Imagine this…
You are going to buy new car. You are on a budget and you only need a
commuter car to get you to work and back -- the commute is 20 miles each
way. You live in southern California
where the weather is glorious nearly all of the time. You know pretty much what you want and what
you need and you know very well what you can afford.
You go into your local used car dealership only to find it
empty and closed down. Confused you
drive down to your local "New Car Mall" and are stunned at what you
see... A sea of cars, all roughly the same color, all the same style and only
subtle differences. You go into to talk
to someone and ask what the heck is going on.
There is a very long line that snakes around the building
and you take your spot in line. People
are chatting as they wait and you try to pick up bits of information. Some seem elated to be there! One lady comes bouncing out of the dealership
holding up a set of keys to her new car!
She is telling everyone that it was FREE! She got a free car. You think "wow, she
must have won some contest."
The line moves slowly. As people come out of the building a
few more are happy but many seem very angry. Some are screaming that their cars
were free; others that they only cost $100 and others are seething with anger
and stay silent as they storm away. It
is quite a confusing spectacle. You
finally get up to the customer service person and say you need to talk to a
salesman about getting a used commuter car.
She tells you, "Oh you can't buy a used car
anymore. It is against the law."
You think you are dreaming so you play along and say,
"Okay show me a new one". A man comes out leads you over to three
cars that are slightly different shades of white, about the same size and have
only subtle differences. One is a coupe,
one is a hatchback and one is a four door -- all the same model. These ones happen to be Fords. You glance across the street at the Toyota
dealership and see the SAME three cars in their lot and they are Toyotas over
there. Next door they are called Chevys…
Definitely a dream.
He asks you which one you want.
You say, NONE of them!
You say, "I want a little red, 4-speed, hatchback for around $12,000,
preferably used!"
He shakes his head and tells you that is no longer available
that used cars are now against the law, they just aren't safe enough. These are the only three that are approved by
the government and these are your three choices.
You ask him, "How much do they cost?"
He asks, "How much do you make?"
You say, "What difference does that make?"
He says before he can quote you a price you must provide
your personal and financial information to their dealership. He then tells you that if you leave WITHOUT a
car you will have to pay them $100! Oh and for every year that you go without
one of these cars you will have to pay more and more.
This has GOT to be a dream, right? So you continue to play
along.
You provide him your details and he plugs them in to some
computer kiosk thing and it spits out a number.
He shakes his head and tells you that you make too much money and that
you will have to pay full price.
You are stunned. You
are a waitress and a student. But the
tips that are reported can be pretty good. You tell him though that you can
barely pay your bills and you are amazed that what you make is considered
"too much". He tells you that is what the computer said and what it
says is SO!
You point out that a lady just left hollering that her car
was free! What gives? He says, well she
has 12 kids and she is underemployed so her car has to be free. You HAVE to pay full price to help offset the
cost of giving that lady her free car.
It's a dream. It’s just a dream…
He begins to list all the options that come on the cars…
Seatbelts, back up camera, GPS navigation, On-Star, 28 airbags, ergonomic,
heated, power seats, built in child seat, heated mirrors, 4-wheel drive,
studded snow tires, it has the new automatic braking system that can sense a
slow down ahead to avoid a crash, it can parallel park itself, it is electric,
it comes with a helmet too that you must wear while driving it and it does not
come with a radio of any kind .
You tell him he is nuts. All you want is a very basic
commuter car to get you to and from your work and school. I don't need all of these options and you
WANT a radio.
He looks at you as though you have two heads. He says,
"Haven't you been paying attention? The government mandates that you have
all of these safety options -- they want you to be safe! It is for your own good. Oh and the radio causes people to get
distracted while driving so they are no longer allowed in cars.
You say, "Why the snow tires and 4-wheel drive?"
He says, "Well it is POSSIBLE it could snow. It has
before in southern California and you have to be prepared for ANYTHING that is
possible."
"Why the heated, power seats with all the
ergonomics?"
