Out of a job yet? Keep buying foreign

[UsedtoSkidoo]

My 4.3L Sonoma gets about 25-27mpg depending on temperature changes (ya it's TBI, not MPI. haha)... Anyway it's been a fantastic truck but I'd like something with a full size bed and extended cab. We'll see how oil prices plane out. Apparently speculation makes up about $30 of the price of a barrel right now so you never know

I really feel bad for those buggers in Oshawa right now. People can criticize line workers all they want but these are real people with mortgages and families to worry about...

You cant seriously be defending those guys in Oshawa can you? Yes I have empathy for them but you reap what you sew. The union's have done a wonderful job of pricing our (decidedly unwanted gas guzzling vehicles) out of the market.

As for full size and extended cab, you can get one of those for a shoe shine and a cup of coffee right now!

[sledneck96]

I am all for buying Canadian made or at least North American made products over foreign. It's obvious that the NA quality is much better than Chinese imports. Unfortunately it is getting harder and harder to buy products that are not made in China.

But what do you do when the NA manufacturers make an inferior product to a foreign manufacturer? What do you do with your money when the made in Canada product will only last half as long as the import? It's hard to draw the line. In the case of Chinese imports, the line is much easier to see though.

Example related to sleds: purely hypothetical, not bashing at all

1. Ski-doo (Canadian manufacturer) announces they are pulling out of the sled business and will not make the 2009s.

2. Now you're left with Cat and Polaris for NA manufacturers. For arguments sake, lets say they don't offer any sleds that get decent fuel mileage, they all get 10 mpg or less. And/or it's well known that you can expect 2000 miles out of an engine, and that's it. Price for a sled $10,000 cdn and they offer all 4 stroke (so there is no 2S 4S debate lol).

3. Yamaha (Japanese manufacturer) offers sleds that get 20 mpg and are known to get 6000 miles out of an engine. Price for a sled $10,000 cdn or we could even say $12,000 cdn, all 4 strokes.

What do you do with your hard earned money?

As far as vehicles and gas prices, here's what I did;

My 2003 Sierra is in the driveway as it's only worth $8000 trade-in because it has 160K km on it. I now only have it to tow the double trailer and pick up top soil, building supplies etc.

I picked up a 2003 Toyota Matrix for highway running. I drive a minimum of 225 km a day and the truck is way too expensive to drive that distance with the recent increases in gas prices. The car uses half the fuel and those savings alone will pay for this car in 2 years. Why did I buy an import over domestic? All of my wife's family works for Toyota and it will out last any domestic vehicle in it's class. This car is also assembled in Ontario. This doesn't save me any money until the car is paid for though.

So the only real way to save on gas right now is to sell the truck or SUV and get a 4 cyl car but wait...does a Cobalt or Corolla tow 2 sleds?....hmmm what to do.

[LuvMyViper]

I am all for buying Canadian made or at least North American made products over foreign. It's obvious that the NA quality is much better than Chinese imports. Unfortunately it is getting harder and harder to buy products that are not made in China.

But what do you do when the NA manufacturers make an inferior product to a foreign manufacturer? What do you do with your money when the made in Canada product will only last half as long as the import? It's hard to draw the line. In the case of Chinese imports, the line is much easier to see though.

Example related to sleds: purely hypothetical, not bashing at all

1. Ski-doo (Canadian manufacturer) announces they are pulling out of the sled business and will not make the 2009s.

2. Now you're left with Cat and Polaris for NA manufacturers. For arguments sake, lets say they don't offer any sleds that get decent fuel mileage, they all get 10 mpg or less. And/or it's well known that you can expect 2000 miles out of an engine, and that's it. Price for a sled $10,000 cdn and they offer all 4 stroke (so there is no 2S 4S debate lol).

3. Yamaha (Japanese manufacturer) offers sleds that get 20 mpg and are known to get 6000 miles out of an engine. Price for a sled $10,000 cdn or we could even say $12,000 cdn, all 4 strokes.

What do you do with your hard earned money?

As far as vehicles and gas prices, here's what I did;

My 2003 Sierra is in the driveway as it's only worth $8000 trade-in because it has 160K km on it. I now only have it to tow the double trailer and pick up top soil, building supplies etc.

