Would you buy a $59 car?

[samhexum]

I was in the supermarket this morning and saw they had motorized cars for kids, including an Audi, a Range Rover, and other high-end brands.  When I asked the price, I was told they range from $59 and up.  That's what I'd be able to afford if my 2003 Malibu, which just passed 80,000 miles, gives out.

Then I came home and found a new topic-- Would you buy a $300,000 car?

Since I couldn't afford a 300,000 cent car, I thought I'd start a topic about what I could afford.

 

 

Edited November 6, 2023 by samhexum
for absolutely NO @%!*ING reason at all!

[samhexum]

Maserati Licensed Ride On

 

 

 

$119.99

Audi R8-Ride On

 

 

 

$119.99

 

[samhexum]

[samhexum]

On 11/17/2023 at 2:44 PM, samhexum said:

Would you buy a $59 car?

Psst... make us an offer... any offer...

 

Rental giant Hertz on Thursday said it will sell off about 20,000 electric vehicles from its fleet and buy more gas-powered cars – a stunning reversal after tapping NFL legend Tom Brady to tout its transition to EVs.

The company said the high costs to repair electric vehicles and a lack of demand among renters led to its decision to abandon those plans.

Brady starred in a series of buzzy Hertz commercials in 2021, with Hertz vowing it would order 100,000 Tesla vehicles by the end of 2022 — before Thursday’s sudden U-turn.

“The company expects this action to better balance supply against expected demand of EVs,” Hertz said in a regulatory filing announcing the move.

“This will position the company to eliminate a disproportionate number of lower margin rentals and reduce damage expense associated with EVs.”

Hertz said it expects to complete sales of its electric vehicles by 2025.

The company’s shares plunged more than 4% in trading Thursday. Tesla shares fell about 3%.

The Tesla deal was just one element of Hertz’s plan to “electrify” its rental fleet. The company previously said in 2022 that it would buy 175,000 EVs from General Motors and as many as 65,000 electric vehicles from Swedish manufacturer Polestar.

The rental service expects to incur about $245 million in “incremental net depreciation expense” related to the move, according to the filing. Those costs will be reflected in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2023.

The cost of maintaining a fleet of electric vehicles has been a source of concern for Hertz executives.
Last October, Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr told analysts that “collision and damage repairs on an EV can often run about twice that associated with a comparable combustion engine vehicle.”

Scherr insisted at the time that Hertz was “committed” to a “long-term strategy to electrify the fleet.”
Hertz’s used car website lists more than 700 EVs on sale including BMW’s i3, Chevrolet’s Bolt and Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y SUVs.

[dbar123]

It was a stupid idea from the get-go. How many people realistically want to deal with charging a car on a one or two day rental?

I wonder how much they were charging for the CDW

[+ Charlie]

When it becomes illegal to sell a new gas-powered car in CA in 2035, a car rental company that has a fleet of older cars may find that there are lots of renters who will prefer to rent an older gas burner, especially when they are visiting an area where they don't know where to find chargers.

[+ sniper]

Yeah it's the not knowing where I could charge it that would be the problem, plus the time it takes to charge. Time is at a premium when traveling.

[Luv2play]

I may not live till 2035 but I would bet that deadline will be pushed back. Especially here in Canada. Too many downsides to EVs and I don’t think the technology advances will overcome them. 
EVs make perfect sense for city dwellers who don’t travel great distances but not for rural folks. Maybe they will exempt rural dwellers from having to buy EVs. 
There’s a precedent for it in Canada. The federal government exempted the owners of oil furnaces from the carbon tax after applying it for several years . All those affected live in rural areas where there are no gas lines to hook up to.