"Let Them Fail!": My Mechanic Opines on the Bail Out Crisis

The Lee Brothers operate a small but sturdy automotive repair business on a busy corner in Carroll Gardens. Kenny Lee runs the shop with his brother and two other mechanics. He takes pride in his loud engine oil stained outpost where Bloomberg Radio accompanies the squelch of pneumatic guns and clanking metal.

It is here when curing a much neglected inspection that I indulged my current compulsion to ask anyone that works with cars their opinion on whether the Big Three should be bailed out.

And Kenny did not equivocate: "No, F*** them! Let them fail!"

I was not ready for this abrupt and absolute condemnation of the companies' pleas.

Kenny handed me my receipt for a failed inspection and began his polemic on American cars, their parts and the companies that deliver them. As he elaborated his opinion did not soften from his introductory summation, in fact it became more animated.

Why not like Toyota?

According to the perspective from an independent mechanic, American cars break down more often their parts are more inferior, expensive and difficult to replace. That meant more work, but with it more aggravation and exposure on his end to accomplish that work.

All of this sounded familiar, but he became more specific as he used the dialectic of Toyota vs. GM to articulate his anger.

It begins for him with that fact that GM parts were more expensive than, forcing his outlay to also be more and then to subsequently pass that cost on to the consumer. He added that his interactions with dealers and part merchants for American cars were always more strenuous than they needed to be.

He pointed to a number of GM models in his parking area and remarked that American cars have better, stronger bodies than Japanese cars, but that an American car's lifespan was shorter and unconditionally subject to more breakdowns. He did give GM credit for building solid engines. He did not honor Ford the same way.

Kenny found that Toyota did things smartly and in the end was a superior company and car. Better, cheaper parts led to fewer repairs. From the customers point of view that was good and when the car needed to be repaired, he had less of any outlay or hassle to obtain that part.

It's all about the Computer

Kenny's source of ire and the root of GM's mechanical problem is its computer. It was expensive and problematic - there's a theme here - and more frustratingly, it needed to be sent back solely to the manufacturer to be repaired. He said that the Japanese computers (Toyota, Honda) could be reset or repaired easier on site, rather than ship them away.

I asked Kenny what would be the first thing he would do if appointed CEO of GM. His reply: standardize the computer and have all cars and companies across the industry share the same model.

Computers are not the only thing in Kenny's cross hairs, labor too. He remarked that his pay of $45 p/hr as the owner of his company was mocked by UAW members' $70-$80 pay range that included benefits. He said that he pays $800 a month for his health insurance.
Don't get him started with Rick Wagoner's compensation - not sparing him anything - as Kenny critiqued the CEO's offer to work for a dollar a year as a tax dodge.

The verdict on the bailout has not been decided by Congress, but if the likely rescue package is sent out to the Big Three in Michigan, they may want to have the money delivered by a certain Brooklyn mechanic. He's has a few comments for Mr. Wagoner, some insight too.