I agree with you Eddie, in some locations anyway. On the East coast though, gas is still around $2.49 per gallon. Takes me $40 each, to fill up my 1994 Jeep Cherokee Sport and my 1999 Sebring convertible! In some folks minds it still may be enough to sell a new car! If I was in the market, I would probably be stupid enough to fall for it! Jay --- eddiestakes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote: > No, this ain't a Mahoney post indended to make one > think...but maybe it > should be. John is great about pointing out how many > old things are new > again and going thru the Houston Chronicle business > section there were two > stories of interest. > > One is that DamlierChrysler said Thursday it will > give two years worth of > FREE GAS to customers who buy a 2005 or 2006 vehicle > before January 3rd. > This follws announcements that Ford and GM are again > offering deep > discounts. Mother Mopar will also kick in two years > of free scheduled > maintainece and increase the warranty on mechanical > parts to five years or > 60,000 miles. > > It was the free gas thing that stuck out I guess. > This might have been a > great move when gas was in the $3.00 a gallon range; > but in Houston one can > find gas under $2.00 a gallon, and I just returned > from Corpus Christi, and > found gas as low (a oxymoron) as $1.87 a gallon on > the outskirts of CC. > > Free gas as a incentive to buy a new car, been there > done that, 1953 comes > to mind: > http://www.planethoustonamx.com/parts%20&%20Literature/53_Nash_winners.jpg > "the new owners of a Nash in front of the dealership > in 1953. P. K. Williams > was a Preston Tucker like figure, and I would have > loved to meet him in his > day. A real showman and hog for press. From the > Austin American Statesman > newspaper that accompanied the original photo, the > yellowed paper has the > original newspaper clipping with this photo (the > original 1953 newspaper > article does not come with photo) but here is what > it says: Friday, July 3, > 1953 The Austin American Statesman, Austin, Texas: > BONUS RIDING-Mr. and Mrs. > Lon Alsup are shown taking delivery of a new 1953 > Nash which is accompanied > with an order for a year's supply of gasoline. This > is a special offer made > by P. K. Williams Nash Company as part of the > observance of the firm's ninth > anniversary in Austin. Left to right are Alsup, Mrs. > Alsup, and P. K. > Williams, owner of this automobile firm." > > > And then there comes Renault. Carlos Ghosn just took > up the CEO position at > struggling Renault. Sound familiar? I can recall > many many articles fromt he > 1970s thru AMCs last days by the press that shoved > that damned moniker in > front of AMC when describing the company. > "Struggling AMC" this and that. > Arrgh. Even paired with Nissan/formerly Datsun (a > company oft mentioned that > might have been a suitable partner of AMC) Renault > has a number of problems > like weak sales and no new products coming out. > Sound familar again? Even > though Renault controls 44% of Nissan it is not what > it appears to be, and > Renault has, guess what, no US presence since AMC > days. > > http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20051118/RTICKERMAIN18/TPBusiness/International > > http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=ax7nKVqwkGmM&refer=europe > > Speaking of Renault, out of curiosity, (trick > question) what year did talks > in earnest happen between American Motors and > Renault? Free used kid shoe > bonus to who gets it right. > > Eddie Stakes' > Planet Houston AMX > 713.464.8825 > eddiestakes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > www.planethoustonamx.com > > > > > > > __________________________________ Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click. http://farechase.yahoo.com