# For Real? GM Buying Subprime Lender To Increase Sales To Non-Qualifying Buyers? With Bailout Money? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 22, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-real-gm-buying-subprime-lender-to-increase-sales-to-non-qualifying-buyers-with-bailout-money/547628 "2010-07-22T18:55:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-real-gm-buying-subprime-lender-to-increase-sales-to-non-qualifying-buyers-with-bailout-money/547628/21 "2010-07-25T07:15:31Z")
“Normally”? Think its ever going to be “normal” anytime soon? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-real-gm-buying-subprime-lender-to-increase-sales-to-non-qualifying-buyers-with-bailout-money/547628/22 "2010-07-25T07:23:47Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > “Normally”? Think its ever going to be “normal” anytime soon? If by normal you mean houses increasing in value, yes. Cars will always lose value off the lot and continue to do so until repair costs exceed the value of the car. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-real-gm-buying-subprime-lender-to-increase-sales-to-non-qualifying-buyers-with-bailout-money/547628/23 "2010-07-25T14:18:33Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > > [@elucidator](#): > > > > “Normally”? Think its ever going to be “normal” anytime soon? > > If by normal you mean houses increasing in value, yes. Cars will always lose value off the lot and continue to do so until repair costs exceed the value of the car. They’re now saying high unemployment might continue for years: [Bernanke says economic outlook is 'unusually uncertain'](http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/22/business/la-fi-bernanke-20100722) Sounds like an American version of Japan’s “Lost Decade” to me. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-real-gm-buying-subprime-lender-to-increase-sales-to-non-qualifying-buyers-with-bailout-money/547628/24 "2010-07-25T14:29:13Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > Resolved: WTF? How does the government (who had no business bailing them out) … I love this attitude. We should just have let a few hundred thousand people lose jobs and further decimate the mid-west economy so that we can worship at the altar of Ayn Rand. The GM intervention was very well done; the company is recovering, is in the process of paying back the loans, jobs were saved, tax revenue sources were preserved. I’ll take that any day. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-real-gm-buying-subprime-lender-to-increase-sales-to-non-qualifying-buyers-with-bailout-money/547628/25 "2010-07-25T15:17:52Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > > > > [@elucidator](#): > > > > > > For starters, seems to me that the order of magnitude has some bearing. Sure, buying a thirty thousand dollar car, maybe, but its not buying a three hundred thousand dollar house. > > > > More importantly, a thirty thousand dollar car can be repossessed and resold tomorrow, while a foreclosure takes months (or years, if the homeowner gets an attorney). > > a thirty thousand dollar car loses value the minute it leaves the car lot and continues to lose value toward a very short life span. Houses normally appreciate in value and are a long term asset. Right, but the point is that the lender can immediately mitigate its loss with a car. It’s not like they typically sell foreclosed houses for anything like full market value anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-real-gm-buying-subprime-lender-to-increase-sales-to-non-qualifying-buyers-with-bailout-money/547628.md?page=1)