4 Car dealers go under by me.

[formervettowner]

4 dealers in my area have closed their doors in the last few days. 1.Gmc/Bucik,2. Chevy,3. Dodge/ Chrysler, and 4.Saturn. Ford is in big trouble and I don't think that they are part of the 700 billion plan. FFRP could go by the way side. Ford needs money to create new products that create good margins but not much volume. It works well when they are selling cars in volume but that is not the case. One dealer by me said he used to sell about 200 units a month now he is selling 65. He needs to cut his sales force in half. The last quarter of the year is not great for car sales to begin with, It could turn into a nightmare. Shelby should be very worried at this point and be making products that people want in good volumes with fair pricing in order to keep their doors open. KRs are just sitting on show room floors right now. Lets hope that all pull through these tougher times.

[ChipBeck]

Gentlemen,

 

It is tough on everybody right now. For 20 years I was the Pontiac/GMC Truck/Kia/Lotus dealer in Scottsdale, Arizona. In 1998 I sold my dealerships to AutoNation. My old Pontiac/GMC Truck franchise on McDowell Road is Power Pontiac/GMC Truck today. I got a call today from one of my old employees who is still there informing me that General Motors was canceling their franchise effective this Friday, putting them out of business. Boy am I glad I sold out when I did. On McDowell Road in Scottsdale during the last year, in addition to Pontiac/GMC Truck shutting down, the Nissan store has closed, the Toyota store has closed, the Honda store has closed. The import stores relocated to a faster growing town nearby. I went to get some photographs developed today and the Moto Photo store I have been patronizing for 20 years is closed. I want to buy some shirts at the Mervyn's I have done business with for the last decade and they have closed. I'm seeing businesses of all types shut down at a ferocious pace here in Scottsdale (which is the most affluent town in the state of Arizona). Good grief. Alan Mullally is probably the most competent CEO that has ever been at the helm of the Ford Motor Company, and the most unlucky. A perfect storm of skyrocketing gasoline prices, a crashing economy, a stock market in freefall, and a banking system meltdown the likes of which this country has not seen since 1929 are piled on top of disastrous union contracts signed decades before Allen took the helm. The next two years should be most interesting, and likely, most unpleasant. The best of luck to, and God bless, the entire team at the Ford Motor Company.

 

Chip

[mrdoc442]

Unfortunately there are no simple solutions to this Recession or Depression we are teetering on, and nearly went into a big time meltdown a few days ago.

 

The Stagflation is a real problem and I don't think anyone knows how to fix it.

 

Some of the CEO's that are behind the mortgage crisis need to go to prison for a long time. Or be stood up in front of a firing squad for what they contributed to the financial problems we are having today.

 

All that being said, I harken back to many years ago, when the dude that invented robotics approached all the major U.S. car manufacturers and tried to sell them on his robotics. He was told that the UAW would never go for robotics, because it would cost jobs. So he sold robotics to Japan, and the U.S car manufacturers have been trying to play catchup ever since. Inevitably, all the major U.S. car manufacturers ended up having to go with robotics anyway, just to be able to compete with the imports, but never quite catching up with our global competitors. Now that the major U.S car manufacturers have gotten competitive with SUV's, they cannot give them away as all the soccer mom's want hybrids or at least cars that get good gas mileage, due to the high fuel prices.

 

Instead of leading the way in the typical U.S. fashion, our car manufacturers have been on the hind tit for that last couple of decades.

 

Pontiac came out with the new GTO's in 2004-2006, and arguably reignited the current muscle car craze. Pontiac ended up practically giving them away after the GM dealers tried to scalp the new GTO's much like the Ford dealers successfully did with the 2007 Shelby GT500's. A major complaint of the GTO faithful was that they did not look retro enough and were made down under. Truth is, they were pretty damn good cars. The Dodge Charger and other SRT so called Hemi muscle cars that followed the new GTO's were made in Canada, but that was no big deal?

 

Then the new Shelby craze came to fruition, the Dodge Challengers came along, and soon the new retro Camaro will be out.

 

One major issue with all of this, IMHO, is that it takes so long for the U.S car manufacturers to retool, R&D, meet OSHO, ad nausea, their wares, that by the time the cars are available for sale to the general public, the economy can be upside down much like it is now, and they get left holding the preverbial bag, or ending up having to eat their cars, or practically give them away, which is happening now with the SUV's.

 

Where does this all go?

 

IMHO again, I think our economy has been build on a house of cards for many, many years. People living on plastic and writing themselves loans they cannot afford, and are unable to pay back.

