We bought our diesel in the Detroit area as the local dealership wasn't interested in negotiating price. So, to save a significant bit of money, we drove the 150 miles and it was "well worth the trip"... That said, during closing, I was surprised at the "extended warranty offerings" that could be added to the price. We all expect the typical mechanical extended warranty, maybe the appearance coatings that protect the interior and the paint. Heck, even the oil change maintenance plan ??? But I was surprised to see a "tire damage warranty" that would replace tires damaged from potholes and an "upgraded package" that included replacement wheels and also covered alignments. And those packages weren't cheap by any means, so I'd suspect that those who do buy them (we didn't) have enough claims to keep the price "up there". It would have been over $1000 to buy the tire/wheel/alignment damage plan for a 5 year period. Too much for me, that's for sure. Besides, I'm typically looking at the road and don't suspect that I'd "drive into a hole big enough to blow a tire and bend a wheel".... I always thought that's what insurance was supposed to cover.... ?????
So, the way I see things, we (the public) are still paying for the roads, just not to repair them, rather to repair our "stuff" that gets damaged from the "tax spenders" not spending it on that "transportation infrastructure" that it was intended to be spent fixing..... Of course we're getting "very close" to talking politics, not something that is allowed on the forum. Seems to me that now we're not only paying to "not fix the roads" but we're also "buying insurance to fix things busted by the roads".... A double whammy.....