The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Campolo, Corrected

3.11.09 @ 6:01AM

(Page 2 of 2)

The reason that more people don't buy a Yaris, the modern equivalent of the Saturn, is that today gas is cheaper than it was when I got the 1981 Omni/Horizon. My next buy will probably be a Yaris, or something like it.

If GM were still making the American-designed Saturns optimized for American driving conditions with a 2.0 liter engine (now up to 2.4 liters on what is basically a slightly larger Opel import), that got 41 mpg (now 34-5 mpg), with the usual "no hassle" pricing and friendliness of the Saturn dealers, I'd buy one now (and for me price is not the issue).

This time I'd get the automatic windows and door locks. And I'll miss the 1997's timing chain, which is a "forever" part, not a maintenance item. Oddly enough the only Libertarian, anti-nanny state Jihads I'm willing to join on the car front are the ones that 1) would permit me to shut off all the bells, buzzers, whistles and such that annoy me when I do things like, for example, put a package on the left seat, 2) will let me turn the dashboard-radio-heater lights almost completely off except for the high-beam indicator and oil warning light, and 3) will instruct me how to fry or destroy the uniquely-numbered RFID transmitter tag molded into the front bumper of each new car "for inventory control reasons" and also teach me how to disable or remove the uniquely numbered air-pressure transmitters about to be placed in each valve stem for "safety reasons" as of next year. I get nervous when the government mandates that all new cars can be continuously tracked from the side of the road.

I want a basic car, not an airport concourse with its incessant "guard your luggage" message (in case, I guess, my neighbor just snuck a bomb through the security check point and now wants to transfer it to my bag while I'm not looking to cover his tracks) and the cameras everywhere (tracking is ok in an airport... not in my car).

With the Saturn I just had to destroy one part to quiet the thing down and put in one switch to kill the interior lights. The primary reason I have not replaced the Saturn is that I'll need to get the schematics (and maybe find the right "modifier" we site) to kill the unwanted "features." This may be harder than debugging the U.S. embassy in Moscow was back in the bad-old-days. But then they only had to face the Russians.
-- D.B. Miller
Austin, Texas

KEEP ON RANCHIN'

Heard "Beverly in East Texas" on Rush Limbaugh's radio show on Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for your perspective, Mrs. Gunn.  My best to you and your wonderful family (from another Vietnam veteran)!
-- David Gonzalez
Wheeling, Illinois

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