 

Eventually it had to all fall in on itself, and I think that is what you are seeing now.

 

Like it on not, we may be on our way back to much simpler times, i.e, living within our means, cutting back on non necessities and so forth.

 

Like an alcoholic, who must hit bottom before they are able to get back on track, I fear our country may end up suffering the same fate.

 

I am in line for the Super Snake conversion, but with all the recent developments, I really have to rethink whether I want to spend somewhere around $45K by the time all is said and done, for the Super Snake conversion, in addition the the current money pit I am currently in, paying for my 2007 Shelby GT500. I was not as fortunate as some folks who were able to acquire a 2007 Shelby GT500 for MSRP, and my deciding to purchase one well after they came out was another disadvantage in the price I had to pay to get what I wanted. Not complaining, just stating the facts. I consider myself to be blessed to have found the 2007 Shelby GT500 I wanted, where I found it, and have no regrets.

 

Just my ramblings.

 

Doc

[07SHELBY GT]

Unfortunately there are no simple solutions to this Recession or Depression we are teetering on, and nearly went into a big time meltdown a few days ago.

 

The Stagflation is a real problem and I don't think anyone knows how to fix it.

 

Some of the CEO's that are behind the mortgage crisis need to go to prison for a long time. Or be stood up in front of a firing squad for what they contributed to the financial problems we are having today.

 

All that being said, I harken back to many years ago, when the dude that invented robotics approached all the major U.S. car manufacturers and tried to sell them on his robotics. He was told that the UAW would never go for robotics, because it would cost jobs. So he sold robotics to Japan, and the U.S car manufacturers have been playing catchup ever since, never quite catching up with our global competitors. Now that the major U.S car manufacturers have gotten competitive with SUV's, they cannot give them away as all the soccer mom's want hybrids or at least cars that get good gas mileage, due to the high fuel prices.

 

Instead of leading the way in the typical U.S. fashion, our car manufacturers have been on the hind tit for that last couple of decades.

 

Pontiac came out with the new GTO's in 2004-2006, and arguably reignited the current muscle car craze. Pontiac ended up practically giving them away after the GM dealers tried to scalp the new GTO's much like the Ford dealers successfully did with the 2007 Shelby GT500's. A major complaint of the GTO faithful was that they did not look retro enough and were made down under. Truth is, they were pretty damn good cars. The Dodge Charger and other SRT so called Hemi muscle cars that followed the new GTO's were made in Canada, but that was no big deal?

 

Then the new Shelby craze came to fruition, the Dodge Challengers came along, and soon the new retro Camaro will be out.

 

One major issue with all of this, IMHO, is that it takes so long for the U.S car manufacturers to retool, R&D, meet OSHO, ad nausea, their wares, that by the time the cars are available for sale to the general public, the economy can be upside down much like it is now, and they get left holding the preverbial bag, or ending up having to eat their cars, or practically give them away, which is happening now with the SUV's.

 

Where does this all go?

 

IMHO again, I think our economy has been build on a house of cards for many, many years. People living on plastic and writing themselves loans they cannot afford, and are unable to pay back.

 

Eventually it had to all fall in on itself, and I think that is what you are seeing now.

 

Like it on not, we may be on our way back to much simpler times, i.e, living within our means, cutting back on non necessities and so forth.

 

Like an alcoholic, who must hit bottom before they are able to get back on track, I fear our country may end up suffering the same fate.

 

I am in line for the Super Snake conversion, but with all the recent developments, I really have to rethink whether I want to spend somewhere around $45K by the time all is said and done, for the Super Snake conversion, in addition the the current money pit I am currently in, paying for my 2007 Shelby GT500. I was not as fortunate as some folks who were able to acquire a 2007 Shelby GT500 for MSRP, and my deciding to purchase one well after they came out was another disadvantage in the price I had to pay to get what I wanted. Not complaining, just stating the facts. I consider myself to be blessed to have found the 2007 Shelby GT500 I wanted, where I found it, and have no regrets.

 

Just my ramblings.

 

Doc

 

 

GOOD POST!Sad but true,It's hard to feel bad at a time when everyones mistakes come to light at the same time.I have made some serious mistakes but usually had the foresight to "Get out" before the crap hit the fan.The automakers are not that lucky.

All we can do is keep our chin up and keep on truckin' towards an economic recovery.Only the strong survive!

[ingram4868]

Our local Dodge dealer is advertising on TV that all trucks are discounted 50% off the MSRP. That has to hurt the bottom line.

