Blue news for Rv builders. The economy sucks not just for you and me but also for them too.

Although Fleetwood took the award for market share in 2007 the faltering economy is hurting all Rv builders, including Fleetwood.

Weekend Warrior was reported last week to have cut 100 workers at its Perris facility. This comes in the same month that Riverside-based Fleetwood Enterprises reported another financial loss for another quarter ($16 million is no chump change to lose in just 3 months --- you'd think they went to Vegas). Thor California cut its work back to 4 days a week to keep dealers from having a glut of inventory (and to keep that same inventory from stacking up at the plant).

Add to that the mess from National Rv's bankruptcy and it's easy to see that Rv builders have the blues.

Some economists say that numbers in the last 30 years show that when the Rv industry suffers two sales downturn years in a row then it means a recession is about to hit the economy. There was a 10 percent loss in numbers last year and some industry insiders are saying the numbers will hit 14 percent down this year. Time for all of us to tighten our belt, so to speak, if we haven't already been doing that.

Paul Eskritt, Fleetwood Enterprises Inc.'s RV Group president, was reported to have said that when the industry hits a lull, it is time for RV companies to focus on managing their expenses.

"Every dollar counts," Eskritt said. "We get really good at that."

So what does that mean if you own an Rv right now? It could mean tighter controls on warranty costs and that can mean more runaround on warranty repairs, claim denials on debatable defects, and a dealer who has to argue more with you (the consumer) because the factory isn't paying the warranty claims as freely or often as before.

Note that nothing happened to your warranty rights. Legally, they are still there. You just may find yourself having to argue more to make them honor your warranty. Remember, the squeeky wheel is the one that gets the grease. So start squeekin', loud and long if you have to.

And when the factory or your dealer won't help you, when you feel like they are ignoring your problems, contact us or call us 1-888-331-6422 Toll Free. We help consumers fight back against bad Rv's and their manufacturers everyday. It's what we do.

Know what size Rv you want before you ever go shopping. Check out the size and equipment and make sure you know what you are getting into. Prices run all over the place so be careful of what you are getting into. Keep in mind that the retail markup is huge. You can figure that if the Rv has an MSRP of $100,000 then the dealer probably bought it for about $65k and the factory probably built it for about $35k more or less. So argue over price big time because the money you save is your own.

Meantime, here's a description of the different types of recreational vehicles:


And if you end up with a lemon motorhome, contact us or call us 1-888-331-6422 Toll Free. Remember, life is too short to put up with a bad Rv. Getting rid of lemon motorhomes is what we do. Everyday.

Ohio has something a lot of states don't have. A Secretary of State who does the job right and cares about doing it right. And Ohio voters should appreciate it because the honesty and reliablity of our voting system depends on it.

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner was named a recipient of the John F Kennedy Profiles in Courage Award for her brave work in fighting to protect the rights of Ohio voters to an honest and reliable vote count. It is the singular highest award a public servant can obtain in the United States. Only those with courage and committment are ever recognized. Ohio's Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is one of those.

"Our democracy depends on voter trust. Jennifer Brunner's efforts to earn that trust have made them true profiles in courage," Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late president and head of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, said in a statement.

While some states wondered if they had voting problems or what to do about them, Brunner took action. She fought to stop what some euphemistically called "voting irregularities" by ordering that a paper ballot be provided to any voter who requested one during this year's presidential primary. She also has called for the replacement of all of the Ohio's electronic voting systems with paper ballots and optical scan technology before the November 2008 presidential election, in order to assure the integrity of Ohio's voter results.

The electronic voting machines are used in 53 of Ohio's 88 counties and have long raised eyebrows by many independent professionals who questioned how easy it was to hack into the results and modify the vote talley.

Ohioans should be proud to have a Secretary of State who has been willing to fight entrenched local politicians to make sure that Ohio voters' ballots are counted fairly and accurately. We don't want to look like Florida here, folks.

