Car chips

[ksdaddy]

I have an honest, earnest, wide eyed question. 

Since early 2020 I have been told the reason the car lots were empty (and the reason a local dealer bought my 2019 Impala for $2000 more than I paid a year earlier) was because of missing computer chips. 

It’s 2023. There are more and more 2023 cars and trucks on the lots. Some companies are even offering sale prices and/or financing incentives. All that’s missing is Jan from Toyota.

Where are the cars produced in 2020 and 2021? Still in a deserted football stadium in Kenosha?

My wife bought a new Bronco in 2021.  No missing chips. 

I’ve threatened to buy a new Ram, if I can find a regular cab, 8 ft box 4x4 with cloth seats that doesn’t require a stepladder.  I don’t want to buy one if there will be some kind of market flood of 3 year old pickups with newly installed chips. 

Someone please speak the truth. 

[sparquelito]

That's the first I have heard of this vehicle computer chip thing, ksdaddy.
I have honestly never heard of such a thing.

Now, to speaking the truth, I am all too happy to do that.
Here are some truths;

* If you are out on a dinner or lunch date with your wife, and you are NOT an emergency room physician on call, leave your cell phone in the glove box.
Really, truthfully.
Leave your cell phone in the vehicle.
That demonstrates to her that she means more to you than whoever might text you that you are their BFF, LOL, or whatever other bull$#it nonsense that normally occurs with a cell phone.

* Tone is mostly in your fingers.
Really. That's the truth.
A good player can make adjustments for wood and pickups and other variables, but it's mostly in your own hands and fingers.

* Life is short and death is long.
Nobody in the history of man has ever lived forever.
Live the rest of your life like there are fewer days ahead of you than behind you, and you will make wiser choices, and you will make the most of the days you have left.

and,

* Beer and bacon.
Proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

I'm gonna shut up now.

🤔

[Murph]

That's a helluva good question.

Here in the U.S. they showed pictures and videos of parking lots stuffed to the gills with THOUSANDS of new cars and trucks waiting for chips.

There should be deals to be had on every type vehicle. They'll probably get sliced out to rental companies and fleet buyers to protect the market.

If I wanted a new Ram, I'd just buy one. My 2016 Bighorn is the best truck I've ever owned and gets 22 mpg with a 5.7 hemi. That 8 speed is a work of art. I got the crew cab for hauling gear out of the weather, the bed is a truck with dents and a tool box.

Still, it's a hulluva good question.

[ksdaddy]

1 hour ago, Murph said:

My 2016 Bighorn is the best truck I've ever owned and gets 22 mpg with a 5.7 hemi. That 8 speed is a work of art. 

My last government truck was a 2016 Tradesman 4 door 4x4 with 3.6 V-6. I absolutely loved it. It was the only vehicle I could drive all day in and not get tired or squirmy.  I am a fan of traditional pickup styling, so I’d prefer a regular cab and 8 ft box if I can find one. I’m still driving my ‘88 S-10 Blazer and I swear I’m going to buy a new pickup when it dies. To which my wife replied, “so, you’re never getting a new truck!”

[Larsongs]

I ordered my new 2022 Chevy CrewCab Silverado just before Covid.. It usually takes about 2 months for my Ordered Vehicles.. My Truck was built, along with thousands of others, & sat in storage until a certain Chip became available.. It took about 8 months to get my new Truck.. Luckily it came with everything I ordered..

Not the case with many Vehicles.. A friend of mine had a deposit on & was waiting for a new BMW.. The Car came in & had almost everything it was supposed to have.. Except they deleted the upgraded Power Seat with Lumbar & other adjustments.. A $90,000.00 BMW with no Power Seat? He asked for his deposit back as it was not as represented..

There were many vehicles that had Equipment deletes due to lack of Chips.. Dealers had low or no new Car Inventories for months.. Years..

I ordered a new 2020 Corvette a year before my Truck. They kept pushing delivery dates further & further out.. So far that I wouldn’t get it til sometime in 2021? And they couldn’t give me a for sure delivery date. I cancelled my Order.. I still have my Black 2005.. It recently turned 23,000 miles & is like new.. 

[Murph]

10 minutes ago, ksdaddy said:

with 3.6 V-6. I absolutely loved it. 

I've seen reports of those 3.6 Pentastar engines with 400,000 miles.

 

[Murph]

6 minutes ago, Larsongs said:

 I still have my Black 2005.. It recently turned 23,000 miles & is like new.. 