[idareu]

In my area leases make up 70% of all new car sales.

Now that leases are gone I have seen many people just buying there lease car at the end because they can't afford the payments of a new car purchase.

I suspect that the lease companies just don't have the money to coninue leasing. I suspec that once the auto manufactors get the dfederal money they will use it to support leases again.

 

Btw , I'd buy another Shelby if Ford started selling them for 50% off!!!

[frydguy79]

and it really is going to be tough as hell on the nation now as they passed the bail out scam

i will expect that there are even more problems out there that will come to light in the next few years

the american public needs to hold every single bastard responsable to the fire,

and stop letting the goverment allow this shit

there is not a single position in any corparation or office that is worth the pay these crooks are getting and they are not being held accountable

 

everybody now has to pay for the scam's

[interceptor]

an article in our local newspaper said 600 dealers will close in '09. not good news.

[mach1fever]

We had two close here last week. One was a Bill Heard dealership and One Courtesy Pontiac. Word is more are on the way. Chrysler is about to get ripped apart and sold off as well. Btw our high volume ford dealership is down 50% in sales and Toyota is suffering a 40% drop in sales. Its accross the board. We have way too many dealerships here locally. 9 Chrysler dealerships in Orlando alone.

 

Roger

[MY500SS]

Unfortunately there are no simple solutions to this Recession or Depression we are teetering on, and nearly went into a big time meltdown a few days ago.

 

The Stagflation is a real problem and I don't think anyone knows how to fix it.

 

Some of the CEO's that are behind the mortgage crisis need to go to prison for a long time. Or be stood up in front of a firing squad for what they contributed to the financial problems we are having today.

 

All that being said, I harken back to many years ago, when the dude that invented robotics approached all the major U.S. car manufacturers and tried to sell them on his robotics. He was told that the UAW would never go for robotics, because it would cost jobs. So he sold robotics to Japan, and the U.S car manufacturers have been playing catchup ever since, never quite catching up with our global competitors. Now that the major U.S car manufacturers have gotten competitive with SUV's, they cannot give them away as all the soccer mom's want hybrids or at least cars that get good gas mileage, due to the high fuel prices.

 

Instead of leading the way in the typical U.S. fashion, our car manufacturers have been on the hind tit for that last couple of decades.

 

Pontiac came out with the new GTO's in 2004-2006, and arguably reignited the current muscle car craze. Pontiac ended up practically giving them away after the GM dealers tried to scalp the new GTO's much like the Ford dealers successfully did with the 2007 Shelby GT500's. A major complaint of the GTO faithful was that they did not look retro enough and were made down under. Truth is, they were pretty damn good cars. The Dodge Charger and other SRT so called Hemi muscle cars that followed the new GTO's were made in Canada, but that was no big deal?

 

Then the new Shelby craze came to fruition, the Dodge Challengers came along, and soon the new retro Camaro will be out.

 

One major issue with all of this, IMHO, is that it takes so long for the U.S car manufacturers to retool, R&D, meet OSHO, ad nausea, their wares, that by the time the cars are available for sale to the general public, the economy can be upside down much like it is now, and they get left holding the preverbial bag, or ending up having to eat their cars, or practically give them away, which is happening now with the SUV's.

 

Where does this all go?

 

IMHO again, I think our economy has been build on a house of cards for many, many years. People living on plastic and writing themselves loans they cannot afford, and are unable to pay back.

 

Eventually it had to all fall in on itself, and I think that is what you are seeing now.

 

Like it on not, we may be on our way back to much simpler times, i.e, living within our means, cutting back on non necessities and so forth.

 

Like an alcoholic, who must hit bottom before they are able to get back on track, I fear our country may end up suffering the same fate.

 

I am in line for the Super Snake conversion, but with all the recent developments, I really have to rethink whether I want to spend somewhere around $45K by the time all is said and done, for the Super Snake conversion, in addition the the current money pit I am currently in, paying for my 2007 Shelby GT500. I was not as fortunate as some folks who were able to acquire a 2007 Shelby GT500 for MSRP, and my deciding to purchase one well after they came out was another disadvantage in the price I had to pay to get what I wanted. Not complaining, just stating the facts. I consider myself to be blessed to have found the 2007 Shelby GT500 I wanted, where I found it, and have no regrets.

 

Just my ramblings.

 

Doc

Nice post Doc.

As long as it doesn't cause financial hardship, do the SS as planned. Years later you don't want to look back and say " damn, I wish I did it.

