Two things at play here here:
1. The wife really wanted to re-subscribe to the local paper (the Tennessean) as she was so used to reading the paper with a cup of coffee that the habit was hard to break. So she resubscribed for just under $11.00 per month for daily delivery. Not a bad deal compared to the $18.something we used to pay each month.
2. Sure it's only $11.00/month now, but the amount of news & articles has been reduced even from only 3 months ago when our subscription to the paper ended, including the Saturday car section. Remember when you couldn't wait to get the Saturday (Sunday?) paper to read all the car ads? Things sure have changed now. The paper itself is physically much smaller, too. It's like picking up a plastic-wrapped midget every morning in the driveway.
Today's "big" car section was all of four pages. Most classified ads were from dealers. All four pages sponsored from "CARS.COM". Even the spotlight car review is down to less than 1/4 of half the page! These things USED to be fun to read every week. It's difficult to translate the experience of owning & driving an Audi Q5 (today's auto du jour) in 150 words or less.
The Dodge ad on the front page (1 of 2 dealer ads this week) really got my attention as they dealer is selling a 2009 Patriot, 2009 Caliber SXT or 2009 Journey, your choice for $12,981. Yes, these all have stock numbers on them, but still, that's a really good deal IF you're a Dodge sorta person.
Also, on the back page of this thinner-than-Calista-Flockhart auto section was another large dealer ad (2 whole dealer ads in this edition!) telling the reader (singular) that all new Regular Cab RAM 1500 2008 models are 1/2 off.
A truck for $11,800 sounds real good. Too bad it's a Dodge.
It's like getting half-off admission to a local strip club only to find out that Roseanne Barr is the headline act. A 1/2 priced pig is still a pig. No thanks. I'll stick with full-price admission to watch Shrek via pay-per-view. Ogres are better looking.
2 ads, both Dodge dealers.
Two words:
Desperation. Craigslist.
1. The wife really wanted to re-subscribe to the local paper (the Tennessean) as she was so used to reading the paper with a cup of coffee that the habit was hard to break. So she resubscribed for just under $11.00 per month for daily delivery. Not a bad deal compared to the $18.something we used to pay each month.
2. Sure it's only $11.00/month now, but the amount of news & articles has been reduced even from only 3 months ago when our subscription to the paper ended, including the Saturday car section. Remember when you couldn't wait to get the Saturday (Sunday?) paper to read all the car ads? Things sure have changed now. The paper itself is physically much smaller, too. It's like picking up a plastic-wrapped midget every morning in the driveway.
Today's "big" car section was all of four pages. Most classified ads were from dealers. All four pages sponsored from "CARS.COM". Even the spotlight car review is down to less than 1/4 of half the page! These things USED to be fun to read every week. It's difficult to translate the experience of owning & driving an Audi Q5 (today's auto du jour) in 150 words or less.
The Dodge ad on the front page (1 of 2 dealer ads this week) really got my attention as they dealer is selling a 2009 Patriot, 2009 Caliber SXT or 2009 Journey, your choice for $12,981. Yes, these all have stock numbers on them, but still, that's a really good deal IF you're a Dodge sorta person.
Also, on the back page of this thinner-than-Calista-Flockhart auto section was another large dealer ad (2 whole dealer ads in this edition!) telling the reader (singular) that all new Regular Cab RAM 1500 2008 models are 1/2 off.
A truck for $11,800 sounds real good. Too bad it's a Dodge.
It's like getting half-off admission to a local strip club only to find out that Roseanne Barr is the headline act. A 1/2 priced pig is still a pig. No thanks. I'll stick with full-price admission to watch Shrek via pay-per-view. Ogres are better looking.
2 ads, both Dodge dealers.
Two words:
Desperation. Craigslist.
