– Jonathan – Sacramento, California –

1. Make auto makers reduce the price of their cars by 15% to make them the best priced vehicle on the market. This will ensure selling off of inventory and repay the loans.

2. CEO’s no pay until the loan is repayed, and no “Golden parachute” ever.

3. Make the UAW give back some of the ridiculous rewards they have seen in the past years, especially the benefits paid to UAW officials that have nothing to do with making cars.

4. Give full disclosure to consumers as to vehicle build costs, so consumers will know how much the dealership is making on the deal. This is the amount the car depreciates when you drive away. Know what you are getting into!

5. Require auto manufactures to open bidding for parts manufacturers to allow build cost reduction, thus adding to the profit without raising the price.

6. Have strict quality controls verifiable by random inspection, that hold the UAW responsible with fines for not meeting these goals. This would mean that workers would have more at stake and their own union would have to enforce the standards.

7. Listen to the public demands about needs and wants when designing new car lines. Don’t build cars people are not going to buy just because the company has to meet production.

If these measures are put in place as a start, Americans would see that the U.S. auto makers were really trying to change and would buy their cars.

This problem will not be solved by Bailing out auto makers alone. Banks have to lend money to people to buy these better cheaper cars. The government has given billions to banks to stimulate loans and banks are sitting on this money to make their bottom line look better on the balance sheet. They are using the people money to make their bank better for themselves, is that not what started the whole thing down hill in the first place? Banks must allow capital to flow into small business and auto loans if housing is going to come back. Small business and auto sales have long been the back bone of the American economy, along with housing. People are not able to by homes because of loan restrictions, but they can buy the second largest investment they will make and that is a new car. Americans spend over $100 million in car repairs each year, with over $22 billion of that in over charged amounts. If HAE can deliver consumers the saving, they will have the extra money to buy a new car when their car is beyond reasonable repair cost. Right now consumers are forces to pay whatever the price simply because they have no other option. Some repair shops have made note of this condition and are over charging by alarming percentages. If banks do not ease up loans, people will continue to be held ransom by repair shops. The whole economy feels this impact because people are being forced to make decisions; do I repair my car and keep my job that is just looking for an excuse to lay people off if they are late? Or do I use the money to buy food and other essentials and hope I can get to work another way? HAE has example after example of this decision being made daily by Americans.

At HAE we realize that the economy is like the chain you use to pull your buddy out of a snowy ditch. If it has one week link break you wind up in the ditch across the road and now you are both stuck waiting for some else to come along and help! If we don’t act together and look at all of links in our chain we are just asking for all of us to wind up in a ditch with the ones we are trying to help. Giving billions to one industry does not make sense, when the people that industry is relying on to buy them back to profitability has no money to spend and no way to get a loan. We have to give people a way to buy a car before you can sell them one, so let’s first banks to fund affordable auto loans for cars that have been reduced in price and see what effect that has before we give billions to auto makers. Let’s secondly cut build cost by reducing salaries and benefits that are out of touch with the current economic reality. Third let’s cut build cost by renegotiating parts manufacturing contracts for auto makers. Forth, let’s get the word out that dealers are open for business in a name your price super sale on American cars to jump start the “Big three” and put them back on the path to profits. All of these things can be done quickly and save Americans the tax burden of billions in bailout cash!

1. Make auto makers reduce the price of their cars by 15% to make them the best priced vehicle on the market. This will ensure selling off of inventory and repay the loans.

2. CEO’s no pay until the loan is repayed, and no “Golden parachute” ever.

3. Make the UAW give back some of the ridiculous rewards they have seen in the past years, especially the benefits paid to UAW officials that have nothing to do with making cars.

4. Give full disclosure to consumers as to vehicle build costs, so consumers will know how much the dealership is making on the deal. This is the amount the car depreciates when you drive away. Know what you are getting into!

5. Require auto manufactures to open bidding for parts manufacturers to allow build cost reduction, thus adding to the profit without raising the price.

