All vehicles will last over 200k miles if kept up. This is not a new development. People are addicted to new cars. Thats not going to change.

 

I would bet, If ppl bought more New American Cars, the economy would be much stronger! We need to even up the game, but recognizing the Problem exists is the first step! I do agree, those with the means, will still be obsessed with the lastest & greatest stuff, and will always eat it up.

 

Ah, yes, the Broken Window approach to economics. Get enough people thinking like this, and we'll get legislation that basically forces us to buy a new car every 3-5 years (just like Japan and Germany have). Actually, if the size of the new-car market continues to stagnate in this country, I can see such measures being taken.

The problem with expecting a government bail-out of the auto industry is the magnitude of the automaker's debt. Consider that Ford and GM combined have approximately $400-600 billion in bond debt. A few billion here or there wouldn't help either company all that much right now.

I like guionM's idea of slowing down on regulatory changes for a while, but that's not going to give the Big 3 any substantial advantage; it's just going to help the industry as a whole. In fact, thinking about it just a bit more, I do think that someone would be helped out more than others - the Koreans.