Cash For Clunkers

[WILMASBOYL78]

Jim Ferron is "right on the money"....these are used car customers...not the typical new vehicle buyer. The government has no business creating these types of programs. They would have been better off giving all the dealers a tax cut to help energize their business or an across the board consumer rebate/incentive to upgrade to a more fuel efficient vehicle...new or used. No one is talking about the costs the dealers are facing to handle the paperwork, phone calls and "engine destruction" process that is required. This whole mess qualifies as an unfunded federal mandate heaped on the backs of private business owners.

Remember when rebates and low interest financing started..?? since then dealers are hard pressed to generate sales unless there is a "program" in place. Once this CFC is over...the government will have to dream up another offer (scheme) to keep the ball moving.

By the way...where does the money come from to pay the dealers the $4500

Press #1 for the answer...or just hold and Ms. Pelosi will be with you shortly.

A chicken in every pot and a clunker in a every garage

ps...Congress is voting as we speak to add 2 Billion Dollars to the program....I can hear the presses running

[StealthBird]

I read that the way the dealer is supposed to disable a clunker is to drain the crankcase, then pour silicone silicate in, start the engine, and it slowly dies. Geez, I know it's just an engine, but if I were to see this, I'm not sure I could help myself. I'd be yelling "Turn it off! Turn it off!". Seems a shame to inject automotive poison, then sit back and watch (and hear) an engine slowly die.

What's interesting is that in one week, $250 million of the $1 billion allocated was used. What many dealers are doing (this is no surprise) is that they're taking EXISTING used cars on their lots, changing the dates they were traded in (an unethical used car dealer, who would have thought? ) and submitting the forms to get $4500 per car. Then the dealer keeps all the money.

Gee, another well thought out plan.

[gts340]

" What many dealers are doing (this is no surprise) is that they're taking EXISTING used cars on their lots, changing the dates they were traded in (an unethical used car dealer, who would have thought? ) and submitting the forms to get $4500 per car. Then the dealer keeps all the money.

Gee, another well thought out plan. "

I saw evidence of this firsthand yesterday at the junkyard. There was a very nice 95 Dodge Ram Van sitin in the front lot waiting to be processed. It had new tires on it and even still had the dealer used car tag hanging in the window.
I'll bet we hear about the scams related to this "idea" for a long time.

[Jim Ferron]

Thank you Tom,

I'll tell you juuuuust one idea that would have made some sense....

First and MOST important, only cars BUILT in the good ol' US of A should be eligible [to buy]. Why are our tax dollars going to foreign workers and foreign manufactures?

Have you EVER heard of a more stupid idea?

And not to be political here...even though we need Health care relief more than any other single reform...I hope it better thought out than this...

What do YOU guys pay? I'm over $1500 for a family plan, no dental...nearly $10 an HOUR of my pay [salary] goes to just healthcare.And even if your employer provides it, it's still YOUR money, or that much LESS than your employer can afford to pay you, Imagine a ten dollar an hour raise???

Health care is my LARGEST personal and business expense.

Sorry waaaaaay off the subject.Please don't yell at me...I just venting...

[Jim Ferron]

Oh and another 'tatic' they are using...customer goes in with their Olds Ciera [or any other non-qualifying car]..[doesn't qualify] and the dealer tells 'em don't worry, I'll get you the same $3500 off even without the correct car..he then takes the car [which has SOME value as he doesn't have to crush it] and then just uses factory rebates and regular dealer discouts to add up to the $3500...

so the customer [MY customer] buys a NEW car at the same deal they would have gotten a month ago, thinking they got a 'special' deal....

this customer was a USED car customer duped into buying a new car [one they very well may not be able to afford, I guess I'll see that car next year in the repo lane at the auction...with yet another person with ruined credit]

[Tommy]

I was at a major auto recycler yesterday and they were being over run with clunkers. I wouldn't call half these things clunkers though. One that they were taking around back to terminate was a 2001 blazer that looked like it was just waxed and ready for a sunday cruise in the country... They are blowing all the engines and dismantling the cars and trucks. This recycling center is late model only so if you think about it they are probably blowing up a lot of Vortec and LS engines that hotrodders would love to have for street rods and musclecars... How about watching them lay a brick on the gas pedal of a truck with a 5.3 or 6.0 and know what that same engine will cost you to buy from GM for your next street rod project.... Sad thing is people are turning in these vehicles for newer vehicles with the same engines... They have to get rid of "less efficient engines" .. Weather its stimulates the auto industry or not or weather it helps clean out a few million cars is not the issue with me... I'm just a car guy and still like junkyards and budget builds... Oh well, as is life...

On another note, I would like to make videos of them blowing the engines... Car guys like carnage too. At VW shows they build and blow up engines on purpose and people love to watch it


Tommy

[markjohnson]

I gotta agree that I really don't like this Cash For Clunkers idea at all but I simply CANNOT BELIEVE that they didn't limit it only to American car companies. It's hard to believe this is the same government that provided the bail-out money and they just had a phenomenal opportunity here to boost American-made sales by a significant amount. I would have really supported the program then, and I might have even bought a car myself. Man, they really dropped the ball on this one and missed giving the American Automakers a MUCH-NEEDED jolt!

[Supergas990]

This kind of reminds me of the guns for shoes deals that were so popular for so many years.

You saw more classic and collectible firearms junked for a pair of hightops than you can shake a stick at.

What does the industry do for the next 5-10 years until all these new cars are clunkers? You can't force or evenly strongly encourage a false economy without going broke...

blair

[P.J.]

right, the one billion doooooolars was gone in one week!!!
and they now have made another 2 billion more. Wow glad im not paying the taxes.
PJ

[njsteve]

Just to bust their ballz I responded to one of the dozen (at last count) emails my local dealer keeps sending me begging me to buy a new car and trade in my "clunker". So after telling them I had a 1970 Dodge with a big gas guzzling engine that said "426 Himee on the top of the motor", here was his response"

"Unfortunately the vehicle must be less than 25 years old to qualify, however I suspect that if that car runs it is worth more than $4500."


Do I hear $4600 anyone?