[jdscooby]

Picked my car up from the dealer Monday night. I was there about 7:00 and there was absolutely nobody there. Granted it was a Monday evening but you would think there would at least be a few lookey loos. This was the same day the stock market fell over 700 points. The salesman said that they had 2-3 calls that day of people backing out of there deals. The dealership is suppose to be open until 9:00 and after I finished the paperwork and drove the Shelby off of the lot, they closed the gates, about 8:00. There was a story on the national news last night saying the big three car makers were all down over 30% for the third quarter.

[SLB8SNK]

Reported today, 1 in 5 dealers will close nationwide. So with 20% less dealers, lot of people out of work, lot less cars being sold. Bad to worse.

[VaporDude]

We can all thank the American public for not supporting our American auto manufacturers. All the import manufacturers are making out better because that is the mentallity of the American people. Alot of people think that the imports are such great cars. Guess what, they aren't, just look at JD Powers surveys and the NTHSA data. The American products are exceeding the imports in most all categories yet we can not get people to buy their own products. All the profits that is made on imports does not stay here, it goes out of this country to those countries of those products.

 

That is not the only reason, thanks to the greedy CEO's out there that knew their businesses were in trouble and did nothing about it but take more money out in bonuses. Also thanks to the big oil companies for making billions in profits while producing less products. And a real big thanks goes out to Mr. Bush for not doing anything.

 

I am doing as much as I can to help out. I bought three vehicles this year and they are all Fords. There will not be any imports parked in my driveway. I know there are products out there that we all need but are produced overseas and there is little room to get around that.

 

NASCAR is another one that is selling out to foreigners. They should have never let Toyota into NASCAR. What does the first two letter in NASCAR stand for anyway? I thought it was North American. Since when is Toyota considered North American? We should all boycot the sponsors that place their logo's on a NASCAR Toyota. NASCAR doesn't mean NASCAR anymore, it more like ISCAR.

 

OK, so much for my rant.......now flame away.

[joshua484]

I like these posts a lot.

 

Like minded people are found in this forum.

[portside]

We can all thank the American public for not supporting our American auto manufacturers. All the import manufacturers are making out better because that is the mentallity of the American people. Alot of people think that the imports are such great cars. Guess what, they aren't, just look at JD Powers surveys and the NTHSA data. The American products are exceeding the imports in most all categories yet we can not get people to buy their own products. All the profits that is made on imports does not stay here, it goes out of this country to those countries of those products.

 

That is not the only reason, thanks to the greedy CEO's out there that knew their businesses were in trouble and did nothing about it but take more money out in bonuses. Also thanks to the big oil companies for making billions in profits while producing less products. And a real big thanks goes out to Mr. Bush for not doing anything.

 

I am doing as much as I can to help out. I bought three vehicles this year and they are all Fords. There will not be any imports parked in my driveway. I know there are products out there that we all need but are produced overseas and there is little room to get around that.

 

NASCAR is another one that is selling out to foreigners. They should have never let Toyota into NASCAR. What does the first two letter in NASCAR stand for anyway? I thought it was North American. Since when is Toyota considered North American? We should all boycot the sponsors that place their logo's on a NASCAR Toyota. NASCAR doesn't mean NASCAR anymore, it more like ISCAR.

 

OK, so much for my rant.......now flame away.

 

I don't have any magic powder for the current financial crisis. However, some items in your post should be respectfully addressed.

 

I own a Ford F250SD, a Ford Ranger, and a 2007 GT500, and Ford's having trouble because I also own a 2007 Camry? That's pretty thin. Nascar shouldn't allow Toyota in? How exactly has that hurt our economy? Boycotting Joe Gibbs' sponsors? That attitude speaks volumes about our lack of ability to compete in a global market. What's next? No foreigners in major league baseball? Boycotting the olympics becuse they are held in China? What exactly are we afraid of? Getting beat?

 

Competition, not isolationism, is the American way.

[1268]

All the car dealer owners around me live in $5- $20 million dollar homes...hopefully they saved up. Great time to get a car if you have the means...even if you are 1-2 yrs. ahead of schedule to get a new one. I know one or two of them who own their entire floorplan....egads!!

[formervettowner]

We can all thank the American public for not supporting our American auto manufacturers. All the import manufacturers are making out better because that is the mentallity of the American people. Alot of people think that the imports are such great cars. Guess what, they aren't, just look at JD Powers surveys and the NTHSA data. The American products are exceeding the imports in most all categories yet we can not get people to buy their own products. All the profits that is made on imports does not stay here, it goes out of this country to those countries of those products.