The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award is presented annually to public servants who have made courageous decisions of conscience without regard for the personal or professional consequences. The award is named for President Kennedy’s 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Profiles in Courage, which recounts the stories of eight U.S. senators who risked their careers, incurring the wrath of constituents or powerful interest groups, by taking principled stands for unpopular positions. The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation created the Profile in Courage Award^TM in 1989 to honor President Kennedy’s commitment and contribution to public service. It is presented in May in celebration of President Kennedy’s May 29th birthday. The Profile in Courage Award is represented by a sterling-silver lantern symbolizing a beacon of hope.

Brunner has stood up to a lot of criticism from politicians who have enjoyed a free ride in Ohio for years and whose concern for the rights of Ohio voters has not been up to snuff (to say nothing for the integrity and honesty of the voting system itself). What she has proven is that she can stand up to protect the rights of Ohio voters to cast their ballots and to have their ballots counted fairly, accurately, and honestly.

Courage in a public official, to do what is right, ought not to be so rare. But it is. Thank goodness we have Brunner.

Buy a car, get a fake Id . . . it's a two for one sale, folks!

Butler County, Ohio Sheriff Rick Jones' deputies busted 3 local car dealers after an extensive undercover investigation that turned up fake identification materials being provided to illegal aliens to process fake documents for auto sales.

Turns out that if a car dealer wants to sell a car bad enough, apparently some of them are willing to even provide you with the fake I.D. needed to get a car loan. Now that is going the extra mile folks!

Also in the accusations was impersonating a police officer. Multiple indictments are being served or prepared for several felony arrests, officials say.

7 people were arrested after an investigation that some officials say was going on for almost a year.

"The grand jury was almost in shock that this was going on," Butler County Sheriff Rick Jones said. "It's happening all over the place, not just here, but we're the ones calling attention to it. It's rampant." To view the Sheriff Department's news conference, click here.

Acting on a tip that Jones himself got, undercover deputies began posing as illegal immigrants wanting to buy vehicles.

"On their very first attempt, the undercover officers were sold fake identification cards," Jones said. The dealership then used the fake IDs to process car titles and registrations.

Apparently the car dealer thieves (errrr, car dealer management?) would sell junk cars at inflated prices with high interest rates and then when the illegal alien would miss a payment or complain at least one car dealer would threaten to report the alien to Immigration or Sherrif Dept. officials to force payment or shut up the complainer.

All 3 accused car dealerships are owned by natives of India with the last name of Singh: brothers Sukhvinder and Sinderpal, who live in a $443,000 home in Deerfield Township, and Rajvinder, who lives in a $714,000 home in Liberty Township, officials said.

Officers arrested two of the brothers - Sukhvinder "Sam" Singh, 37, and Sinderpal "Paul" Singh, 34 - along with five employees, at the dealerships: Dozier; Samuel Roque-Guillan, 27; Jesus Vasquez, 27; Mary Reyes, 27, and Sylvia Pastrana, 23, all of Hamilton. Late Thursday, two others were still being sought on warrants: the third Singh brother, Rajvinder "Roger," 35; and Maria Martinez, 41, of Hamilton County.

Five suspected illegal immigrants who just happened to be at the dealerships also were arrested by federal immigration officers.

Okay, so we've got a case of immigrant used car dealers living it up while they rip off illegal aliens. It's not exactly a case of living the American dream, folks.

If you've been ripped off by a used car dealer (or a new car dealer), contact us or call us 1-888-331-6422 Toll Free. Helping consumers get back their hard-earned money is what we do. Everyday.

www. Car Sales Fraud .com

Helping Consumers Protect Themselves Since 1978

To find out more about Fraud, click here.

A frustrated Volvo owner has been vindicated. Yes, Virginia, in America you do still have the right to say what you think. Heck, you can even sell bumper stickers that say it (available for $3.99 each).

In 2000, Seth Turok bought an Audi from Elk Mountain Motors in Aspen, Colorado. He became frustrated with the car's lemon tendencies and the dealer's inability to get it fixed. Feeling "enough is enough" he started posting signs that read "Friends don't let friends shop at Elk Mtn. Motors." That got their attention.

