My wife, Karen, and I own a 1994 Saturn SL-2. It’s been the second best vehicle we’ve owned (the best was a 1970 Volkswagen camper). There’s nothing remarkable about this car aside from its reliability. Two batteries, new brakes, and a set of tires is all it’s needed since we bought it new in April of 1994. Karen wishes it had an automatic transmission and was a better road trip car. I’m not much of a car guy, so I’ve got no complaints.
Until the economy crashed, we were starting to think about buying a new car. We usually drive them until the wheels fall off, and we knew the Saturn was long past-due for a major repair. When an American car gets to be this old, you naturally start thinking about a replacement.
Over the course of the past year or so, I’ve been quietly evaluating possible replacements. The finalists came down to a Toyota Corolla, the Honda Fit, and the Saturn Aura. We were looking down the barrel of a US$25,000 expenditure (except for the Fit, which came in around US$20,000). I was horribly disappointed to learn the gas mileage, safety, and reliability (along with cost, the only factors that matter to us in a car) hadn’t improved much at all in the past 15 years.
And with General Motors having foolishly reeled Saturn back into the mothership and deep in a race to the bottom, the Saturn Aura was out.
Then, one day last week, it dawned on me: the only automotive improvements in the last 15 years have been more better air bags (our Saturn has one) and cup holders (the Saturn has one, and it was an option). Air bags and cup holders. And a 2x price increase. Holy crap.
If any other industry had innovated so poorly in the last 15 years, they’d be out of business. Oh, wait. Except for the technology sector, they have and they are. Horror of horrors, they’re all General Motors.
For this we’ve become the bailout nation—I’m hearing rumblings the commercial real estate sector is next in line with their hands out. This bailout economy should never have been birthed and should not be allowed to fester. As Tom Friedman writes in his New York Times column today, it’s time for the country to reboot and build out our infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Karen and I have our fingers crossed that the Saturn will last another 15 years.
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