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Metal...body?

AriLea

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BTW, it would not take much to convert the Avion style closer to the XP-987GT Corvett style. Anyone want a 100mpg Corvett?

1004_04-1973_Chevrolet_XP-897GT_2-Rotor-side_view.jpg
avion-5.jpg
 

Marshall

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This part speaks to me more that the rest of the conversation combined.
With the very high production rate of the Elio, any part that takes up space for hours at a time is a massive liability.
So the key resource is time, not weight.

For a composite to be manufactured at the same rate as stamped steel, you'd need 10-20 times the manufacturing station requiring space and investment for additional work stations.

My meaning:
Composite. Form, cure (10 minutes, 4 hours, I'm honestly not sure)
Stamped Steel: *STAMP* NEXT! *STAMP* NEXT! *STAMP* NEXT! *STAMP* NEXT! *STAMP* NEXT! *STAMP* NEXT!
Cure time is part of the process. Labor time is merely time to mold and time to remove the molding so the comparison is not a match. You will need more molds due to cure time so the cost of additional molds and storage will be factors. I believe cost is still the primary factor rather than time.

Composite plastics intuitively seem better suited from a corrosion resistance and weight perspective, but the cost of production could be the monkey wrench.
 

Horn

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Our closest Kia dealer tried to charge for the "window tint" on the rear windows of our last Sorento. They said since it was Texas, they send all of their Sorentos to the tint shop to add tint to the rear windows. I pointed out that it was not a film but privacy glass and it comes from the factory like that, including pictures from the Kia website. LMAO, liars. The GM apologized and said it was because the sales person was new. I asked if the sales person was the one who added that line charge to all of the Monroney stickers on the lot, too?

That was the last time we used that dealership.

Yep! I worked at a dealership for 2 months. So much BS. The sales guys and gals have no real choice and it usually comes down from the GM/Head Sales Manager. They lie to the sales team with some BS how something has to be charged. Then a customer or potential customer gets mad at the lower end guy. I had to deal with on some BS windshield film protection package/and pinstriping. So on top of selling the car, the customers would say "what's this $250 charge"....they get frustrated and in my head I completely agree with them. Then would have to play the stupid game of having the Manager come and make it "right" by only charging them $125 to make it seem like they were getting a deal. I think it only costed the dealership $25 or so anyway. Buying a new car from a dealership is a joke.

If you notice, people that have several years of experience selling cars brag about how great it was to be a car salesman. Now they say how bad it sucks. Just look at all the turnover. They use to be treated a lot better. I have noticed that the ones that do well are the ones that make a connection with certain customers. We had 1 Hispanic guy who would just kill it with selling to Hispanics and that's why his numbers were great. Other than that, he was just an average sales guy. The only black guy we had seemed to convert significantly more on sales to black people and just him being around would help us all out. We had a goofy older white lady that was far out there. Yep, she killed it with selling to those crazy older white woman. My problem was that I'm a numbers guy. I connect with those types of people, but they don't shop at car dealerships much. lol
 
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