"You might strain your back on long drives and this
will help avoid that."
You tell him your commute is 20 miles. He tells you that doesn't
matter.
You tell him that you don't have a kid and you are never
going to have a child -- it isn't medically possible you say sadly.
He says well every must have a built in child seat no matter
what -- just in case…you might adopt!
You then tell him that you don't WANT an electric car and
there isn't a charging station at school or at home. He says that they have taken care of that and
your landlord will be fined until he installs one for you. Of course your rent
is going to go up to cover the installation and the higher electricity bills
and your tuition is going to have to go up too to cover those costs for the
school. He looks at his list of your
information and says, "Lucky you!
There is a charging station right where you work! But of course you are
going to get a cut in pay so your boss can afford to pay his electric
bill."
No, not a dream. This is a freakin' nightmare!
In frustration you tell him to just show you the damned
hatchback. He opens the door and you
slide in to the driver's seat. You look
around and it isn't bad to look at. You ask for the keys -- he gives them to
you. As you reach for the ignition you notice a credit card swipe machine
mounted in the dash. You ask him what the heck it is for.
"Oh that?" he says, "It is for when you start
the car. You need to swipe you credit card until you have paid your
deductible."
"What?"
"Yes" He says, "Until you have reached your
deductible you have to swipe your card each time you start it."
"Deductible for what?" you stammer.
He goes on to explain that any time you use your car you
must pay. Although there are some trips
that are free. If you are going to the
post office, if you are going to a volunteer job with a federally licensed
organization, if you are dropping your child off at a public school or if you
are going to a rally those trips are all free!
"But I don't have kids! Can I get another free trip
instead?" you ask.
Nope that's all the car will allow.
"I pay all my bills online and I use FedEx. I never go
to the post office."
He just looks at you blankly and says that these are the
ONLY free trips and there aren't any substitutions. Period.
"How does the car know where I am going? You ask
sarcastically.
He very seriously says, "Oh it KNOWS."
Wake up, wake up, wake up you think to yourself.
Well how much will it cost every year? He looks as his tablet and swipes a few times
and says, "For this car only $12,000."
You shriek, "TWELVE THOUSAND DOLLARS?" You only
take home $3000 a month. That is one-third of your take home pay!
You ask him how it all works. He tells you that each time
you make a trip the car totals up the mileage and then charges your card
whatever the government rate is for mileage.
Right now that is 48.5 cents a mile.
But wait he says, excitedly, "You get 80% of your miles
paid for after you meet your deductible! Isn't that great?"
You tell him that you only drive about 10,000 miles a year -
you would have to drive nearly 25,000 miles a year to meet your deductible. You
will never reach your deductible. And what the heck does the 80% mean?
He goes on to explain that when you swipe your card it knows
how many miles you have driven and once you have drive enough miles to pay off
your deductible then you only pay 80% of the 48.5 cents or 10 cents! Oh and you still get those FREE trips!
You stop, collect your thoughts and summarize to him all you
have been told.
1. I can't buy a used car; I must buy a new one.
2. I only have three to choose from all slightly different
shades of white.
3. They come with options I don't want or need.
4. It doesn’t come with options I DO want.
5. I have to pay full price for the car because I work hard
and earn a living -- the price is non-negotiable yet other people who don't
work hard are getting the same car for free. I have to pay more so they can pay
less.
6. The car charges me 48.5 cents a mile each time I use it
until I have driven 25K miles, even though I will never drive that much and
then it only charges me 10 cents a mile after that.
7. IF I had kids dropping them off at school would be free
ONLY if they attended public school.
8. Even if I go across the street to the Toyota dealership
my choices are pretty much the same.
9. My tuition is going up, my rent is going up and my wage
is going to go down to offset the mandatory electric charging system that is
being required to be provided for MY car.
10. AND you are going to charge me $100 if I leave her
without a car.
He says, "YES, you got it! Welcome to the Affordable
CAR Act!"
And you realize it isn't a dream…
No comments:
Post a Comment