I picked up a 2003 Toyota Matrix for highway running. I drive a minimum of 225 km a day and the truck is way too expensive to drive that distance with the recent increases in gas prices. The car uses half the fuel and those savings alone will pay for this car in 2 years. Why did I buy an import over domestic? All of my wife's family works for Toyota and it will out last any domestic vehicle in it's class. This car is also assembled in Ontario. This doesn't save me any money until the car is paid for though.

So the only real way to save on gas right now is to sell the truck or SUV and get a 4 cyl car but wait...does a Cobalt or Corolla tow 2 sleds?....hmmm what to do.

See my solution above

[skidooer]

As for full size and extended cab, you can get one of those for a shoe shine and a cup of coffee right now!

I don't know. You inspidered me to look in the trader to see what a truck like mine is going for these days. They were listed for exactly what I expected them to be going for; a bit less than what I paid for mine a couple of years ago.

[sledneck96]

I already buy Canadian made products over forgein as much as possible. I will definetely give this one month of no Chinese products a shot. Why should it be limited to China though? Why not India too?

I guess my point was that we as Canadians want to buy domestic products and support our country. That doesn't mean we're willing to accept crap products from Canadian manufacturers when India is making a better product, for example.

Today my boss came in with a bunch of new safety glasses for us. I was surprised to see they were made in Canada, and quite happy that he bought that brand. It's fairly easy to support Canada with products such as these. It's when we look at the automotive and recreation (sleds, ATVs) industries that it gets very touchy.

I'd rather spend a little more money on a product if it's made in Canada as long as it's as good or better than the foreign product.

[LuvMyViper]

YOUR INCOME TAX RETURN SPENDING

Income Tax Refund advice.... pretty accurate in my opinion

If you are lucky and Revenue Canada sends you a refund

from your 2008 Income Tax, be careful how you spend it......

If you spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China.

If you spend it on gasoline it will go to the Arabs,

If you purchase a new computer it will go to India,

If you purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala,

If you purchase a good car it will go to Japan,

If you purchase useless crap it will go to Taiwan and none of it will help the Canadian economy.

We need to keep that money here in Canada . The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it at garage sales, since those are the only businesses still operating successfully in Canada.

[LuvMyViper]

Not to mention that we are one of heaviest taxed nations in the world (personal and business).. Here's a clip from The Rick Mercer Report (he is great)..

[skidooer]

I already buy Canadian made products over forgein as much as possible.

But then you have the problem of products labeled "Made in Canada," even if a lot of the work was done outside of the country. The famous example is in the food industry where if the box was made in Canada, it is considered a product of Canada, even if the actual food came from elsewhere.

[UsedtoSkidoo]

As for full size and extended cab, you can get one of those for a shoe shine and a cup of coffee right now!

I don't know. You inspidered me to look in the trader to see what a truck like mine is going for these days. They were listed for exactly what I expected them to be going for; a bit less than what I paid for mine a couple of years ago.

I know what they list for and trust me its not what they are getting for them. My leasing guy told me what they are going for and im looking down the long barrel of driving my big diesel guzzling pickup for another three years because to get rid of it will cost me way too much. The market for large trucks just went down. Just look at the numbers.

For the first time since 1991 the Ford F150 was knocked off as the number #1 seller in the us. Honda was #1

Hummer sales down 69%, I could go on but hey I think people get my point. I wont tell you what I can buy a used H2 for right now or a used Escalade. Its ridiculous.

I have a 6.0 litre and a 6.6 litre diesel in the driveway at this moment and I doubt anyone would buy either. Im stuck!

Oh well, Im sure oil really is worth $130 dollars a barrel

[SNOGUZZLER]

Then you have the problem of finding a Canadian maunufacturer. I read somewhere that BRP is moving production of atv and possiblely sleds to mexico.......

[UsedtoSkidoo]

Ok speaking of foreign products, who is going to watch the Olympics this summer? :P

[SlowTouringGuy]

I have a 6.0 litre and a 6.6 litre diesel in the driveway at this moment and I doubt anyone would buy either. Im stuck!

What year/make/model/etc ? How much you want for them ?

[skidooer]

I wont tell you what I can buy a used H2 for right now or a used Escalade. Its ridiculous.

Do tell. Maybe I should be getting myself a new truck.

