Q-You stated (Letters, Oct. 10) that no service is taxable in referring to a person who paid a 34-cent tax imposed on a bill to have his tires rotated. If that’s so, how can a new-car dealer add tax to the transportation or freight charge? Hauling a car from point A to point B is a service, but the dealer tacks on a tax. How can they get away with it? R.H., Glenview
A-“We’ve asked the same question,” according to Jerry Cizek, chairman of the Chicago Automobile Trade Association, which represents more than 700 Chicagoland new-car dealers who have to collect the tax for the state. “The Illinois Department of Revenue told us freight is part of the gross sale price of the vehicle and therefore is taxable.” In other words, the Department of Revenue found a source of revenue and that’s why you pay a tax.
Q-Your reference to using a cat or ferret rather than a child to test the Chevy Lumina mini-van’s (Cartalk, Oct. 24) power sliding door made me livid. To test the power sliding door on the van, people should have you stick your head in the opening to see if the system works. P.J., Libertyville
A-OK, we’ll do it your way and use our head-and find a kid to test the door on next time. Got any we could borrow?
Q-Your reference to the cat in the van made me ill. S.G., Wilmette
A-Which reminds us, another benefit of the power sliding door is that if you become sick, you need only push a button and the door will power open on its own so you don’t have to fumble with a handle.
Q-A ferret can be lovable, more so, I’m sure, than you. M.B., Deerfield
A-We’ll never know, and you’ll never know.
Q-If the side door can be made to be power activated on a mini-van, why not power slide-open doors on cars and trucks? T.T., Naperville.
A-You need ample space for the door to pop out and slide back without hitting anything, plus a rail for the door to motor back on. The design of most cars and trucks prohibits such a door, whereas the van is ideal for the system.
Q-Your reference in the Oct. 24 letters about the U.S. trade deficit with Japan: “If you can figure out a solution please send it immediately to our chief executive officer in Washington, D.C. Perhaps when she’s done with health care, she’ll work on the trade deficit.” You want a milquetoast like Nancy Reagan instead? J.R., Elgin
A-Milquetoast? Nancy Reagan?
Q-You took a swipe at the first lady. Perhaps I should take a swipe at our former president who while dining with the Japanese prime minister vomited, thus showing weakness in foreign trade negotiations. R.B., Hilton Head, S.C.
A-If you’ve ever eaten in Tokyo, you’d understand why former President George Bush had to throw up. It wasn’t as much a sign of weakness in foreign trade negotiations, as it was a commentary about the $40 billion deficit suffered by the U.S. Milquetoast? Nancy Reagan?
Q-While great progress has been made by automakers in increasing fuel economy and reducing air pollution, the government presses for smaller, perhaps less-safe cars with reduced performance to improve fuel economy even more. Unsynchronized traffic signals should be addressed instead. Minimizing stop-and-go traffic would improve fuel economy. Also, it doesn’t take a space-age scientist to realize the miles of traffic backups at toll booths has a devastating effect on fuel economy and air pollution. R.P., Northbrook
A-City, state, county and federal agencies can’t keep cabs and buses from pulling into an intersection on a red light, where they block cross traffic, so how are they going to have the brains to synchronize the lights? The answer to the toll booth dilemma is easy. Do as those people exiting or entering the Tri-State at Illinois Highway 60 do. Fake a toss of coins into the booth or honk your horn at the person ahead fumbling for coins so he hurries out of your way so you can pass through without paying. If the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority ever did try collecting tolls at this entry/exit other than at brief periods during evening rush hour, it would make enough money to pave the tollway in platinum.
Q-As the owner of a 1991 model Dodge Grand Caravan, after seeing the picture of a 1996 Chrysler mini-van (Transportation, Oct. 24) with a front end that looked like a Chevy S-10 truck and a sloping windshield like a Chevy Lumina mini-van, it seems as if Chrysler is tired of carrying the torch for mini-vans. Who can I let know that I don’t like the looks coming for 1996. J.B., Shorewood
A-The photo you refer to was a prototype of the redesign of the Chrysler mini-vans that will be coming out for the 1996 model year. Write Robert Lutz, president, Chrysler Corp., 12000 Chrysler Drive, Highland Park, Mich. 48288, if you don’t like what you see. But based on the short time before the vehicle appears, what you see is what you are going to get.
– To the woman who called: No, despite what the dealer said, it is not “common” for your car to burn three quarts of oil in a week.
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Send your questions about cars and trucks to Jim Mateja, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611.
