RE: USA taste and import restrictions

["Brian Shorey" <bshorey@domain.elided>]

> rightly so.  For $35,000, most people expect to buy it, change the oil now
> and again, and do nothing else for 50-100,000 miles.  They do not expect
> idiot lights weekly, high temps on the cooling gauge in traffic,
> weak-to-inoperative A/C, and most importantly, they DO NOT expect to be on
a
> first-name basis with their service manager.  Most of us on this digest
are
> willing to overlook such issues, but most US/Canadian consumers,
generally,
> are not.

This is just marketing ;)  Jaguar owners used to proudly display their
weekly shop bills as a badge of courage.  Ferrari owners are accustomed to
large cash outlays every five thousand miles just to keep things in proper
tune.  "I own this car because I can *afford* to own this car, the frequent
and regular service is part of the cost of the privilege of owning such a
thoroughbred."  Alfa erred in not marketing the quirkiness as a feature, and
in trying to pretend to be something they're not (a point A to point B daily
driver).

bs

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