Wall Street Advisor: Used Rocks, Domestics Are Done

I have resorted to a "professional" mechanic only once in the last decade. Most repairs are done in my driveway with basic hand tools. My cars dont break down either. 1 tow in the last decade.

BuckD : March 18th, 2008 at 1:50 pm I’ve been numbed by triple-digit “GM Death Watch” entries, but Sullivan’s advice is like a bucket of ice water to the groin. We are so screwed. And so are the domestic 2.8 as long as they are being managed ( or should i say mis-managed???) the way they are now!!!!!!!! Ford is being "sorta" run by a man from the aviation industry (who takes his orders from the Ford family and board of directors - who are both mis-management stories in and of themselves.....just look at Ford's financial loses month after month after month for proof!!!!!), GM has car guys in control but they seem to have their heads either in the sand or up their ass (or my guess: BOTH !!!) and Chrysler is being run by bankers and financial advisers. I say the only hope for the 2.8 is to get someone in the CEO's office of each company that knows how to run an automobile business in the 21st. century instead of being run like they were in the first 60 years of the last century when they had no worries from the Japanese, Korean and European comptition.

The Navy had Auto Hobby Shops as late as 1996 when I returned to the civilian world. Anybody got a date more recent than that? Answered my own question: http://www.nasjax.navy.mil/mwr/mwrnasjax/mwrauto.htm One example. Google Images has alot of pics of various auto hobby shops.

I'm a long time DIY person and the auto parts stores I go in seem to have a strong business. Here in Nor. Cal. much of the customer base is indeed Spanish speaking. There is a large segment of society which does it's own car work out of economic necessity if nothing else. These aren't the people living in gated communities and shopping at Nordstroms, but they are the people who make up the working backbone of the world. Some years ago I was at a dinner with other executives from my then employer. The CFO lived in the same neighborhood as I did and commented that he thought he saw me changing the oil on my company provided Cadillac STS that past weekend. I confirmed that he did indeed see me doing just that and he was befuddled. "You know, you can pay people to do that sort of thing." I told him that I had been changing oil myself since I was 13 years old and wasn't about to stop because I enjoyed it, and that it took me less time to do myself then it would to drive to the dealer and wait around for them to do the job. Not long after that I pulled the ejection cord on that job. I'm much happier putzing around with my car then I ever was jetting off to meetings here there and everywhere. Most routine maintenance work on modern cars really isn't any harder than for the old stuff. Thanks to our fleet and the friends I help out I frequently work on cars ranging from the 1940s up through modern stuff. Recently I tackled CV joint boot replacements on a 2001 Volvo S70 and the job was really no more difficult than is changing out the master cylinder on a 1948 Plymouth. However, electrical issues on modern stuff can be very hard to sort out!