Politics and Culture

When I figured out that the savings from a doubling of my gas mileage would pay for a new fuel efficient vehicle, I decided to dump the old Isuzu Trooper and buy a small car.

Auto thoughts:

1. Amazingly, I decided this all on my lonesome! I didn't need CAFE mandates, tax rebates, or Al Gore public service announcements (Don't tell him; he might get angry.) to convince me. Not only could I (and thousands of other independent Americans) choose to help the environment (and my wallet) without help, I, an often "bitter," sometimes "victimized" minority also negotiated with the "predatory" and "greedy" dealer for the price of the car with no government representative looking over my shoulder. Well, not quite: The government does have rules to assure a transparent transaction (which is a legitimate government function). Californians don't stop at the necessary, however: Each car in California has a sign saying:

WARNING: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.**

Somebody's going to see this and prefer to walk?

2. Here's my car-choosing philosophy: Don't be ridiculous. Being a Pythagorean at heart, I try to live by the Golden Mean: Proportion, harmony, moderation and all that (Of the many examples- both natural and human-designed- of near-perfect proportionality, I chose Iris Chacon [below].). I had a silly car, once. It was a 1994 Pontiac Firebird that I ordered from the factory. I got the beefy-looking Firebird with leather, alloy wheels, upgraded stereo, and...a six cylinder engine. Yes, I subjected my rear passengers to torture while the people in the back of Accords not only rode in comfort, but mocked me as they more-quickly reach 60MPH.

What a voice!

3. Specifically,

a. If you buy a sports car, make sure it can beat a Yaris.
b. Leather is for luxury cars.
c. Easy on spoilers and ground effects. Again, only on sports or, at least, "sporty" cars (Maxima, Corolla S, etc.).
d. Don't worry if the people outside of your car can hear your music. Nobody will ever tell you to "turn it up" at a stop sign.
e. One odd trend is the devolution of the hub cap. (I myself would get alloy wheels no matter what car I buy.), Budget wheels usually have plastic hubcaps that mimic the more expensive wheels. To me, they give off a counterfeit Rolex, fake-cellular-antenna-on-the-roof vibe.

16" SET OF 4 HUBCAPS TOYOTA CAMRY WHEEL COVERS DESIGN ARE UNIVERSAL HUB CAPS FIT MOST 16 INCH WHEELS

4. Amongst domestics, Ford is the best right now. Their simple lineup- small (Focus), medium (Fusion), and large (Five Hundred or "500," if you prefer.) makes sense and they're all attractive cars. Conservative, yet distinct styling.

5. Chrysler has the odd Caliber- a small car that reminds me of a John Deere lawn-mower. All of their other cars are huge or huge-looking Challengers and Chargers. In other words, the worst cars to be building in 2008.

6. At least Chrysler is different. Who knows what's going on at GM. Everything is ugly except for the new Malibu which only has an ugly grille. The Pontiac Vibe is attractive, but they're just re-badged Toyota Matrixes.

7. Other cars: I like the Mazda 3 a lot. The new Nissan Sentra doesn't look sporty at all and its steering is too loose. The Corolla is good. The Honda Civic is nice outside, but it has a weird split-level dash with a digital speedometer separated from the rest of the car. What for?

8. The foreign auto industry has experienced luxo-creep. All of the models seem to have been bumped up one in class and price. The Civic, once the choice of college sophomores who wished to navigate cramped university streets and parking lots as economically as possible, is now a $20,000 ride you can use to impress the girl in the next cubicle. The Accord costs $25,000! The same thing has happened to the aforementioned Sentra and Corolla. In fact, Nissan, Toyota, and Honda have introduced the Versa, Yaris, and Fit, respectively, to fill the economy niche.

9. I like the Scion cars. While American manufacturers are consolidating makes, Japanese companies are expanding.

10. I didn't look at the Korean cars.

11. It's not worth buying a slightly used Japanese car as they depreciate so little that they're almost as expensive as new ones.

12. Used domestic cars, on the other hand, are good deals.

13. I now see huge SUVs as a wasteful and non-socially responsible choice unless somebody absolutely needs one.

14. People have a right to choose whichever car they want- within reason (No tanks).

15. I got a cherry 2001 Ford Focus that I love.

**This is proposition 65:

The legislation is very controversial. Most of the Proposition 65 lawsuits are filed by private attorneys some of whose entire business is built on filing Proposition 65 lawsuits.

Labeling requirements conceded the reality that listing and classifying substances did not help the consumer if the contents of a purchase were unknown. At the same time, there were no other labeling requirements to support the proposition. Industry critics and corporate defense lawyers charge that Proposition 65 is "a clever and irritating mechanism used by litigious NGOs and others to publicly spank politically incorrect opponents ranging from the American gun industry to seafood retailers, etc."

In addition, because the law allows private citizens to sue and collect damages from any business violating the law, there have been cases of lawyers and law firms using Proposition 65 to force monetary settlements out of California businesses. The Attorney General's office has cited several instances of settlements where plaintiff attorneys received significant awards without providing for environmental benefit to the people of California, resulting in the requirement of the Attorney General's approval of pre-trial Proposition 65 settlements.