The service department, however, apparently didn't pay any more attention
to Mr. Turok, but the car dealer's management did. They hired lawyers and sued, asking the court to make him take the signs down, claiming that the signs implied the car dealership was dishonest or engaged in fraudulent sales tactics. That's not the way the court saw it.

In 2006 the trial judge ruled in favor of the consumer, calling it protected free speech under the First Amendment. No, No, cried the car dealer, so they appealed. Well, Yes, Yes, said the court of appeals.

The 3 judge panel on the court of appeals ruled in favor of the consumer also. "Read in context, the use of the language indicates that [Turok] was merely demonstrating his dissatisfaction and frustration" said the court.

It cost this consumer tens of thousands of dollars to defend himself (he may recoup a small amount of the cost from the sale of his bumper stickers that can be purchased by clicking here), but in the end he was vindicated and proven right. Americans have a long history of saying what they think and being allowed to do it. It's what the First Amendment is all about.

A short time back, when we learned that Hyundai was now sticking binding arbitration clauses in its warranty booklets, in an attempt to keep its customers from being able to sue them over lemon Hyundai cars and warranty fights (by the way, that tactic probably won't hold up). We wrote about that here and thought at the time about putting up a billboard that said "Friends don't let friends buy Hyundai" but, being lawyers, decided it would look too self-promoting. Maybe we should sell the bumper stickers instead?

If you've got a lemon, don't put up with it. And don't put up with a car dealer who doesn't care either. Bumper stickers and signs are a clever way to start out. But when you want the Truth to come out, when you want Justice to prevail, get even the American way: complain and complain and complain. You have a right to express your opinion, but be careful not to libel or slander anyone. How you say what it is you are saying, can make all the difference.

And if complaining doesn't work, call us. We sue car dealers and manufacturers every day over lemon cars and lemon trucks and fraudulent car dealer sales practices. It's what we do.

Contact us (click here) or call us 1-888-331-6422 Toll Free.

There are some cars that are so remarkable that they border on being works of art. Take the Delahaye (and we wish we had one to take, too).

Even among the cars that made French design beautiful works of art between the World Wars, the 1937 Delahaye Type 135 Competition stood out from the pack. It actually didn't have that much horsepower for its size and engine but what it lacked in horsepower it more than made up for in style with coachwork by Figoni & Falaschi. But, it had enough horsepower to make a great run on the day's racing circuit.

The Type 135Ms are an absolutely prestigious masterpiece with a surprising racing history and heritage that was formed on stability, robustness, and stamina. The eleven cars (now that's rare) that were made were originally each powered by a water-cooled, inline, six-cylinder, 3.6-liter engine, fitted with a single Solex carburetor, coupled to a four-speed manual transmission.

Another work of art, in a more business vein, was the sedan version of the 135, which now stirs memories of the Batmobile, no less. All of the Delahaye cars did well both on the racing circuit and in the new car showroom of the times, but they didn't last. What I wouldn't give for one of those to be sitting in my garage...

If your car was bought for reliability (stylish or not) but it spends more time in the dealer's garage than your own, contact us or telephone 1-888-331-6422 Toll Free. Let us get rid of that lemon in your garage. We won't be able to put a Delahaye in your garage, but we can at least help put a car in there that runs right again.

Everyone got a lot of gift cards at Christmas, no doubt, but some of those are already worthless and others are about to be.

The Shaper Image gift cards, for instance, aren't worth the plastic they were made with now and others could get wiped out too. There are over $1 billion in gift cards floating around at any given time and many of them are at risk of becoming worthless this year. Why?

Sharper Image filed bankruptcy and that killed their gift card responsibility. As more businesses file bankruptcy this year, more cards are at greater risk than ever before. The moral? Use it or lose it, folks.

In February Sharper Image announced that acceptance of gift cards was being suspended. Kaput. Out of luck. Worthless.

Consumers spent an estimated $26 billion on gift cards last holiday season and $24 the year before, according to the National Retail Federation.

So is there a big risk of gift cards in your pocket becoming worthless? The number of retailer bankruptcies this year is forecast to rech the highest levels in 17 years - ever since since the 1991 recession. Who says we aren't in a recession?

