be EVs. Internal Combustion Engines will not disappear for a long time, there are far too many on the road but as EVs gain popularity internal combustion engine cars will decline. Over the next few years I expect gains in battery technology. The two things holding EVs back now are range and charging time. Both of which I expect to improve drastically. I had thought price was also a problem but companies like Tesla don't seem to have any problem attracting buyers because of price and I expect prices of the batteries to fall as well.
3. I expect autonomous cars to become popular, but not for at least 10 to 15 years. In spite of the advances that have been made there still is a long way to go.
4. Very much like what happened in the early years of the automobile, I expect a number of consolidations and bankruptcies among the electric auto makers. As a matter of fact, its happening now for example Lordstown Motors and Nikola.
5. I hope we rediscover sedans and coupes and move away from SUVs and Crossovers but I don't see that happening in the near future. It seems that even rising gas prices hasn't discouraged people from buying SUVs and Crossovers.
6. Unfortunately, the manual transmission is probably dead. Right now only about 6% of the cars produced are manual. As soon as those of us dinosaurs who still love manual transmission stop driving and/or die off there will be no more manuals.
There you go. Six comments about the automobile world and not one political comment from me. I can't believe it either.
There was a post on Facebook today, in the "Second Generation NSX Owners Group". As an aside, someone started the group because first generation owners kept bashing the new model, but many owners including me have one of both; the NA1/NA2 and the NC1.
Patty,
I happen to agree with you. Unfortunately the second generation NSX has gotten a lot of undeserved bad press/remarks/reviews. I think there were a few reasons for this. One reason is Honda's fault. It simply took too long for the car to be introduced and in the time it was expected there was too many changes and too much chatter. Had Honda not taken so much time I think it would have been better received.
Another problem it had was that it had very big shoes to fill. The first generation NSX was an earthshaking car and a car that surprised the auto world who didn't expect a car that good to come from a Japanese maker. The second gen NSX had all of that to live up to and simply couldn't (no car could've lived up to those expectations).
It is most unfortunate because the second gen NSX is an excellent car and should be treated with more respect.
I was intrigued by the Cadillac dealers selling out when I first heard the story. I mean a couple hundred thousand to your average car dealer isn't that much money. I think part of the issue comes from a fear that automotive repairs will decrease with electric vehicles, and car dealers are most profitable from auto repairs and not sales. Nonetheless I thought that was an interesting story.
I agree, that was likely a factor - service after the sale is the life blood of a dealership and it would be at risk if we assume less parts and less repair. Many figured Cadillac owners being older are generally not the ones tempted to be first on the block to buy, try and show off new technology.
11-14-2021, 03:46 PM
All Things Automotive
