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Author Topic: A tale of 4 tires: how local business can't or won't compete against online  (Read 1310 times)

unix

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I see. Interesting.

I heard the Northstar engine is problematic, but very powerful.

The #3 Roadmaster I got from the mid 90's was a hotrod, the guy I got it from did some wild things to it. Installed a hot cam, low gears and replaced so many parts it  no longer resembled the car it originally was. Seats came from a Pontiac. etc. The entire suspension was upgraded with non-stock parts.
The engine made all the power at high RPMs and he installed 3.73 low gears that constantly kept the RPMs high, generating lots of power.
It was the ultimate sleeper. He made it seriously fast. It would easily keep up with ricers or BMW M3.

In the end, rust got it.
Brawndo. It's got what plants crave.

ilconsiglliere

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I grew up in a GM family - Dad worked for GM and buying their cars (heavily offset by employee discounts) was basically our household religion.  >:(

Virtually every GM car we had that we owned more than 2 years started to fall apart. I drove a Vega in college that almost liquified from rust. My Dad sold his '94 Lumina to my brother and IMMEDIATELY after he sold it (97, 98 or so) the car required hundreds of dollars of work.

I dunno, it's just a personal fantasy to own a Cadillac and I believe they do better over time than the mid grade shit that GM makes.But I don't have enough information to argue assertively that it's a good car to buy used.

I understand. I grew up where everyone worked for Ma Bell and our fantasy was to own a custom gold plated princess phone ;) .

I am teasing. My Fords were not good, they would disintegrate while driving. Ah, good times, good times.

I have always had a thing about Porsches but they are seriously not practical and I have read that repairs can be rough. As I am middle age its only appropriate that I have proper mid life crisis vehicle which I don't.

It takes a special grade of idiot to take what was the world's biggest car company and run it into the ground. Oh way, they ran Ma Bell into the ground too  >:D

G0ddard B0lt

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Yeah, this is my own gold plated Princess phone.  >:D I remember when Princess phones and then touch tone phones were the normie/bourgeois status symbols, heavily advertised by the Bell System. 1965 or so.

By the way, back to the tires!

I had them mounted last week.

DAMN, did I make a great choice. They make it feel like an entirely different car. The ride is somehow much better (softer and less noisy) yet the handling is far more precise.

These are nice, nice tires.

At half the price per axle than being a "loyal local" customer of the local tire chains that screwed me blind on my last set of tires.
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G0ddard B0lt

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I see. Interesting.

I heard the Northstar engine is problematic, but very powerful.

The #3 Roadmaster I got from the mid 90's was a hotrod, the guy I got it from did some wild things to it. Installed a hot cam, low gears and replaced so many parts it  no longer resembled the car it originally was. Seats came from a Pontiac. etc. The entire suspension was upgraded with non-stock parts.
The engine made all the power at high RPMs and he installed 3.73 low gears that constantly kept the RPMs high, generating lots of power.
It was the ultimate sleeper. He made it seriously fast. It would easily keep up with ricers or BMW M3.

In the end, rust got it.

Points taken, Unix.

All of our Japanese vehicle purchases have been long lived and relatively problem-free.

My Dad never, ever experienced the shit that most GM owners go through because he took advantage of employee discounts and sold every car after exactly one year at a break even or a slight profit, and bought another company rebated car.
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I D Shukhov

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It takes a special grade of idiot to take what was the world's biggest car company and run it into the ground. Oh way, they ran Ma Bell into the ground too  >:D

Funny you should say that.  I've been reading Out of the Crisis by W. Edwards Deming.  Deming has god-like status in Japan where they credit him with rebuilding Japanese manufacturing after WW2.   Deming's philosophy is that quality is the most important thing a company can do and writes things like "the consumer is the most important point on the production-line".  He says that quality has to built into the system and is down on things like inspecting for quality although he would say it has to be done anyway.

In the book Deming raises the alarm that American companies have got serious managerial problems that have to be corrected or they'll all start looking like the the auto companies -- i.e. the "Crisis".  Some of the problems have to do with lack of long-term planning and not involving labor in decision making. 

Deming died in 1993.  Offshore outsourcing must have been in full swing by that time and he was probably horrified by it when he went to his grave.
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unix

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If I wanted a muscle car now, I wouldn't start with an old GM Roadmaster at all, but just buy a plug-and-play Toyota. Or Mazda, or Lexus, or something along those lines.

I've had two Camrys. Nothing ever goes wrong with them. I do my own auto repair work - well, light stuff, like brakes and alternators. I forgot how to work on cars since it never broke, ever.
Brawndo. It's got what plants crave.

ilconsiglliere

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Yeah, this is my own gold plated Princess phone.  >:D I remember when Princess phones and then touch tone phones were the normie/bourgeois status symbols, heavily advertised by the Bell System. 1965 or so.

By the way, back to the tires!

I had them mounted last week.

DAMN, did I make a great choice. They make it feel like an entirely different car. The ride is somehow much better (softer and less noisy) yet the handling is far more precise.

These are nice, nice tires.

At half the price per axle than being a "loyal local" customer of the local tire chains that screwed me blind on my last set of tires.

Sweet, good for you. I have experienced similar things with new tires. I would have  never believed how much different tire brands/models feel on a car.

My original tires for my car were Pirellis. Thats what it came with. They rode hard and were noisy. Than I switched to the Continentals. They ride much nicer and handle great in all kinds of weather conditions.

I am going to follow your advice for the next step. A $ saves is a $ saved.

ilconsiglliere

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It takes a special grade of idiot to take what was the world's biggest car company and run it into the ground. Oh way, they ran Ma Bell into the ground too  >:D

Funny you should say that.  I've been reading Out of the Crisis by W. Edwards Deming.  Deming has god-like status in Japan where they credit him with rebuilding Japanese manufacturing after WW2.   Deming's philosophy is that quality is the most important thing a company can do and writes things like "the consumer is the most important point on the production-line".  He says that quality has to built into the system and is down on things like inspecting for quality although he would say it has to be done anyway.

In the book Deming raises the alarm that American companies have got serious managerial problems that have to be corrected or they'll all start looking like the the auto companies -- i.e. the "Crisis".  Some of the problems have to do with lack of long-term planning and not involving labor in decision making. 

Deming died in 1993.  Offshore outsourcing must have been in full swing by that time and he was probably horrified by it when he went to his grave.

I was at Ma Bell in the 90s when we went through big quality improvement initiatives. Eventually we got some Deming awards. Companies don't seem to care today.

G0ddard B0lt

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I just checked out of curiosity. The same tire and size is now listed at $91.68. The price is encroaching on the street price for these tires - not quite there yet.


This debunks the assertion made in this thread that Amazon provides a win-win. They rack the price up whenever they feel like it, when demand permits.


Maybe this inflated price is just for me because I keep looking at the same product so much.
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unix

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Lol
Brawndo. It's got what plants crave.

ilconsiglliere

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I just checked out of curiosity. The same tire and size is now listed at $91.68. The price is encroaching on the street price for these tires - not quite there yet.


This debunks the assertion made in this thread that Amazon provides a win-win. They rack the price up whenever they feel like it, when demand permits.


Maybe this inflated price is just for me because I keep looking at the same product so much.

Dynamic pricing!

unix

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It's not a bug, it's a feature.
Brawndo. It's got what plants crave.