Some estimates are that shoppers could lose more than $75 million just from stores and restaurant closing in 2008. And that doesn't include smaller local stores and retailers and service providers. What can you do?

Be careful. Your best best is to avoid the "branded" gift cards and only buy a Mastercard or Visa or American Express gift card. Like their credit cards, they are more universal than the smaller company gift cards anyway and you've got a company behind the plastic that is much more likely to be around next year.

What was the #1 accessory that people wanted in their car in 1954? A heater.

It's quite surprising what was new in 1954 on automobiles. And what people wanted most and least. But first the new...

Mercury (a make long gone) and Ford had a hardtop with a transparent plastic roof section. Sort of a sun roof that didn't open.

Chrysler had a new instrument panel with red indicator lights for oil pressure and battery warnings. Before long people called them "idiot" lights in derogation of people who couldn't understand how to read the gauges and just wanted something simple. Then again, it is possible that Ford and GM owners called them that more as a descriptive term for the people who bought the brand.

Nash Rambler came out with front seats that would swing down to make a comfortable bed. They were apparently so far ahead of the reclining seat idea that the company went out of business later.

The February 1954 issue of Popular Mechanics also reported the results of their survey on what the average driver wanted.

First the averages. In 1954 the average car was driven 15,480 miles a year (just about the same as now, over 50 years later). The average family kept their car 3 years, mostly trading it off due to declining mechanical condition. Less than 10% said they traded in their old car because of new styles. Nowadays people trade a little more often, on average, but the style issue is a much bigger percentage of the cited reasons for getting a new car. But what did the average buyer want in a new car?

53% wanted economy. 47% wanted power.

76% thought comfort was more important than style while 24% went the other way.

58% wanted a big 8 cylinder engine under the hood. 42% wanted a small engine.

61% wanted a car that would seat 6 or more people. There was a hunger for SUVs even then, I guess.

45% of drivers said they would never use a seat belt. Little did they know that seat belts would become mandatory for all drivers 20 some years later.

You can bet those numbers have changed over the years, but one thing hasn't. They still make lemon cars.

And as long as they do, we'll be here to help you get rid of them.

If you've got a lemon, contact us or call us 1-888-331-6422 Toll Free. Squashing lemons and returning them to the factory is what we do. It's what we've done for 30 years, long before there was a Lemon Law. And we'll keep right on doing it too.

If you got a Triad Vehicle Service Contract, we'd bet you probably got ripped off. Not just because the company is gone, perhaps, but because now all you get is the runaround on coverage. Maybe there's hope.

The Triad oepration has gone thru several evolutions, leaving consumers high and dry, trying to figure out what they can do. Triad Advantage isn't the first extended warranty company to give grief to consumers; we wrote about others not too long ago and others have too; you can check it out by clicking here.

Take a look at the front page of your service contract, about two inches from the bottom of the page. You'll see where it says "Contract obligor" followed by two boxes, one saying "selling dealer" and another saying "administrator." Look to see which one is checked. Whichever it is, that's who is primarily responsible under the service contract.

In many cases, the dealer box might be checked and if it is then your dealer is the one who owes you all legal obligations under the service contract. So if your dealer gives you the runaround or tries to blame it on Triad, don't put up with it. Show them the contract with the "Selling Dealer" box checked. If they still don't agree to cover you, then call us.

Don't put up with a car dealer who gives you the runaround because when the time runs out your legal rights run out too. Don't wait. Contact us now or call us 1-888-331-6422 Toll Free.

Helping you to get your money back is what we do for consumers every day.

The February 1954 Popular Mechanics magazine carried an article on the 1954 model year car lineup and it's surprising to see how times have changed and have some name badges have just disappeared from the scene.

Out of 19 brands, the cheapest car in 1954 was the Henry J, priced around $1,500, and it's a nameplate that no one even remembers. The Henry J was named after Henry Kaiser who was chairman of the Kaiser Frazer Corporation. The company had gotten a government loan that required it to turnout a 5 seater car whose base price was $1,300. At one point the cars were even sold thru Sears, bearing an Allstate nameplate. 1954 was actually the last model year but, truth be told, they were actually built from leftover 1953 parts which were themselves leftover from the Henry J's faltering sales.