 

That is not the only reason, thanks to the greedy CEO's out there that knew their businesses were in trouble and did nothing about it but take more money out in bonuses. Also thanks to the big oil companies for making billions in profits while producing less products. And a real big thanks goes out to Mr. Bush for not doing anything.

 

I am doing as much as I can to help out. I bought three vehicles this year and they are all Fords. There will not be any imports parked in my driveway. I know there are products out there that we all need but are produced overseas and there is little room to get around that.

 

NASCAR is another one that is selling out to foreigners. They should have never let Toyota into NASCAR. What does the first two letter in NASCAR stand for anyway? I thought it was North American. Since when is Toyota considered North American? We should all boycot the sponsors that place their logo's on a NASCAR Toyota. NASCAR doesn't mean NASCAR anymore, it more like ISCAR.

 

OK, so much for my rant.......now flame away.

 

I think this time we can thank our selves for this down turn. We Americans took out all these loans with no income and no money down to buy homes in the U.S. Then housing prices were going up so they borrowed more money from their equity and bought Plasma TVs, Cars took vacations eat at expensive resturants all money spent here in the states. When I bought my home years ago I put 20% down of hard earned money and then had to prove to banks that I could repay the loan based on my income. Banks are at fault for lowering there standards. Just because you chose to buy a Toyota is not the reason for this problem. Doesn't Ford sell cars overseas as well? How is it OK to watch Nascar on Sunday with your TV and cable

box made overseas. Double standard. One thing that we do agree on is Gt500s are awsome.

[msy]

We can all thank the American public for not supporting our American auto manufacturers. All the import manufacturers are making out better because that is the mentallity of the American people. Alot of people think that the imports are such great cars. Guess what, they aren't, just look at JD Powers surveys and the NTHSA data. The American products are exceeding the imports in most all categories yet we can not get people to buy their own products. All the profits that is made on imports does not stay here, it goes out of this country to those countries of those products.

 

That is not the only reason, thanks to the greedy CEO's out there that knew their businesses were in trouble and did nothing about it but take more money out in bonuses. Also thanks to the big oil companies for making billions in profits while producing less products. And a real big thanks goes out to Mr. Bush for not doing anything.

 

I am doing as much as I can to help out. I bought three vehicles this year and they are all Fords. There will not be any imports parked in my driveway. I know there are products out there that we all need but are produced overseas and there is little room to get around that.

 

NASCAR is another one that is selling out to foreigners. They should have never let Toyota into NASCAR. What does the first two letter in NASCAR stand for anyway? I thought it was North American. Since when is Toyota considered North American? We should all boycot the sponsors that place their logo's on a NASCAR Toyota. NASCAR doesn't mean NASCAR anymore, it more like ISCAR.

 

OK, so much for my rant.......now flame away.

[msy]

NASCAR not north american but National Association of Stock CAR Racers

[MY500SS]

I think this time we can thank our selves for this down turn. We Americans took out all these loans with no income and no money down to buy homes in the U.S. Then housing prices were going up so they borrowed more money from their equity and bought Plasma TVs, Cars took vacations eat at expensive resturants.

Well said.

[kevhead20]

NASCAR not north american but National Association of Stock CAR Racers

 

They say Honda in 3 years or less......

[ctann]

IMHO again, I think our economy has been build on a house of cards for many, many years. People living on plastic and writing themselves loans they cannot afford, and are unable to pay back.

 

Eventually it had to all fall in on itself, and I think that is what you are seeing now.

 

I'm grabbing "The Last of the V8 Interceptors" and going out on the road!

 

To understand who he was, you have to go back to another time

when the world was powered by the black fuel

and the deserts sprouted great cities of pipe and steel.

Gone now swept away.

For reasons long forgotten, two mighty warrior tribes went to war

and touched off a blaze which engulfed them all.

Without fuel they were nothing. They'd built a house of straw.

The thundering machines sputtered and stopped.

Their leaders talked and talked and talked

but nothing could stem the avalanche.

Their world crumbled the cities exploded.

A whirlwind of looting

a firestorm of fear.

Men began to feed on men.

On the roads it was a white-line nightmare.

Only those mobile enough to scavenge

brutal enough to pillage would survive.

 

[Mad Max II, aka The Road Warrior]

 

Chris.

