thoughts on the economics of group buys

[Brett Dikeman]

At 1:29 PM -0600 9/26/04, ben wrote:
>Here's a thought on the economics of group buys:
>
>Apparently, if you import a non-DOT-approved car, you need to crash
>test it.  If we can get, say, 20 people together who all want the same
>car (could happen!) we just import 21 of 'em and send one off to DOT.

The major fault with this theory is that "it" means "the model", not "one car".

They don't use the same car for all the crash tests- you're probably 
looking at more like 3+ cars.  There's a reason car manufacturers 
don't bring low-production models into the US.  It is -prohibitively- 
expensive.

You're assuming it DOES pass the crash tests.  It may very well not. 
The A3, for example, used to be atrocious in crash tests and didn't 
have a prayer.  That's not true anymore, but just remember not 
everything europe built was crash-worthy.

You also forgot about emissions certification and federalization 
(speedo/odo changed to miles, as well as any necessary lighting 
changes; rear/front turn signals have to meet DOT specs, same for the 
headlights).

Brett
-- 
"They that give up essential liberty to obtain temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Ben Franklin
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