Ethanol?

I received a newsletter today from an investment advisor I follow.  I’m hoping that someday I’ll have some money to invest… but I digress.  Of course, they were trying to sell me on subscribing to some guy’s newsletter because he had a stock that solved the “ethanol” problem.  What was interesting about this email was the subject matter.  I am NOT recommending any stocks or newsletters here, but I thought I’d pass along this information as it is quite interesting… Ethanol.

It’s the word on everybody’s lips these days and Wall Street has fallen in love with it… But there’s a dirty little ’secret’ about ethanol that no one’s been willing to talk about – a weak link in the supply chain that’ll easily bring its distribution to a crawl… and send its price through the roof!  It all has to do with one critical factor: getting it to the pumps.

Just how difficult can that be…?  What They’re NOT Telling You About Ethanol

Ethanol isn’t quite as simple a solution to our oil problems as some people would have you believe.  Don’t get me wrong… the fuel itself shows a lot of promise. The problem – and a rather serious one at that – lies in its transport. To begin with, ethanol is water soluble. It has a tremendous affinity to absorb water. And because water accumulation is a normal occurrence in pipelines, putting it into a pipeline can be risky, as it could render it unusable as a transportation fuel.

And road transport isn’t much better. While it is far more practical than pipelines, it’s also incredibly expensive. So much so that, by the time ethanol producers got their juice to the pumps, it’d cost you more than the high-priced gas it’s meant to replace!  The only way ethanol is going to succeed is if it can get to the pumps without breaking the bank.  That leaves two viable options: waterway and rail.

Just one thing… In order for producers to ship by water both the ethanol plant AND its customers must be next door to a dock.  Considering most ethanol plants are stuck in the cornfields of the Midwest they’d have a pretty hard time pulling up a barge for loading. Besides, even if they were less than a stone’s throw from water, for many of them it wouldn’t matter. With production volumes of less than 80 million gallons, the costs of marine transport would be far too expensive… it’d be like hiring a semi to move your couch.

Sounds like this alternative fuel may not be the answer to skyrocketing oil prices. Oh well, bite the bullet and ‘fill er up’!

Dodge Exceeds Expectations

We have blasted some dealers on this blog (Dodge & others) in recent posts, and most of it is greatly deserved.  In fairness, we should give credit when it is deserved. Just today I had the most pleasant experience with a local Dodge dealer, Kari Dodge, that deserves recognition.  Today I had my oil changed.

Some background first… I bought my Dodge 3500 diesel two years ago and the only after-market option I added at time of sale was an $1100 grill guard.  This was a SERIOUS grill guard made from 2″ tubing and can withstand an impact from an elephant at 70 mph.  It looked great.  However after the first winter, the paint began falling off. After 2 years, this guard looked like it had been in the weather for twenty years.

Today, as I was waiting for my truck to get the oil changed, I decided to talk to the “Accessories Manager” and let him know how dissatisfied I was with the grill guard.  This is one of those things I’d been meaning to do for the past year, but today I took action. I explained my problem to Casey, the Accessories Manager, and he agreed with me and offered to call the manufacturer and see what they were willing to do to make this right.  Hey, when you buy a $40,000 truck and add a $1100 option… you expect things to last at least as least as long as the note. 

Casey got off the phone and told me that the manufacturer was willing to replace the grill guard with his newest model, which was powercoated vs. the painted finish of my model. I would have to pay for the labor to remove and install the new grill guard, but the new product and shipping would be handled by the manufacturer.

IMHO, this was an excellent example of a dealer who was willing to go the extra mile and do the right thing for his customer.  I drive a late model vehicle and will not be in the market for a new one for quite some time, so there was no immediate incentive for Kari Dodge to go to bat for me. But they did and I am an appreciate customer.  So to all you readers located in NW United States, when you’re in the market for a new Dodge, I’d recommend you call Kari Dodge and see if they can talk your language.  They did good by me… and they don’t know I write this blog

Follow-up on Toyota Disaster

My previous post took a side trip from our Dodge truck conversation as I told you of my (less than satisfactory) experience with the service department at a local Toyota dealership.  Although I let the service manager know I was not pleased with my experience, the bottom line is that nothing happened.  He apologized, but didn’t offer anything more.  I don’t know what “more” would have meant, but just saying “sorry about that” didn’t do much to endear me to his dealership.

However, over the weekend, Toyota sent me a survey form to comment on my recent visit to their dealer.  I know these forms are VERY important to the dealer and the company. The dealer only wants favorable responses going to the home office.  I know this to be true because my local Dodge dealer always stresses the importance of completing the forms and if there was anything wrong, to let them fix it now before I say anything on the survey.  In fact, one day last year my Dodge dealer offered me a free oil change if I would bring my survey in to them before mailing.

These surveys hold weight.  I have a feeling that the Toyota dealer will be calling me back at some point in the near future… I’ll be sure and let you know.  Now, forget Toyota and let’s get back to Dodge talk!!!

Toyota Disaster

Okay, I know this is a Dodge blog, but my wife drives a Toyota. It has been a fine car for five years and I have no complaints about the “product”. However, we’ve posted some previous messages about the problems with Dodge dealers and I think we need to pay some equal time to their competitors – specifically, our local Toyota dealer. Here’s the story… (get out your kleenex).

The idiot light on the dash indicated there was an engine problem and the owner’s manual gave no help except to say “Take vehicle to the dealer”. So we did and learned that the catalytic converter was bad. Fortunately (and this is the only good part of this story), this part is warranted for 80,000 mi. so it was a no charge repair for us – in terms of money, but it was not in stock and we had to return the following week.

I won the toss and had to take the car to the dealer on a Friday morning for the repair that was supposed to take 1-2 hours. 3.5 hours after I arrived I was told that the mechanic stripped an oxygen sensor and that they had to order that part – and I would have to bring the car back AGAIN next week. This time they offered us a loaner car so that we could return when the car was ready. That was nice, but it didn’t make-up for the inconvenience, which was just getting under way… Since the car was to be there so long, I asked them to change the oil while they were making these repairs. “No problemo”, I was told.

I was called the following Wednesday (it was promised Tuesday) and told that my car was ready. I drove to the dealer, turned-in my loaner and while speaking to the service manager, it was discovered that they did NOT change the oil. “No”, I said, “I do not want to wait longer while you do this”. I left. That Saturday, my wife took the car to a oil change franchise to get her oil changed. While there she learned that there were missing bolts on the engine shroud and the dip stick tube was swinging in the breeze because another bolt(s) was also missing.

I called the Toyota dealer and expressed extreme frustration with a few expletives thrown in for emphasis. I was told to bring the car in (for the fourth time) and they would replace the missing bolts. When I got to the dealer, I “suggested” that the have a different mechanic make this latest repair – other than the one who already botched the job. They thought that was a good idea and promised they would get on this NOW.

The icing on the cake is that after almost 3 hours waiting, I finally decided that they must have discovered a serious problem, because it doesn’t take hours to replace a few bolts. By now I had it and was P.O’d big time. I went to the service manager’s office and asked what the new problem was. He looked at me like I was crazy and said that the car had been done for hours. It seems that someone “forgot” to tell me that I could leave with my car.

The bottom line is that IMHO, most dealers of any flavor suck. If the dealer’s going to suck anyhow, you may as well be driving the product that makes you happy – cause your dealer won’t!!!