The most expensive American car for 1954 was Cadillac, with a price range from $3,500 to $5,800. The Cadillac brand is still around, of course, probably largely because GM took it over only 7 years after it was formed from the ashes of the Henry Ford Company. That's right, Henry Ford at one time left his company and his financiers took over intending to sell everything but consultants convinced them to instead use the assets to set up a new company, which they called Cadillac. Starting out with a 1 cylinder engine, taken over by GM, and forever innovating since then, the brand still has its gold standard reputation, in spite of some disasterous lemons in the last 20 years.

Gone from existence, but still building cars in 1954? Plymouth, Willys, Studebaker, Hudson, Nash, Oldsmobile, Kaiser, Desoto and Packard. Now, they're just collector cars and some of them aren't that desirable. Before its collapse, Hudson had showed off its Italia, Packard its Balboa and Kaiser the DKF plastic convertible.

That last one is one I'd love to have in my garage. It was remarkable because of its sporty look but equally because its doors slid forward instead of opening outward. The convertible top had 3 positions, including a unique mid-way, half-up position. Its fast style and high price didn't help Kaiser survive, however. Now, the model is hunted down by avid enthusiasts. If you ever see one, tell the owner to call me. I'm serious here, folks.

Even back then, though, in 1954 there was talk of how the smaller independent makers would have to merge or face extinction from what writers even then called "the big three." That's pretty much what happened, too.

Meanwhile, the Big Three marched forward from 1954 and survived in the face of the more recent onslaught of imports who themselves eventually built plants in the US to take some of the sting out of the "foreigner" label.

More recently the Big Three have gone up and down the quality scale with their output, sometimes great and sometimes terrible. If you end up with a lemon, contact us or call us at 1-888-331-6422 Toll Free. Getting rid of lemons is what we do. Everyday.

We recently received a copy of the February 1954 Popular Mechanics as a gift --- it was the magazine's "Special Auto Section" that caught my eye right away. But more about that later.

Far more interesting to a car buff, however, was the American Classics article on the 12 finest ageless cars of all time (at least up to 1954). I have to admit the 12 chosen are still the 12 that would be chosen as ageless classics even now.

Notably, only one manufacturer on the list is still around, Lincoln. But the ones who died certainly went out in a blaze of designing glory.

Duesenberg 1931 J Roadster Murphy
Duesenberg 1931 J Victoria Rollston
Lincoln 1932 KB Phaeton Dual Cowl
Packard 1929 Sport Phaeton
Pierce Arrow 1933 Silver Arrow V12
Stutz 1932 Super Bearcat
Cord 1937 Convertible Coupe
Packard 1930 Speedster
Kissel 1927 White Eagle Speedster
Auburn 1936 Supercharged Speedster
Marmon 1931 V16 Club Sedan
Lincoln 1941 Continental Convertible

You only need to look at the elegant Duesenberg Rollston to realize that these were made n the heyday of elegant luxury motorcars. These were indeed the kind of cars that Hollywood stars and Wall Street moguls owned. And many of them were made in America. Indeed, most of them were even though they had strong European influences.

But the Lincoln Phaeton was truely something else.

It's a quarter million dollar car now and it was no price slouch back in the early 1930's either.

Of course, as beautiful as these rolling works of art were, they were costly then and worse now. To build a car of that quality level now would cost a staggering amount...gee, maybe more than the top of the line Mercedes? Undoubtedly. But you know what? You'd get a remarkable work of art for the price and that's just something you don't get with new cars nowadays, no matter what the price. Now if Detroit could only build a work of art like these 12 classics, without it costing you an arm and a leg, the imports could be beaten back from our shores.

Until then, you and I can only look at the pictures and dream.

A fine car is a balance of both style and performance and quality and price. For too long Detroit has been building cars with one of those aspects and sometimes two but they just can't seem to get all four of them in one vehicle at one time. When they do, I'll buy it and probably a lot of other people will too.