Holy cow, Batman.

My 2016 has 84,000 and is considered low mileage...

[Whitefang]

1 hour ago, Larsongs said:

I still have my Black 2005.. It recently turned 23,000 miles & is like new.. 

Yeah.  I still have my 2005 Chevy Equinox.  It has 85,000+ miles on it and runs good and smooth.  But doesn't look anywhere NEAR like new.  

Whitefang

[Narwhal6]

3 hours ago, ksdaddy said:

My last government truck was a 2016 Tradesman 4 door 4x4 with 3.6 V-6. I absolutely loved it. It was the only vehicle I could drive all day in and not get tired or squirmy.  I am a fan of traditional pickup styling, so I’d prefer a regular cab and 8 ft box if I can find one. I’m still driving my ‘88 S-10 Blazer and I swear I’m going to buy a new pickup when it dies. To which my wife replied, “so, you’re never getting a new truck!”

Like you, I prefer the traditional styling. Sometimes it's hard to find the 1500 series in the standard cab long box configuration, and if you do it's probably going to be white. 

I was told that makes it easy for commercial or fleet purchasers to add their logos and graphics.

I had to hunt a little for mine in 2015, owned it since new. Has about 115,000 on it now.

 

 

 

[Larsongs]

3 hours ago, Whitefang said:

Yeah.  I still have my 2005 Chevy Equinox.  It has 85,000+ miles on it and runs good and smooth.  But doesn't look anywhere NEAR like new.  

Whitefang

I drive my Truck most of the time.. My Wife doesn’t like getting in & out of my ‘Vette or my Truck.. So, when we go somewhere together we take her Car…

[ksdaddy]

My main vehicle is a 2011 Impala. It has the 3.5 V-6 and 113k miles. It will rot out underneath before it stops running. My 2010 had 195k when it got rear ended and totaled. The new owner hammered it back out so it was drivable and has about 230k now. My 1988 S-10 Blazer is a rolling junkyard, sheet metal riveted over the rust, refusing to die. It’s “my truck” for now.  My father bought it in 1990. I get teased about it…. And my frugality. I sold my ‘57 Chevy to my son in law and bought back a 1949 Oldsmobile I sold in 1992. I don’t know if that will be on the road this year. I also have a 1988 Cadillac Brougham D’Elegance pimpmobile, but that’s not an everyday car.  

[IanHenry]

It's funny how U.S. attitudes to vehicle mileage are so different from here in the U.K. and most of Europe, most people would never consider buying a car with approaching  100K miles on the clock, they are considered as the next stop, scrap yard.  A few people will run them as bargain basement transport.  

[ksdaddy]

In the 60s our family bought a new Impala every couple years and traded the old one in before it hit 50,000 miles and “it started falling apart”.  100k used to be the tipping point; beyond that, it was on borrowed time and you were either destitute or trying to prove something. Nowadays 100k is “just getting broken in”.  My son in law has a 2011 Sierra that runs and drives as good as any newer truck and it has 280,000 miles. I will state that mileage is a consideration when buying a vehicle, and needless to say I would much prefer to BUY something with less than 100k, but as far as keeping a vehicle on the road, I would never retire an otherwise good running vehicle solely because of mileage. I will further state high mileage has bragging rights. 

[DanvillRob]

I agree with Farnsbarns..... the chip shortage caused most of the cars to simply not get built.

The entire supply chain was disrupted during and after COVID.

My old company had over 100 buses stranded at the factory at the end of last year due to supply chain shortages.

100+ buses may not sound like a lot of vehicles, but each bus sells for between $500K and $1M.....so 100+ buses not invoiced was enough to effect my pay this year!

The 100+ buses represents vehicles that could still be built with whatever parts were missing....many vehicles could not even be sent down the assembly line because the missing parts couldn't be installed later on, (wiring harnesses, etc.).

And it's probably still true today that getting replacement parts for even vehicles made outside the COVID timeframe, would be problematic.

[Larsongs]

The USA really does need to make our own Products & Parts.. Not just talk about it or put it in a Bill with so much other Pork it will never see the light of day. We need to relearn how to be self sufficient.

I’ve been looking for my Wife’s next new Car.. Cars & SUV’s are really ugly for 2023! What happened to great Designers? Where are the Harley Earls of today? It seems like they’re designing Appliances? Not Cars.. 

