Sign of the Times: Understated Edition

Jeff Puthuff
by Jeff Puthuff

Folsom, CA (Yuppie-burb of Sacramento) is in my neck of the woods. I was browsing the online car ads of my local struggling newspaper, the Sacramento Bee, and was struck by the number of trucks for sale.

We’ve got more trucks than ever before . . . ” Yes, over 1,000 is quite a lot. (Get it?)

Backed by the Federal Government! Now that’s peace of mind!” Now that’s funny!

This dealership is not on the hit list, but its neighbor, Folsom Lake Chrysler Jeep, is. Drove by the automall yesterday and it was a ghost town.

To illustrate the dire situation, take a look at this part of the ad:

$9175 off a stripper model and must finance thru [Aargh! Thru is not a word!] a credit union. No ChryFi or GMAC here . . . The saddest part of this ad is the 2008 T&C LX prior rental listed at $15,995 (good luck with that, FLD).

What’s it like in your neck of the woods?

Jeff Puthuff
Jeff Puthuff

Early 30s California guy driving a 97 Infiniti I30. Past cars: 90 Cavalier, 82 Skylark, 78 Courier, 61 Beetle.

More by Jeff Puthuff

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 19 comments
  • PrincipalDan PrincipalDan on May 18, 2009

    WildBill: Hey check out what a matrix front clip would cost. It might still be a deal, lol.....

  • Jeff Puthuff Jeff Puthuff on May 18, 2009

    @ Robert.Walter R u sure u want to start this deb8? "R" and "u" are in the dictionary, too, but if our newspapers were written like kids IM, then all hope is lost. I should have clarified: "Thru" should not be used in the context it was used in the ad.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
Next