6. Have strict quality controls verifiable by random inspection, that hold the UAW responsible with fines for not meeting these goals. This would mean that workers would have more at stake and their own union would have to enforce the standards.

7. Listen to the public demands about needs and wants when designing new car lines. Don’t build cars people are not going to buy just because the company has to meet production.

If these measures are put in place as a start, Americans would see that the U.S. auto makers were really trying to change and would buy their cars.

This problem will not be solved by Bailing out auto makers alone. Banks have to lend money to people to buy these better cheaper cars. The government has given billions to banks to stimulate loans and banks are sitting on this money to make their bottom line look better on the balance sheet. They are using the people money to make their bank better for themselves, is that not what started the whole thing down hill in the first place? Banks must allow capital to flow into small business and auto loans if housing is going to come back. Small business and auto sales have long been the back bone of the American economy, along with housing. People are not able to by homes because of loan restrictions, but they can buy the second largest investment they will make and that is a new car. Americans spend over $100 million in car repairs each year, with over $22 billion of that in over charged amounts. If HAE can deliver consumers the saving, they will have the extra money to buy a new car when their car is beyond reasonable repair cost. Right now consumers are forces to pay whatever the price simply because they have no other option. Some repair shops have made note of this condition and are over charging by alarming percentages. If banks do not ease up loans, people will continue to be held ransom by repair shops. The whole economy feels this impact because people are being forced to make decisions; do I repair my car and keep my job that is just looking for an excuse to lay people off if they are late? Or do I use the money to buy food and other essentials and hope I can get to work another way? HAE has example after example of this decision being made daily by Americans.

At HAE we realize that the economy is like the chain you use to pull your buddy out of a snowy ditch. If it has one week link break you wind up in the ditch across the road and now you are both stuck waiting for some else to come along and help! If we don’t act together and look at all of links in our chain we are just asking for all of us to wind up in a ditch with the ones we are trying to help. Giving billions to one industry does not make sense, when the people that industry is relying on to buy them back to profitability has no money to spend and no way to get a loan. We have to give people a way to buy a car before you can sell them one, so let’s first banks to fund affordable auto loans for cars that have been reduced in price and see what effect that has before we give billions to auto makers. Let’s secondly cut build cost by reducing salaries and benefits that are out of touch with the current economic reality. Third let’s cut build cost by renegotiating parts manufacturing contracts for auto makers. Forth, let’s get the word out that dealers are open for business in a name your price super sale on American cars to jump start the “Big three” and put them back on the path to profits. All of these things can be done quickly and save Americans the tax burden of billions in bailout cash!

Before, I wouldn’t ever feel safe from being ripped off unless I took my father along with me. And I just didn’t feel like the independent woman I am when I took my dad along. Plus, he had better things to do in his retirement years than wait with me in a repair shop for an estimate. Once, I almost paid an over-inflated amount of $1,500 for brake work I didn’t even end up needing!

1. Understand how a service repair station works. Mechanics are in business to make money. That doesn’t mean that they are out to rip you off, but some of them may “pad the bill” or find other ways to make money from you. If you go in knowing this, you can be more skeptical about what they tell you if it seems a little “off.”

2. Take someone with you. If you know somebody that knows something about cars, they can help you decide what’s necessary and what’s not.

3. Make your budget known. If the mechanic knows exactly how much they have to work with, they can provide less expensive options for you. When you make it clear that you’ll be paying for the repairs instead of your parents, they might go easier on you. Only after you get your estimate for repairs.

4. Visit www.honestautoestimates.com before going to the mechanic. For a small fee, you can get an idea about how much your repairs should cost before you even visit the mechanic. That way, you’ll at least have a reference point from which to base your decision before shelling out a bunch of money.

Remember, not all mechanics are out to scam you. But the ones that are give the honest ones a bad name. Just be careful and patient and you won’t get ripped off.