[Shotimes] OT - 2006 Mercury Milan

Sat, 28 Aug 2004 12:15:50 -0400

I don't understand your question about BMWs. Are you referring to the manual
tranny sales? I'm sure that 90%+ of BMWs sold here in the US are automatic
(or SMG), and probably the reverse ratio in Europe.

BMWs are not necessarily that expensive to fix. With new ones, getting the
extended warranty is the plan (as with any car), then once they are a few
years older, the parts cost is not always worse than some domestics.....at
least parts are available for an '80s-era BMW....unlike a certain Ford with
the name "SHO" that you may have heard of!!

What is the market for the GTO? Besides incredibly boring styling, I have
heard from other folks I know about the Australian Monte Carlo with a Chevy
engine, now called a GTO. Not that these were folks in the market for one.
The guys who want them are too young and can't afford the insurance & car
payment. Guys in the Boomer demographic aren't any more interested than they
were in the Camaro SS.....two-door coupe cars just aren't in the plan. The
latest complaint I've heard is that the trunk is way too small, which
further cuts the utility of the car.

Ron Porter

-----Original Message-----
From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]
On Behalf Of Carl Prochilo
Sent: Saturday, August 28, 2004 11:43 AM
To: shotimes@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [Shotimes] OT - 2006 Mercury Milan

Then why does BMW sell so many high-end sedans?  They carry a big presence
in the racing world.  Their cars are expensive to fix.  It's not american
made (could be good or bad I guess).

The GTO thing surprises me.  Does the car already have a bad rep for some
mechanical or quality issues?
-- 
Cheers,
Carl Prochilo
92 Ultra Red Crimson

On Sat, August 28, 2004 11:30 am, Leigh Smith said:
> I second the "move the metal" mindset at dealers. My brother in-law is a
> finance manager, and they get additional finance incentives for moving the
> cars off the floor plan very quickly, as well as incurring almost no floor
> plan (finance) charges. A winner is a car line that moves out in 30 days.
> It
> basically costs the dealer nothing.  A loser is one that sits around for a
> few months, they have to keep discounting them to sell them, and the floor
> plan charges keep racking up, so they actually lose money on each unit
> sold.
> Now that line is a "lemon" in their eyes. Then word spreads, dealers don't
> order them, factory inventory backs up, and the factory resorts to
> blackmail
> and makes them take x number of those models to get x number of the hot
> selling model.
>
> The SHO was definately a sales "lemon". And we know that, we say that it
> was
> "under-appreciated" by the public.
>
> The current GTO is having the same problems. They have only sold 6,000
> units
> in 6 months and have another 9,000 already produced and in inventory,
> giving
> them over 9 months of inventory. A long way from their 30-60 day target.
> Cool car or not, some business manager is having a hard time keeping it
> alive and not pulling the plug.
>
> A lot of cool high-performance cars wind up with this problem, because of
> low sales potential, which is why performance cars have earned a bad rap
> in
> general with dealers even though they may be very good cars.
>
> Performance cars I can think of that fit this category are the SHO, GTO,
> Fiero GT, Cosworth Vega, Corvair, late model Camaro/Firebird, and many
> other
> stick-shift models. Ever see a five speed Grand Prix or Lincoln LS?
> Appreciate them quickly while they last, because they probably won't be
> around long.
>
> Lee
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ron Porter" <ronporter@prodigy.net>
> To: <alfitz@alfitz.com>; "'_ShoTimes'" <Shotimes@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Saturday, August 28, 2004 1:52 AM
> Subject: RE: [Shotimes] OT - 2006 Mercury Milan
>
>
>> This is looking at it from the perspective of a dealer who has to move
>> the
>> metal.
>>
>> IIRC, they had leftover SHOs just about every year they were out. Even
>> my
>> current '94, which was built in 10/93, wasn't titled until 1/95-2/95
>> (it's
>> on the Carfax around here somewhere).
>>
>> Dealers aren't into whether cars are good or not.....rather, they have
> their
>> own definition...."good" cars sell because buyers want them, "bad" cars
> sit
>> on the lot sucking up finance charges.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: alfitz@alfitz.com [mailto:alfitz@alfitz.com]
>> Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 10:51 PM
>> To: Ron Porter
>> Cc: _ShoTimes
>> Subject: Re: [Shotimes] OT - 2006 Mercury Milan
>>
>>
>> Ouch !!  Pinto, Edsel, or Vega?
>>
>> I would like to think we are in better company than those dogs. Like
>> maybe
>> Stutz Bearcat or Packard V12....
>>
>>
>> Al Fitz
>> alfitz@alfitz.com
>> _______________________________________________
>> Shotimes mailing list
>> Shotimes@autox.team.net
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