Wanna hear some numbers that'll make you feel poor? How about the $19.4 billion that the government gave that couldn't keep GM out of bankruptcy? Not enough? Well then what about the other $30 billion its planning to give to GM to reorganize? Ya, I thought so. Seems GM no longer needs to make a profit, it can just get its money from Uncle Sam.

Anyway, I hear from everybody, including the media that this is actually good news for potential buyers. On top of all the incentives, the rebates and the zero percent interest loans, theyre going to practically give their cars away for ridiculously cheap prices, right? Well, not so fast, my friend. I visited local GM and Chrysler lots just to see what kind of deals there are to be had. The result left me scratching my head...

The first thing I noticed, when I entered the lot. The lack of appeal. I mean, what have these companies done to appeal more to the consumer while its taken losses over the past few years? Nothing, as far as I can tell. As I walk through the lot, generic looking cars all around me, I figured hey, maybe the price will lure me. Well I walked over to the first car I considered, a plain looking sedan, not bad I thought. If I'm the ordinary Joe Schmoe family-guy, I could want this car. So,I looked at the sticker, and was in shock. It made absolutely no sense to me why anybody would pay that much for that plain of a car. The same thing happened when I visited the other lots. Absolutely no urge to buy. But you know what? I sure did notice some of the other cars in the other car lots, most of them foreign. Seems all the great designers and engineers are with foreign car makers these days. And here's the kicker, the prices were actually cheaper. As a matter of fact, I could only find a few american made cars that even remotely appealed to me, a 30 year old single male.. and very few were priced under $30,000.. and virtually none of them under $20,000.00... In a recession! I test drove. I made offers....(more)