Until Detroit figures that out, if you get a stylish lemon that the factory won't stand behind, call us. If you get a powerfully performing lemon that just won't perform, call us. If you get a lemon that was built with junk and not with quality, call us. If you get ripped off on a costly lemon by a lousy dealer and no one seems to care, call us.

We file lawsuits everyday to protect consumers from badly built lemons sold by dishonest dealers. It's what we do.

A fight is brewing. The outcome will determine the safety of every family in America, your own, your children, your parents, your neighbors, your family. It will also determine the size of Big Business corporate profits for perhaps the next decade. And that's the reason it's a fight.

If we were just talking about the amount of lead allowed in toys, there'd be a quick answer from scientists. If it was just a question of whether or not manufacturers ought to obey the law, there'd be no real debate. If the issue was just the safety of a child's bicycle, no one would dare raise their voice. Of course, those are the issues. And the issues are a lot more than that too.

The federal safety agency that is in charge of monitoring the safety of thousands of consumer products is under attack, again. Consumer advocates are trying to get Congress to pass a law that gives the Consumer Product Safety Commission more money to operate and some protection from being sued when it issues a safety regulation or makes a recall order or does any one of the hundreds of other things that it does every day, attempting to help protect American families from harm.

As one of the CSPC Commissioners said, the agency is at a crossroads and either Congress will so cripple it that they might as well close it down or Congress will reverse the agency's steady decline into oblivion.

Since virtually every other federal agency has that protection, you wouldn't think it would be tough to put that protection in place for the one agency that is critically important for the day to day health and safety of every American, but it has been. Big Business corporations have been able to keep the threat of litigation hanging over the heads of federal safety investigators in order to keep them from aggressively regulating their industries and impacting their profits with those pesky, bothersome safety regulations.

Regulations like the one that made 3 wheeled Atv's illegal to sell in the US because they were so easy to roll over and crush the kids that ride them. That one got passed pretty much because the public outcry was so loud that even the industry couldn't ignore it anymore.

The US Senate has 2 bills in front of it, S.2045 and HR. 4040. One is good for consumers and the CPSC, and the other is bad. There are 4 key, and damning, differences.

S. 2045 contains a section that will reverse many of the law's provisions that actually protect Big Business, including some that actually protect companies that break the law or make and sell dangerous products.

More importantly, S. 2045 gives state law enforcement officials the ability to act on behalf of the federal safety agency, something that is also in HR. 4040. States can even use the law to sue for damages to their constituents. With a federal agency that is underfunded and understaffed, it makes sense to give state government the right to help enforce safety laws intended to protect the public.

Especially important, the proposed law also gives the CPSC protection from lawsuits that Big Business might file against safety investigators in response to fines or legislative decisions. That's something that almost every other regulatory agency has and needs so that they can make honest decisions without fear of being tied up in court by Big Business efforts to stop the agency's enforcement of safety standards.

If Big Business wins this fight, you lose. It's that simple.

S. 2045 will give consumers the most protection. It's that simple, too.

And don't believe the false and inaccurate propaganda dressed as press releases that Big Business outlets (like "Open Market.org") is spreading. Research it and read it yourself and you'll see the truth. S. 2045 is not about "trial lawyers" --- it's about protecting people from things like unsafe toys from China and thousands of other cheap and dangerous products that are being sold in the US with little regulation and enforcement. S. 2045 is about protecting you and your family.

If you want to make sure your children are safe, that your family isn't exposed to dangerous products and imported faulty products, then now is the time to do something about it.

Click here to write or call your US Senator and ask them to VOTE FOR S. 2045.

Meantime, if you are the victim of an unsafe product, a dangerous vehicle, a lemon motorhome or other lemon vehicle, then email us or call us Toll Free at 1-888-331-6422.

Fighting to protect consumers is what we do. It's what we've done since 1978. Some of our staff have owned lemon cars too so we know what it's like to get ripped off by defective products. We also know what it's like to get even. It's why we do what we do here.