Ten Brands That Will Disappear in 2012

[73ss454]

Nope, not me, this is more of what I had in mind.

 

[Koolau]

Saab would be a shame, love those quirky cars, even if they do eat oil and turbos..........

My favorite Saab story (get it?) was a buddy of mine who owned an early 60's Saab which had a 3 cylinder 2 cycle engine (oil mixed with gas). He ran out of gas, but kept trying to start the engine. Because there was no fuel, there was no oil on the cylinder walls. He burnt the engine up.

Shortly after replacing the engine, he was sitting in a class and suddenly, the thought occurred to him "A tree has just fallen on my car." He left when class was over and discovered to his dismay that he had some psychic ability which had never manifested itself before.

My thinking on current Saabs (in general) is that when they are good, they are very, very good, but... etc. etc. etc. YMMV

 

[TromboneAl]

My Saab story is that the heat adjuster got stuck and it cost $1,000 to fix it (in today's dollars). That car was very expensive to repair. Luckily we had a multiple-thousand dollar repair coming up but our house burned to the ground with the Saab in it before getting it done. The last I saw that car it was less than one foot high.

 

[73ss454]

Sorry about the house Al but I think that the Saab cars are designed ignite and self destruct at some point.

 

[FinanceDude]

I'm front a different era, I like to stand by the exhaust and listen to the music of a big block not a sewing machine.

Well, my HS car was a 67 Chevelle SS 396 convertible, I suppose that counts. Of course there was that L82 Stingray and a couple other Impalas. Today, I want reliability, and more than 8mpg.......

 

[73ss454]

Well, my HS car was a 67 Chevelle SS 396 convertible, I suppose that counts. Of course there was that L82 Stingray and a couple other Impalas. Today, I want reliability, and more than 8mpg.......

Hey, I get it, you're in the accumulation phase, just be carefull you don't slip on the rice. It'll be tight living off SS disability.

Would you rather stand behind a Saab or a big block Chevelle to listen to the music. I'll bet you'd love to have a Saab Sonnet, remember them?

 

[73ss454]

Now this should turn you on! Here is a Saab 2 stroke engine, I think the guy wants to put it on his lawn mower.

 

[Midpack]

My Saab story. I bought DW a used BMW 325e from a private owner in 1988 and I took it to a large dealer for pre-sale inspection. The dealer sold new BMW, Nissan, Saab & Maserati.

They had 24 service bays in their shop. They invited me out to show me what they found on my prospective BMW (almost nothing). I noticed as I walked through their shop the bays were all full. There was 1 Nissan, 2 BMW's and 22 Saabs being serviced. If I ever wanted to own a Saab, that cured me for life...

I also had a buddy who bought a used Saab Turbo a few years later, I kept my opinion to myself. In less than 6 months, the engine was blown, it cost him a fortune to fix. After he fixed it, he sold it right away.

 

[deserat]

Hmm - I do like A&W root beer - as for Sears - wow - they were the first store who offered a house by catalog. They had built one of the most effective logistics supply-chains for the time. Sad to see it go, even if just for the history.

 

[frayne]

I must be part of the minority too. Sears feels like an outdated retailer, but k-mart is downright IMO.

+2

 

[old woman]

When I was young Sears was a great store to buy quality goods at reasonable prices. Dad's overalls and jeans for the brothers even clothes for me a real working family store. K-Mart was cheap so if you wanted a cheap plastic table cloth it was the place to go.

I used to respect Sears and Kenmore and Craftsman brands until they lost my trust. We bought Craftsman major tools like a rototiller then when it needed blades they didn't sell them the same with a wood chipper. Repair shops wouldn't work on Craftsman products so I will never again buy craftsman tools except maybe hand tools and never buy Kenmore. They moved the furniture to another building named Sears Furniture and declared bankruptcy cheating people and companies that trusted the Sears name. I now don't trust them at all so when I wanted appliances this summer I got Maytag, Jennaire and Electrolux and only my old sewing machine is Kenmore.

Kmart is still a place to get a cheap plastic table cloth but will never be the store Sears was 60 years ago.

 

[Janet H]

No more Corn Pops? They were right about 2012. The world is ending.

+1

Corn pops are awesome and one of my very favorite diversions is caramel covered corn pops with pecans - sort of a twist on cracker jacks.

What's next? Cheetos can't be far behind. Perhaps we need to start a puffed corn withdrawal support group.....

 

[Ronstar]

Well, my HS car was a 67 Chevelle SS 396 convertible, I suppose that counts. Of course there was that L82 Stingray and a couple other Impalas. Today, I want reliability, and more than 8mpg.......

You could always come back.... My 2001 corvette averages 24mpg and 30 highway. And it's reliable.


As for Sears. I'll miss them if they go away. Maybe they can find a way to keep their Sears Hardware stores open. I like their hand tools.