i was just wondering how many mavs we lost to this cash 4 clunkers deal. i'm in so. oregon and have heard of none but i'll bet there are some out there that could not pass on the cash off on a new car.
None ... cars have to be 1985 and newer and have been registered within the past year. This is because when a similar program was done in CA a few years ago, people were dragging cars out that hadn't run in years (no enviromental impact there ... ). The intent of the program is to increase gas mileage of cars that actually get used. What burns me about this program is that my daily driver is pretty tired at this point, and yet doesn't qualify, because its mileage rating is TOO GOOD (21 city/30 hwy). So ... this program rewards all the people that couldn't figure out that a vehicle that gets better mileage would be a good thing before now? ... and leaves out those of us who have been conserving fuel? ... lookskind of like rewarding stupidity and punishing good behavior. :16suspect I can't complain too hard though ... with the tax deduction that I get for business mileage, I am pretty sure that I have MADE MONEY off of it the past few years ... no car payment, great mileage, and $55/month insurance. This is mainly be the average person spends a lot more in all three areas and it raises the mileage deduction for all of us.
You wouldn't believe some of the nice cars that have come through the dealership I work at. Just had a nice 97 Mustang GT come through that ran fine nothing visibly wrong with the car...now on its way to the crusher after being blown up on purpose. Lots of good used cars seems stupid to do away with good cars that maybe a needy family could use! However it was fun today to blow the rear tires off doing a couple burn outs and 360's in a 86 Fiero that came through last Saturday.
This is being done mainly to reduce emissions right? Wonder what type of emissions are going into the air blowing up and abusing all the vehicles that get turned in?? Its really nice to see that your govt is as brilliant as ours. So if you have already purchased an economy car sorry about your luck. If you drive a guzzler heres some money go buy a car. Then the car can get repossessed cause you cant afford the payments and you go out and buy an old clunker again. :16suspect
So let me get this right because I dont understand this. Im supposed to turn in a paid off 97 mustang just so that I can get a loan that makes me pay a total of 35,000$ which includes the interest I would pay on a 20K loan, just so that I can go from 21mpg to 30mpg. At the saving of 9 dollars per gallon this means I would have to drive my new car 315,000 thousand miles just to get my money back out of it, wont this make my new car a clunker?
No, you're not "supposed to"......it's not mandatory, no one's forcing anyone to take part in the program, no one pressuring anyone into a deal, especially a bad one. If someone ends up screwed because they do it as unwisely and blindly as you described, it's not because the program is bad, or because the government's trying to rip them off, it's because they're a blithering idiot that jumped into a deal and made a major purchase without thinking or planning. Something that would happen whether they traded in a clunker or not.
No, it's mainly being done to stimulate new car sales, help troubled automakers recover, and maybe stimulate the economy. (whether it actually helps boost the economy or not, a spike in new car sales makes for improved quarterly sales/profits that translates into, corporate shareholder's confidence, in turn stimulating positive activity in the stock market, which at least makes it appear the economy is benefitting, and, as is often the case, even the appearance of a better economy can actually have a positive effect on it) Even the permanent destruction of the old cars is probably more for the new car manufacturers and banks that finance them than reducing emissions (as little real effect it may have, it's still a few less old cars available and less used parts to keep other old cars going for new car dealers to compete with), though the reduction of emissions by eliminating old polluters is a bonus, even if it's minute, and it's good for spin. .
I went junk yarding earlier this week and the yards are full of these clunkers. The cars, trucks, and SUVs are not crushed. They all have a splash of paint on top of the engines. I guess the paint alerts everyone that these engines are not for sale whole.
Yeah, I went and stripped a "clunker" 86 El Camino last week......got the entire front clip (including steel cowl induction hood), wheels, windsheild, bucket seats and console/shifter for $350. My two Malibus are set for some mods and a stash of extra parts to last awhile. The yard owner was very pleased about all the clunkers he got in, was parting them down to the bone, except for the engines, and said he was making money hand over foot, while still being able to give great deals like mine. I told him I had heard (from someone here) engine and engine component sales made up to 60% of their profit, and that they would lose that due to the requirement that engines be destroyed. He said yes, engines and components made for about that much of their profits, but that he was still making that profit from the continuing abundance of non-clunker cars he had, and will have,....the lack of sellable engines in the clunkers aren't going cut into or detract from that at all. So much for the clunker program hurting the recycling business and starving the market of available used parts. Yard owner tipped me off he's getting a couple of Crown Vic "clunkers" coming in....I'll be there! .
I have reason to be thankful for Cash For Clunkers ... ... my first new wheels in too many years ... I have driven the wheels off of my daily ride and this comes along .... I have been looking at Ford Explorer Sports (2 doors) for months, and we found this and bought it yesterday right after the test drive. Neat story behind it ...Light Blue 1998 Explorer Sport with the higher performance V6 (actually quicker than the V8 Explorers that year), 5 speed automatic overdrive transmission ... really well cared for and certainly garaged all the time ... one owner ... just 55,000 miles (5000 miles per year!). It looks like it was sealed in a time capsule... of course being 11 years old a few really minor marks here and there ... but that is the reason for your vision getting worse with age ... the stuff around you still looks good as it ages ... (LOL). Now here is the kicker ... this was traded in under "Cash for Clunkers". The dealership processed 90 cars under that program, and did not submit for the federal money for this and a Ford Expedition that were turned in ... they deemed them far too nice to destroy. The original owners got a $4500 trade-in value, the dealer marked it up a bit, and we got a really good vehicle at a good price... that is the way the program should have worked in the first place! Very, very happy! My wife is glad that now she doesn't have to hear about it anymore, and that I will actually be watching the road when going by every car lot out there. (LOL)
Stimulating the economy... trading in a paid-off good used car so you have a payment again in a rough economy. Wonder how many will get repossessed? Isn't the over-extending of one's self partially what got us into this mess? Sure, it helps the manufacturers NOW, but what about in a few years when the lots are full of repossessions, and the people WITH the money are buying these over new ones? Are we supposed to bail them out AGAIN? One thing this whole cash-for-clunkers IS accomplishing- further widening the gap between the poor and the rich. The 'middle class' typically buy the used cars that qualify for the program. The more of them removed from the road gives the middle classers a choice- buy a cheap old junker that you could really do better than, or over-extend yourself with a new car payment. Of course we aren't to that extreme yet, but it could happen. It's all smoke and mirrors... what new GM car gets the mileage of the first generation Geo Metro? Darned few, so where's the progress? American companies build the cheap cars... well, cheap. And ugly- but can't figure out why they loose sales to Imports that are better built and look better for the same price range.
One more thought, wouldn't it have been a good idea to take the good cars from the cash-for-clunkers program and resell them as used cars? Wouldn't that have given a little stimulation to the used car market, which is also struggling? It would have helped out the middle class too.
