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Carmakers feel chip crisis easing

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111–120 of 261 posts

Re: Carmakers feel chip crisis easing

#111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Context: for ages, OEMs (the factory) have had a belief that Americans will not wait to buy a car. On the contrary, we recently added a 3rd car, and it ended up being a $4000 used Toyota Camry. My first choice would have been a Corolla or civic but none were available at a reasonable price, condition and mileage. Due to the well known rise in used car prices. It's in good enough condition and meets all the requirem…

I applaud you for not taking the bait on the Model 3, which is overrated, but I cannot fathom purchasing an appliance car like a Camry. You can’t possibly enjoy driving it. Why not at least a Honda?

Our only car is a 10-year old 7-seater powered by a 1.4 liter turbocharged petrol engine (Opel Zafira Tourer). An entirely utilitarian choice, I'll buy something fun when the kids grow up.

What I have come to realize though is that most people couldn't drive quickly in corners if their life depended on it.

And that there is nothing more satisfying than watching a Tesla or Audi become a small dot in the rearview mirror on a highway onramp or a switchback road, when the emblem on your trunk says "1.4 EcoFlex" and your bumper sticker says "Baby on board".

Sure, you'll get passed when the road straightens out again, but both them and me know that I've won.

Re: Carmakers feel chip crisis easing

#112
post #8

I saw an article recently saying that dealerships and car makers want to keep inventories low because they like the post-covid margins they're experiencing. When I paid 5k over msrp a few months ago the salesperson claimed they wanted more inventory because salespeople were unable to hit the volume goals they have. Not sure who to believe but I'm sure the truth lies somewhere in between.

Disclosure: I work for GM. Anything expressed here is solely my own opinion and experience. I think each statement is true. Context: for ages, OEMs (the factory) have had a belief that Americans will not wait to buy a car. There's also a bit of a prisoner's dilemma: if any automaker wanted to trim inventories, the customer could go to a competing automaker's lot and buy today. Since customers will not wait to buy a c…

Welcome to Soviet-era production attitude :-/

Re: Carmakers feel chip crisis easing

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Context: for ages, OEMs (the factory) have had a belief that Americans will not wait to buy a car. On the contrary, we recently added a 3rd car, and it ended up being a $4000 used Toyota Camry. My first choice would have been a Corolla or civic but none were available at a reasonable price, condition and mileage. Due to the well known rise in used car prices. It's in good enough condition and meets all the requirem…

> no more paying comprehensive insurance Assuming you can afford to replace it on your own if you need to, this one really adds up.

More generally, it usually doesn't make sense to have insurance for anything where you could comfortably afford to pay for the bad thing out of pocket if it happened. For me that means 3rd party liability coverage, yes; comprehensive coverage, no.

Re: Carmakers feel chip crisis easing

#114
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disclosure: I work for GM. Anything expressed here is solely my own opinion and experience. I think each statement is true. Context: for ages, OEMs (the factory) have had a belief that Americans will not wait to buy a car. There's also a bit of a prisoner's dilemma: if any automaker wanted to trim inventories, the customer could go to a competing automaker's lot and buy today. Since customers will not wait to buy a c…

> Context: for ages, OEMs (the factory) have had a belief that Americans will not wait to buy a car. On the contrary, we recently added a 3rd car, and it ended up being a $4000 used Toyota Camry. My first choice would have been a Corolla or civic but none were available at a reasonable price, condition and mileage. Due to the well known rise in used car prices. It's in good enough condition and meets all the requirem…

I have a 2000 BMW 318ti beater car, the clear coat is peeling but mechanically fantastic. The crankshaft sensor was causing random misfires which I replaced. Otherwise all stock, it's fantastic and freeing. I can floor it and it doesn't go anywhere. upkeep is cheap, oil change when it asks me to. light compact car i've only done brakes once 6yrs ago and it looks new still... the only downside are the plastic parts which sometimes let water in. Those I'm replacing.

Re: Carmakers feel chip crisis easing

#115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pico is still available, even in Canada.

I am freshly obsessed with the RP2040 chip, last time I checked Digikey had like 90,000 in stock at 1USD a pop. I am really curious to what extent it could be configured to do the job of many of these out-of-stock chips that the car industry is hurting for, perhaps straight up emulate their I/O ?

I doubt the RP2040 is automotive grade. Cars are pretty harsh environments for electronics, they have to operate in all kinds of climates, hot, cold, humid, dry, with condensation, vibration, large voltage spikes while the car is getting cranked, etc. I don't think any manufacturer would sign off on such a replacement, only to have to recall the cars later on due to the replacement chip failing.

Re: Carmakers feel chip crisis easing

#116
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disclosure: I work for GM. Anything expressed here is solely my own opinion and experience. I think each statement is true. Context: for ages, OEMs (the factory) have had a belief that Americans will not wait to buy a car. There's also a bit of a prisoner's dilemma: if any automaker wanted to trim inventories, the customer could go to a competing automaker's lot and buy today. Since customers will not wait to buy a c…

> Context: for ages, OEMs (the factory) have had a belief that Americans will not wait to buy a car. On the contrary, we recently added a 3rd car, and it ended up being a $4000 used Toyota Camry. My first choice would have been a Corolla or civic but none were available at a reasonable price, condition and mileage. Due to the well known rise in used car prices. It's in good enough condition and meets all the requirem…

I'm all for frugality, but with a newer car you're getting vastly improved crash safety. Over the years crash safety ratings have gotten tougher and tougher. You can browse the IIHS crash rating history for the Camry (or any other car) and you can often observe that when the IIHS introduces a new test, cars often perform poorly on it (high likelihood of injury) initially, but get better later on. https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/Toyota/camry-4-door-sed.... This is it's own piece of mind.

Re: Carmakers feel chip crisis easing

#117

Still can't buy RaspberryPis... not sure if it's related. But for some reason I can still buy boat loads of ESP8266 and other micro-controllers...

Huh, this is weird - I happened to check recently, and the Pi 4 was listed as available, though ~20% more expensive than a few months after release ?

Re: Carmakers feel chip crisis easing

#118
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not permanent.

I'll wager the base is $6 after this. I'm currently paying $7 because I'm in CA and I have to buy Diesel after some drunk person totaled my non-truck.

If you look at the last 20 years, then the current $100/barrel seems to be the "new normal" ? (Up from ~$25/barrel for the 2nd half of the 20th century.)

Now, currently it's more the lack of refining capacity that seems to be pushing fuel prices up, the crack spread is up to $50/barrel !!

Re: Carmakers feel chip crisis easing

#119
post #60

Just in time for $6 gas. Are people seriously going to buy anything other than a hybrid or full EV at this point?

I don't really see how $6 gas is materially different from $4 gas And yea, F150s and Tundras are still going to outsell anything less than 5 feet tall, don't really know what to tell ya

> I don't really see how $6 gas is materially different from $4 gas

What?

Re: Carmakers feel chip crisis easing

#120
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could sell the car yourself, and get financing from a bank. Then its only price (fixed), and addons.

I've found (in the US at least) that automaker financing on new vehicles is usually better than any other banks. I'm now wishing I put zero down on my last car, because it's looking like my loan is way cheaper than inflation is going to be over the life of the loan.

> I'm now wishing I put zero down on my last car, because it's looking like my loan is way cheaper than inflation is going to be over the life of the loan.

Would you have invested that money in something that is currently growing at least as fast as inflation?

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