As I understand it cars/trucks must be 84 or newer and get less than 18 mpg. This would leave our collectable rides alone but I am always leary of the pols getting a toe hold cause they always grab for more. Hot Rod mag had a feature a while back called "Crusher Camaro" where they grabbed one on the way to the crusher and went through it. It was a real decent car to start with but I guess California takes no prisoners. Has anyone kept on top of this to give out the straight dope on the situation?
Evan, Here is the best explanation that I could find. It is on the Emunds site. It has a FAQs section, a calculator to determine what you get for your car, etc. Gater http://www.edmunds.com/cash-for-clunkers/
Stupidness Extreme If you sign up for the SEMA (feee , OnLine) newsletter you'll get the straight skinny onn this absurd wa$te of taxpayer's dollars and much more and they'll never , EVER bother you , beg for money etc. as they know this is serious business . Ca$h for Klunkers is driven by two groups ~ the major funding is from the American auto manufacturers as they stupidly think poor people (hell , everybody) will just run out and buy new cars once we've been forced to junk our old ones . (for our own good of course) The other group here is the same people who'll write the city if your house has a non conforming mailbox or the wrong color paint etc... they live to tell others what to do . It's all BULLSHYTE Here in Sunny California , they're pimping the hell out of it .
Nate, That is how I feel about it too but I just thought it was my general distrust of anything that goes on in Washington these days. I am glad to see there is some information on the legislation available. Gater
No , we don't . They're in partial recievership right now and will be back to corporate ownership soon .
Wow, you mean I can get $4500 for this p.o.s and go spend $25000 to get something else???? If I was driving a car worth less than $4500 to begin with, I probably can't AFFORD a $25000 car. Wait, they can probably pull some strings and get me 12 years financing at 25%........the same thing that got us into this mess in the first place.
If I'm hearing correctly, if the deciding factor to part with said clunker is the belief that it may get a new home, forget that notion. I hear the clunkers can't be resold. They must be crushed!!!
48Er you are exactly right, they cannot be resold better yet we have to blow the engine up in the cars before they leave our lots. I work for BMW and we got our first cash for clunker car today. It was a 88 jeep cherokee with good body and paint, great interior, low miles and ran perfect. Absolutely nothing wrong with the car. Another tech inquired about buying and was told we can't sell it, as a matter of fact while you have it back there we have to drain the oil and hold down the accelerator until she blows. This plan and president is such bullshit. I know the cherokee is the not most desirable car out right now, but 40 years from now it may be, look at the old jeepsters. I think this plan could be ruining hot rodding for our kids and grand kids. Plus what about the people that it would be cheaper and easier to get a junk yard motor for their car instead of a new car payment. I guess the idiots that came up with this plan has enough money they don't have to worry about that. Well thats enough from me right now, my blood pressure has got to be through the roof at this point.
Planned Destruction They're _not_ required to blow the engine so that shows the mind set of your management . Parts are not to be re-sold nor can you wash the title and re-sell the klunker out of state ~ they put some teeth into this stupid bill to prevent all that here in Los Angeles (home to fruits , nuts & flakes) there is a huge car crusher for destroying non DOT spec. cars and others the Govt. decides shouldn't ever be re registered nor broken for parts.... A large percentage of the cars they destroy are high dollar sports cars (think Lambos , Ferarris , Porsche etc.) nearly ALL of them are pristine - this is plain madness to me.
Congress said the cash for clunkers program would last till October. They are out of money after 4 days. These are the folks we want running our healthcare?
Lunacy The front page of the local paper had a photograph of a nice old Mercedes being traded in on some junk POS I'd not want for free..... BTW : here in So. Cal. , we have Mercedes & Lexus' like the rest of the world has Toyotas . no kidding ! you have to see it to believe it . (in case there are other old Mercedes lovers here , no worries ! it was a W-124 chassis , worse junk than Toylettas)
8 more years~ Oh wait. What has us to this stage of desperation? I'm sorry. I know this country fell to hell as soon as O' took the stage and CforCs stinks BIG TIME! But why is it even an option? Because O's our president or Bush was so good at leading us and had our best interests in mind? As a teacher, I would love to go on about the NCLB legacy that he also left for us! Face it guys~ John Wayne is long gone. Someone has to do something fast and dramatic. I just wish it didn't include junking (forever) cars that could still be a benefit! I _LOVE_ the way our 95 GC Jeep gets on down the road. I bet any AD would love it's "enthusiasm". However, it is what is is. Raise your hand if you think it will get worse before it gets better. (We will exclude our last president as a reason for this next question.) Raise your hand if you have ONE IDEA why it is the way it is? If this is a bad thing, (and I think it is) how 'bout us, submitting through or host, a formal letter of complaint with an idea of what we could do differently. It beats bitching about it, and who knows~ I bet he can read! Here you go. Help me with this~ Dear President, We, as a group of lovers of old metal, would like for you to QUICKLY rethink your idea about Cash for Clunkers. We think that these "clunkers", which of course you know they are not, could have a better ending than being CRUSHED!!! For God's sake, the blocks alone can be harvested and retooled! (Take it from here, and have our host send it on. It's what's great about this country. Do something, and you can actually "do something.")
