Time to buy a car while you can afford it

From the Detroit News: "New fuel rules will hike GM vehicle prices by an average $6,000"

General Motors Corp. Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said Sunday the new fuel efficiency requirements imposed by Congress last month would add $6,000 to the price of an average GM vehicle by the end of the next decade.

David Freddoso adds: "This is part of the "new direction" for America. Inflate of the price of cars, fuel, and food. Justify it by scaring people with hyperbolic, doomsday predictions about unknown (and mostly unknowable) future effects of global warming. Throw in the doubtful proposition that incremental steps like this can do anything to stop global warming, and you might fool some people into thinking that it's worth accepting an economy they can't afford to live in."

There's a saying, or there used to be one, that "As GM goes, so goes the country." I've always thought as General Motors as a microcosm of America in the sense that it's currently saddled with health care (like Medicare) and pension (like Social Security) liabilities that it simply cannot afford, which is why GM's bond rating is currently in "junk" status. (The United States may not be far behind.) Can General Motors survive when people stop buying new cars?

By somewhat of a coincidence, I test-drove and put a deposit down on a 2005 Pontiac Vibe this past weekend. The Vibe is the exact same car as a Toyota Matrix, except for some reason the Matrix prices are always a smidge higher than the Vibe, a difference I can only ascribe to perceived quality. All the way, U.S.A.!