ECON Overheard Waiting For A New Windshield

[Senses On]

To be objective here:

It is possible that this is not related to the actual credit worthiness of the firm in question. There could be a big dispute about work that has or has not been done and how much money is due, or any number of other things that would result in a “shut off” policy.

Didn’t know I had any optimism in me, did you.

 

[Reliance]

Lee, I'd like to know. I'm looking for a job, including financial services companies. Don't know whatcha mean by "pm". Can you email me? TIA

 

[Lee P. Lapin]

SO,
That was not the impression I got from overhearing one end of the conversation. The manager was absolutely incredulous and had to have the info repeated to him a couple of times over the phone, then told the receptionist in detail what he had been told.

Reliance,
PM=private message. When you register (or afterward) you can turn on private messaging at the page where you set personal preferences. Look at the little row of icons across the page by your name when you post- you'll see one marked pm. That's for private messaging. Check your email if you have pm turned on-

Lee

 

[CeeBee]

Awww, now we're all curious to find out. Could be very useful information. Are you afraid you could be liable for letting the cat out of the bag? You are, after all, essentially anonymous here, despite the use of your real name, apparently. Do we all have to PM you to find out?

 

[AbbyLane2001]

I'd like to know Lee

Abby

 

[Lee P. Lapin]

CB,

I am most assuredly not trying to be cutesy here. It is sufficient for most purposes to say that a business is well known without necessarily being more specific than that. It might be that only a local or state office of that business was responsible for the credit cutoff but that was decidedly not the impression I got.

And the fact that this is more or less gossip is why I am not more specific as to names in a general readership forum like this one. I didn't mention the name of the glass company either, if you recall.

If you wanna know that bad, I have messaging turned on. You can ask and I will answer.

Lee

 

[CAkidd]

California was been downgraded in their "credit worthiness" and no one is gooogooing over it. Since what you posted is "gossip," and we have no idea who you are talking about, why did you even post it?

 

[Lee P. Lapin]

CAkidd,

Well gee. It seemed like the thing to do at the time. I don't compare governments at any level to national companies, and woes at corporate level (where the bottom line is supposed to reign supreme) bother me more than problems in granolaland governments who depend on what they can rip off from their population or the fed nanny to get by.

lpl

 

[1911user]

Lee was reporting a rustling in the leaves, nothing more. If this type of situation starts happening more often, it may be a strong hint that something is about to happen.

Good intel work is taking many unrelated clues and assembling the puzzle. That advanced knowledge could be useful and maybe the difference between life or death someday.

txslayer

 

[Dennis Olson]

Gotta be GMAC (or similar) for that level of incredulity.

But I'd like to know too, please. Could you PM it to me as well?

 

[Lurkess]

Thanks, Lee. I for one appreciate the information...even without the names. Whoever it is, this is an indication that things are not going well out there in the real world.

Got an idea. Could you e-mail a few of your buddies or even folks here who would be willing to call xyz glass company in their area of the country and say that they needed work done for xyz company and can they charge it to that company?

A nice random sampling from different sectors of the country would give us an idea if it was just a localized problem or a national one.

Lurkess

 

[jed brulen]

Ok I'm curious too. Send info Lee.

\An update on the vw bug story (which nobody remembers probably). I said somewhere that VW was not going to import diesels into NY anymore. I was wrong - they will only be allowed to import 200 this year. EPA something I guess. My niece is trading in her 2000 diesel bug lemon for a new diesel Golf (spelled right I think) and they gave her a $2000 credit. Not sure who the credit company would be for VW for her payments.

[ 06-07-2001: Message edited by: jedb ]

 

[Army Girl]

Lee,

I assume that you are refering to Nissan since that is the only company that you mentioned. Please pm me and let me know who it is too, inquring minds want to know.

 

[Kris Gandillon]

Dagny:

Betting Nissan is a BAD assumption since Lee was at a GLASS company (not a Nissan dealer) and overheard the conversation.

KrisG

 

[AbbyLane2001]

Thanks Lee!

Abby

 

[Dennis Olson]

Got your post Lee.

Who'd a' thunk it...

BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!!!!!

 

[mama of two]

Bump to the top....

Thanks for the databit Lee but need a bit more! The suspense is killing me. Fluffy hubby used to work in alternate auto finance industry.

 

[data junkie]

Interesting. But Lee is correct as if the rumor results in a stock drop Lee can be sued for liability I hear.

 

[Jesse]

Hi Lee!

Do you have your messenger turned on? For some reason I keep getting a message that says essentially "You can't get there from here!" - Jesse.

 

[Greybeard7]

Lee:

Just wondering about something here.

Is it possible that there is a dispute between the financing company and the glass company?

It occurs to me that a financing company could have a percieved "bad credit" situation with your glass company because of problems with the glass companies past performance, and/or refusal to pay for past problems in service or warranty obligations.

Don't know the facts, just postulating another scenario.

Same thing could happen to you or me if dissatisfied and refused to pay for poor performance. (Even if upheld by a court decision.)

GB7

 

[Onebyone]

Lee,

Would you email the company to me as the PM won't work for me it says --Content-type: text/html

Software error:

Failed to connect to mail server: Resource temporarily unavailable Please check your SMTP
mail server name. Make sure the server exists and will allow relay from this IP address or
domain. The server you have entered into your configuration does not appear to exist or is
not allowing a connection from this UBB.

thanks,

obo

 

[Heather]

I got the same error message. Even went into your profile & tried to do it from there.