In 4 days, our gov't spent 1 billion dollars to get rid of our next generation's toys off of the road. 250,000 vehicles between 1984 to the present. I'll grant you that, as we look at the last 25 years, it doesn't appear that we've lost many classics. But then again, who are we to judge? Now the "house" has approved another 2 billion dollars to this cause pending senate approval. Simple math says another half million vehicles will be destroyed. Nate, my next door neighbor is a new car salesman for Lincoln and he told me that the gov't package they received detailing the program included packets of "liquid glass" with instructions to pour same into the gas tanks to "blow" the engine prior to sending paperwork to have them crushed! I don't understand what's going on anymore! All I know is, tomorrow, I'm escaping reality for a week and going down to deep S. Texas to fish, over-eat, over-drink and otherwise have a ball! My reality check is probably going to bounce! But who cares, I'm sure that he will bail me out! Rant over, kicking it into fishing mode! God bless you guys! I'll be back! Ken
Nate the "liquid glass" ken speaks of is what I was talking about when we have to blow the engine. Here is the process: Pour substance into tank, drain oil, start engine, hold pedal to the floor until the engine blows. Its a vicious cycle, and I have refused to do it to our cars at work. But there are some younger guys in the shop volunteer to do it just to get the kick out of blowing something up. The only thing come out of this good so far is I did get a brand new set of tires off one of these things before it goes to the crusher. You guys know how I feel about this bill and this president, they both suck. Looks like politics are stealing from our kids and grandkids again.
Zig, I am sorry but a letter to our current president is a waste of time. You see, cash for clunkers, bail outs, healthcare (read insurance reform) reform are not about us, the citizens of the US. It is about power. This man is an arrogant idiot that was elected because he could read well. He has no experience and it is showing. Bush made mistakes. It is obvious now that we should not have gone to Iraq. However, it seems we forget that Senator Clinton, President Clinton and the majority of dems in congress agreed to go. Of Bush's 8 years the only thing I truly fault him for is the bail out that he started just before he left office. I truly believe that most of the Bush hatred that helped elect this guy was brought on by a media that continually promoted the bad and minimized the good. Now they have a guy that they could blister everyday for his ignorant acts and they praise him. Remember, it is not about us and our desire to save cars. It is not about us having health care. It is not about us keeping our houses or our jobs. It is about Barrack Hussein Obama, Nancy Peloci and Harry Reid and their ilk having power. Bill
Ol' Congress is a part of this pig orgy/piranha feast going on also. Dubyah, had the thing about Iroc's Hussein where, “He had to pay, He threatened my Daddy”. One thing for sure is whenever something is fast tracked through any Gov. system it has major oversights. Working for the Gov. and having to once now and then fast track something/someone, things get missed and the client pays heavy in the long run, the client here is us.
and in Europe ... This must be my first post for around a year or so - I think since I finally finished most everything on the ol' 55 (not that it'll ever really be finished of course). I've had a year of just click and go use without having to really do any work on it so I've neglected to pay you guys too many visits. But, I thought this stream needed just a little more from the this side of the pond, so check this one http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8003508.stm. Ewelin Hassenberg gets my vote.
All the environmentalists who think this is a good idea, and the notion of carbon footprints and all......My truck has already used up all the energy it required to make it. The little carbon and such from the exhaust and crappy mileage is small compared to what the manufacturing of a new prius puts out. In 10 years, we have to find a way to dump the battery packs that are used up. My truck is about 85% recycled....body, frame, rear axle, engine, trans, trim parts, rims, talk about going green???? even the paint is green! These scrapped cars could go to goodwill and "put people to work"-isn't that what uncle Tom said was his goal? The cars could go to people who need transportation to get to work. Ahh, well, we are all preaching to the choir, I suppose.