I just read on another forum that it's now cheaper to own a truck than a car (if you were buying one today), even when you consider the poorer fuel mileage. So, I guess you're right.

[UsedtoSkidoo]

I wont tell you what I can buy a used H2 for right now or a used Escalade. Its ridiculous.

Do tell. Maybe I should be getting myself a new truck.

I just read on another forum that it's now cheaper to own a truck than a car (if you were buying one today), even when you consider the poorer fuel mileage. So, I guess you're right.

I know I thought about the H2 for about ten minutes and then said.................nawwwwww. :P

[SlowTouringGuy]

I wont tell you what I can buy a used H2 for right now or a used Escalade. Its ridiculous.

Do tell. Maybe I should be getting myself a new truck.

I just read on another forum that it's now cheaper to own a truck than a car (if you were buying one today), even when you consider the poorer fuel mileage. So, I guess you're right.

Where are all these big brutes of which you speak ?

[UsedtoSkidoo]

I have a 6.0 litre and a 6.6 litre diesel in the driveway at this moment and I doubt anyone would buy either. Im stuck!

What year/make/model/etc ? How much you want for them ?

You wouldnt want them, but hey I have a beautiful pair of pilot skiis for sale if you know anyone who wants them? :poke:

[skidooer]

I know I thought about the H2 for about ten minutes and then said.................nawwwwww. :P

Well, I'm not sure I'd want an H2 anyway. But I am curious as to how cheap these trucks are now. If they are as cheap as you make them sound it really might be cheaper to be getting into one of them.

[teener]

[UsedtoSkidoo]

I know I thought about the H2 for about ten minutes and then said.................nawwwwww. :P

Well, I'm not sure I'd want an H2 anyway. But I am curious as to how cheap these trucks are now. If they are as cheap as you make them sound it really might be cheaper to be getting into one of them.

Yes they are cheap to purchase but operation and resale sucks!

[skidooer]

Yes they are cheap to purchase but operation and resale sucks!

Resale might be a concern. Operation shouldn't be any worse than what I've already got. Let's see some numbers already so I can crunch them.

[Domino]

My 4.3L Sonoma gets about 25-27mpg depending on temperature changes (ya it's TBI, not MPI. haha)... Anyway it's been a fantastic truck but I'd like something with a full size bed and extended cab. We'll see how oil prices plane out. Apparently speculation makes up about $30 of the price of a barrel right now so you never know

I really feel bad for those buggers in Oshawa right now. People can criticize line workers all they want but these are real people with mortgages and families to worry about...

Is that in miles per Imperial Gallon??? The 4.3 is good, but not that good in my experience.

My 4runner V6 gets 21mpg U.S. or 25mpg Imperial

or 11.2L/100km

[UsedtoSkidoo]

Yes they are cheap to purchase but operation and resale sucks!

Resale might be a concern. Operation shouldn't be any worse than what I've already got. Let's see some numbers already so I can crunch them.

How about 25k for an 05 h2 ?

[skidooer]

How about 25k for an 05 h2 ?

I was expecting cheaper the way you made it sound. But yeah, that's still a pretty low value for that vehicle. I'm glad I'm not trying to sell one!

[UsedtoSkidoo]

How about 25k for an 05 h2 ?

I was expecting cheaper the way you made it sound. But yeah, that's still a pretty low value for that vehicle. I'm glad I'm not trying to sell one!

Thats an 80k vehicle roughly 3 years old............It was 40k six months ago. And that is just the asking price!

[Faceman]

My 4.3L Sonoma gets about 25-27mpg depending on temperature changes (ya it's TBI, not MPI. haha)... Anyway it's been a fantastic truck but I'd like something with a full size bed and extended cab. We'll see how oil prices plane out. Apparently speculation makes up about $30 of the price of a barrel right now so you never know

I really feel bad for those buggers in Oshawa right now. People can criticize line workers all they want but these are real people with mortgages and families to worry about...

Is that in miles per Imperial Gallon??? The 4.3 is good, but not that good in my experience.

My 4runner V6 gets 21mpg U.S. or 25mpg Imperial

or 11.2L/100km

And of course this depends on speed

Mother Nature has an 07 Denali with the 5.3 and she gets 28mpg with the cruise set at 95kph( or 10.5kpl????????) Still like full size north american metal