I would appreciate the info also.

Thanks

 

[Dennis Olson]

Both email (which is turned off by Lee) and PM worked for me.

 

[Sysman]

I've got to wonder about how well any of the major auto finance companies are doing these days. I got my 2000 Intrepid R/T at 0% for 5 years, back in December, thanks to Chrysler financial. Even the hi-end guys, like the Lincoln Navigator, can be purchased at 0% today. How can they make any money offering 0% loans?

But a better question, what is this doing to the banks? Why would I go to my bank for an 8.75% loan, when I can get a 0.0%, or a 0.9%, or even a 2.9% loan, from the "manufacturer's" finance company?

 

[Jesse]

Well THAT's good news Dennis!

Now YOU can PM those of us who couldn't get through the pertinent information! Right? - Jesse.

 

[Dennis Olson]

Lee already sent me the info. Email ME if you can't reach HIM. (Yer gonna LOVE it!)

 

[CAkidd]

This is only heresay, it is not FACT! Since Lee declined to say the company's name and to present REAL facts. He overheard a conversation - a one - ended one at that. He has no details, no facts, not even a big picture of what the circumstances are with this company. What am I after? People who want to yank people's chains. Unless you name facts, sources, blah, blah, blah, it's trivial gossip with no substance.

 

[Lee P. Lapin]

No cut'n'paste here this time. Just a databit from out there in the US of A.

This morning I went in to get the windshield replaced in the LRT (little red truck), my trusty Nissan 4X4 (1993, 195,000 miles and still doing the battery bunny thing). A crack finally migrated to the point where it was a real bother. Went to a local shop in a national chain, and while waiting I overheard the manager get summoned to the front desk to take a call from headquarters.

It was a callback about a call he had placed previously. I only heard his end of things but it was absolutely clear from what he was saying that something was amiss. What was amiss was that the national admin office was telling him he could under NO circumstances perform a windshield replacement on credit for a nationally known automotive financing operation BECAUSE THER CREDIT WAS NO LONGER ANY GOOD!!!!

That raised my eyebrows, to say the least. As to the manager, his eyebrows might well not resume their proper location for a couple of days.

Lee

 

[The Mountain]

And you're not posting the name of the financing corp because...?

 

[suzy]

Lee, thank you for posting this. Youre not one to run off half cocked. Its the little things here and there, that will complete a picture of the economic status of whats really going on out there.

suzy

 

[Lee P. Lapin]

Because I didn't think it prudent. If you're really worried about it pm me and I will tell you offline.

lpl

 

[RKBA]

Email the name to me and I'll be happy to post the info under my name, in a different thread if you prefer. This kind of paranoia is ridiculous.

 

[CAkidd]

Please post the company name so I can call them to verify that they are having credit problems and they are economically in dire straits. I'll report back with my findings.

 

[night driver]

Well FIRST OFF people need to get a life. Take the data bits and just FILE 'EM FERGAWDSAKE!!!! And next month when there are other reports then you can start connecting dots .... SHEESH!!

Second, the interest on a 0% loan is paid inside the loan. The finance company gets theirs up front in the proceeds of the loan...

Works something like this:

You want to buy a 1,000 buck car. (ACTUAL DEALER COST = 1,000). Dealer marks car up to 1,080 (8%). Sets up financing at market rates for commercial paper (not gonna compound or nuttin', keep it simple) which is about 4% so now we are at 1122 =/-.

SALE PRICE with a 0% loan is NOW 1122. Finance co gets theirs off the top, you THINK you got a HUGE deal and EVERYONE goes home smug and happy.

You never find out yours was a plastic pocket version, the finance co wins and the dealer wins. Nobody gets callouses. Nobody needs vaseline.

Chuck who will now bow out and head to bed.

 

[Amazed]

Thanks for the info Lee. Some of the most usefull info I've gotten in my lifetime has come from a friend who just happened to hear....

 

[Lee P. Lapin]

One more time- I am NOT going to post any more detail thanI already have in a public forum. Period.

Dennis, there is a problem with the PM mailer. It stopped working last night and as of a few minutes ago it's still down.

Right now I have a crisis in progress regarding the 7-year-old whose dad I went to court with this week and I can't spend any more time here for a bit. Y'all do whatever you want with this thread, I gotta go.

Sorry,

Lee

 

[Dennis Olson]

Lee, I know about the PM issue. I've emailed the site host on it.

 

[Sysman]

Chuck,

How's it going my old friend.

I've got a problem with your "built in" theory on 0% deals.

We're talking about a new car here, with a sticker in the window. The same sticker that was there last summer, when Chrysler was offering "normal" loans, in the 8% range. We all know that the sticker price has a certain amount of profit built in, and one can usually talk the dealer down a few bucks. And I did talk it down by $2,000, which is about 7% of the price on this car.

So the way I look at it, any "built-in" finance margin is already gone, give a % or so.

What I am saying here, is that someone is taking a beating on this loan. I don't think it's the manufacturer. If it costs $X to build the car, I doubt they would sell it for $X-1.

Know what I mean?

 

[night driver]

My answer came (through memory) direct from the son of the guy who invented the 20 Group concept for GM Dealers....


C