[diamondback]

Its ironic that car companies are having big problems because they have grown over the years to meet a false economy(people recieving loans who should never have been approved) and now that the real economy(because of conservitive lending practices) is in thier face they are collapsing under their own weight. Now we the tax payers are going to bail out the shady lenders so they can profit from the bailout then restart the cycle all over again. This bail out deal is a scam on top of a scam. Its just to jumpstart the false econmy and kickstart the bad lending back into motion once again so we can go on with the fairy tale facade of how great our economy is. A person who truely is qualified to get a loan could go out today and get a loan if they wanted to and that is the way it used to be 20 years ago(before Clinton) and that is the way it should be now. This bail out is just going to put off the inevitable, it is going to grow the false economy even larger for an even bigger fallout years from now then we have in our face today.

[DDT]

NASCAR not north american but "interNational Association of Stock CAR" Ricers

 

[pony88]

Well said.

 

hey guys,

i am a salesman at one of the biggest ford stores in the state of oklahoma, and ive taken over $2000+ pay-cut cause of lack of sales. im seeing deals today i cant get done but 2 months ago i know i could. the banks are tighting up big time! it went from 0 cash down to $1000 easy pending on unit.

ford finally dropped the 0% for 60mo on mustangs now, but does no good right about now

[bull]

hey guys,

i am a salesman at one of the biggest ford stores in the state of oklahoma, and ive taken over $2000+ pay-cut cause of lack of sales. im seeing deals today i cant get done but 2 months ago i know i could. the banks are tighting up big time! it went from 0 cash down to $1000 easy pending on unit.

ford finally dropped the 0% for 60mo on mustangs now, but does no good right about now

 

 

if people cannot even afford 1k down screw em..thats why we are in this mess NINJA loans have to stop..its time people save a few bux for a purchase and pay some of the initial cost..i could care less what happens to those people who are stupid finicially and i do not want any lame head wall street gillionaire bailed out...party's over..buckle down

 

ps: we had at least 3 months warning on this...when people started walking away from their homes the party was over..what did the idiots tell us "the economy is sound"..that was a blantly lie or bush has alzimers..im really not sure which

[DutchGT500]

Agree 100%. It is people's own fault. Ok a bit to the banks too for making loans possible to people that have very little income.

[Wilmmr]

To understand who he was, you have to go back to another time

when the world was powered by the black fuel

and the deserts sprouted great cities of pipe and steel.

Gone now swept away.

For reasons long forgotten, two mighty warrior tribes went to war

and touched off a blaze which engulfed them all.

Without fuel they were nothing. They'd built a house of straw.

The thundering machines sputtered and stopped.

Their leaders talked and talked and talked

but nothing could stem the avalanche.

Their world crumbled the cities exploded.

A whirlwind of looting

a firestorm of fear.

Men began to feed on men.

On the roads it was a white-line nightmare.

Only those mobile enough to scavenge

brutal enough to pillage would survive.

 

[Mad Max II, aka The Road Warrior]/quote]

That's great Chris, my thoughts exactly!

Kinda funny you would reference this movie. Before I bought my GT500 on September 4th I was talking with one of my business partners going over the different cars I was considering. When we got to the GT he was like that is a great car, and I responded, "The last of the V8 Interceptors", we spent the next 15 minutes talking about that movie and then I went to the dealership and bought it on the spot.

 

Keeping with the classic movie theme, as this mess has played out one of my employees asked me yesterday how this was going to play out.

I said "Planet of the Apes man, Planet of the Apes"

Next 15 minutes of movie rifts, "Get your stinkin paws off me you damn dirty ape!"

Ahhhh to be in your forties and relive all the classic movies we grew up on.

 

Off topic but just my 2 cents.

[RStangsOC]

Agree 100%. It is people's own fault. Ok a bit to the banks too for making loans possible to people that have very little income.

 

 

While I agree it is a persons responsibility to make sure they can actually afford things they are buying (I myself have gotten myself and my family in this financial bind so have nobody to blame but myself) - I also think there were MANY lenders who took advantage of un-savy (inexperianced) home buyers. They were led to believe that home prices would continue to raise and they would get raises at their jobs to cover any increase in interest rate they will see. MANY of those loans went to first time home buyers - who were told "stories" to ease their minds and help them "close the deal." How someone that in reality might BARELY be able to afford a $300k home was able to walk into a $500k - $1M home is beyond me.

[mach1fever]

The problem is we were all betting on home values continue to rise. The problem is the houses stopped selling and the gloom and doom perpetuated by media stopped people from buying. People don't buy and prices go down and builders don't make money. The funny part is the servicing of these bailout loans and software is being sold to South America. They just closed the Ocwen located here to move its ops to South America to take care of them.