I remember the days when a 16 year old kid with a Part time job could buy a really Cool new Mustang, Malibu or a Pickup for about $3,000.00.. A few hundred Dollars Down & $100.00 a month & you owned it in 2 -3 years..  And those Cars & Trucks are still so cool you would still want to own today!

 

[DanvillRob]

4 minutes ago, Larsongs said:

The USA really does need to make our own Products & Parts.. Not just talk about it or put it in a Bill with so much other Pork it will never see the light of day. We need to relearn how to be self sufficient.

I’ve been looking for my Wife’s next new Car.. Cars & SUV’s are really ugly for 2023! What happened to great Designers? Where are the Harley Earls of today? It seems like they’re designing Appliances? Not Cars.. 

I remember the days when a 16 year old kid with a Part time job could buy a really Cool new Mustang, Malibu or a Pickup for about $3,000.00.. A few hundred Dollars Down & $100.00 a month & you owned it in 2 -3 years..  And those Cars & Trucks are still so cool you would still want to own today!

 

That's the truth..... problem is... the women's movement convinced many women they could "have it all" and family and a career....so many women went to work so their family could afford luxuries.... then, of course, prices rose to meet the available money supply....so then women worked because they HAD to in order to make ends meet with their family.

I think that's one big reason houses went from less than $100K to WAY MORE than $500K (in NORCAL); and cars went from $3K to $50K.

Of course there were (and continue to be) other factors, (think taxes that consume WAY MORE than 50% of your income).

[Whitefang]

18 hours ago, ksdaddy said:

 I also have a 1988 Cadillac Brougham D’Elegance pimpmobile, but that’s not an everyday car.  

Hey!  '88 was the last model year of Cadillacs built at the old main plant on Clark St. in Detroit before they closed it down.  There's a good chance I put the script on your car.

Small world, eh?  

Whitefang

[DanvillRob]

7 minutes ago, Whitefang said:

Hey!  '88 was the last model year of Cadillacs built at the old main plant on Clark St. in Detroit before they closed it down.  There's a good chance I put the script on your car.

Small world, eh?  

Whitefang

I have this car sitting in my garage.... I think it's a '68 Coupe de Ville "Pimp-Mobile".

My son sold his house and is looking for another.....so the car and his dog are at our place until he moves in another house.

 

 

 

[Whitefang]

That is indeed a '68 Coupe Deville.  However, not ALL Cadillacs were "pimpmobiles"( a somewhat racist term).  By '67 the main ride for many pimps was....

The Cadillac Eldorado.  

Whitefang

 

[DanvillRob]

Just now, Whitefang said:

That is indeed a '68 Coupe Deville.  However, not ALL Cadillacs were "pimpmobiles"( a somewhat racist term).  By '67 the main ride for many pimps was....

The Cadillac Eldorado.  

Whitefang

 

It's only racist if you want it to be.

 

[Whitefang]

I base that on probably any white pimps might be more prone to driving "Beemers" or Mercedes'.   

Whitefang

[MissouriPicker]

I’ve got a 2021 Hyundai  Sonota Hybrid.   Last month, the dealership offered to buy it from me for what I paid for it new.  So, I took it to CarMax for another evaluation and they offered me almost $1000 more.  I think a lot  of the problem is the software  chips that run the electronics  are getting scarce. And they’re from overseas.   Anyway, I’m keeping my car for now.

[Larsongs]

49 minutes ago, Whitefang said:

That is indeed a '68 Coupe Deville.  However, not ALL Cadillacs were "pimpmobiles"( a somewhat racist term).  By '67 the main ride for many pimps was....

The Cadillac Eldorado.  

Whitefang

 

I live in Palm Springs, Ca. & I’m not a Pimp but I had a 1983 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz.. The color was called something like Desert Firemist or something like that.. What a great Car it was! Perfect for the Palm Springs scene in those days.. Back when Palm Springs was cool.. Sinatra, Mc Queen, Elvis era… Great Night Clubs, Restaurants & Bars.. Fun times!

[ksdaddy]

2 hours ago, Whitefang said:

Hey!  '88 was the last model year of Cadillacs built at the old main plant on Clark St. in Detroit before they closed it down.  There's a good chance I put the script on your car.

Small world, eh?  

Whitefang

I’ll check the VIN to see where it was made. 
Granted, mine is hardly a pimpmobile, but compared to all the RAV4 type cars on the road… it is pretty friggin cool.