clunkers program done already?

Actually it is now called the Car Allowance Rebate System Formally Referred to as Cash for Clunkers. It reminds me of when Prince became "the symbol" and his name got longer to explain it.

CARS.gov - Car Allowance Rebate System - Home - Formerly Referred to as “Cash for Clunkers”

Comment from a blog

"How long will it be before we start hearing stories of people who turned in their clunker (which, although it was old, was a perfectly good vehicle) to purchase a brand new car (which they probably couldn?t afford, but didn?t want to pass up a deal) find themselves in a position of not being able to make their monthly payment and their car is repossessed?"

Why do all these government programs reward bad behavior/decisions? I didn't purchase a "clunker" that gets low gas mileage and I didn't buy a house I couldn't afford. It seems responsible behavior must be it's own reward and be punished by being called upon to pay for the errors of others. There is something just wrong about that.

This is all such a mess. As I said in another string, the government needs to get out of the way. They have no idea what they are doing. Or do they..... and we are headed to socialism, by design.

I think that's a bit over the top. This is about the economy, not socialism.

I would really love to hear from the folks in the White House what they think of all this though. Do they worry about the debt they are racking up? Do they think they can kick what they are doing down the road? Do they think this will help the economy? Are there political motivations to programs like this or is it honest to goodness alturism? I really don't know. I think what frustrates me the most is that, a lot of people are asking these kinds of questions. But I don't hear anyone coming back with any honest answers. That makes me a little skeptical.

If we keep our driveable, dependable clunker, will someone from the government come visit our house late at night? Will we start getting weird phone calls? :shock:

If we keep our driveable, dependable clunker, will someone from the government come visit our house late at night? Will we start getting weird phone calls? :shock:

Humm.

If the government truly wanted to stimulate the economy, they would lower taxes on the wealthy people in America and corporate taxes. You would see wealthy people businesses returning to America, thus creating more jobs, which in turn, puts more money in the pockets of not only the wealthy, but also the working class. EVERYONE ends up able to spend their own money, and not their grandchildren's money (like they are doing with this Cash for Clunkers program). The jobs would be legitimate, not just a job for the sake of giving out Federal money.

to date[fiscal 09] 915 billion dollars have been borrowed and spent to do nothing in iraq/afghanistan. the clunker program is 1 billion. it benefits us citizens and helps the auto industry/economy/environment. get some perspective folks. the 900 pound gorilla is peeing on the back of your neck.

to date[fiscal 09] 915 billion dollars have been borrowed and spent to do nothing in iraq/afghanistan. the clunker program is 1 billion. it benefits us citizens and helps the auto industry/economy/environment. get some perspective folks. the 900 pound gorilla is peeing on the back of your neck.

to date[fiscal 09] 915 billion dollars have been borrowed and spent to do nothing in iraq/afghanistan. the clunker program is 1 billion. it benefits us citizens and helps the auto industry/economy/environment. get some perspective folks. the 900 pound gorilla is peeing on the back of your neck.

If what you state in bold is true, wouldn't you be for total destruction of the car, so that people who owned older vehicles and didn't want to trade, would be sheITE out of luck when they had a fender bender or a tranny went bad?

The gov't may call it one thing, but that means nothing. You can turn in a 2008 model if it qualifies, and it could be in show room condition. I find it most interesting that an auto getting 18 mpg is crushed while purchasing a so-called "fuel efficient" vehicle, getting 19 mpg, gets you $4500 in your pocket.

I hear many people forgetting that not everyone can or wants to afford the cost of buying a new vehicle, even if it comes with a $4500 discount. Driving a $35,000 vehicle off the showroom floor costs you much more than $4500, compared to driving a similar car off the showroom of your neighbor's front lawn.

to date[fiscal 09] 915 billion dollars have been borrowed and spent to do nothing in iraq/afghanistan. the clunker program is 1 billion. it benefits us citizens and helps the auto industry/economy/environment. get some perspective folks. the 900 pound gorilla is peeing on the back of your neck.

I don't want to penalize someone for driving an older car, but I do want us to reduce our dependance on foreign oil/oil in general. Reusing a side mirror or tire does not conflict with this goal. Reusing an engine does.

To get the $4500, you need to increase the fuel efficiency by 10 mpg for a car and 5 mpg for a truck/SUV. That's quite an increase and worth it IMO.

Noone is forcing people to buy new cars and take advantage of this program, but many are - which is helping our citizens, our economy and our planet.

I don't want to penalize someone for driving an older car, but I do want us to reduce our dependance on foreign oil/oil in general. Reusing a side mirror or tire does not conflict with this goal. Reusing an engine does.

To get the $4500, you need to increase the fuel efficiency by 10 mpg for a car and 5 mpg for a truck/SUV. That's quite an increase and worth it IMO.

Noone is forcing people to buy new cars and take advantage of this program, but many are - which is helping our citizens, our economy and our planet.

Yes, I know it takes some kind of fuel to produce the new cars - but that's a one time use of fuel.

The program has my support - it's doing what it is supposed to! It's taking old, inefficient cars off the road and replacing them with more efficient models that reduce our gas consumption and the emissions going into the air.

Hyundai: Cash for Clunkers to improve fuel-economy by 59% - egmCarTech

Hyundai says that early statistics on the CARS program show an average 59 percent gain in fuel-economy between the clunker and the new vehicle purchased. Hyundai estimates that individual fuel consumption will decrease by 275 gallons per year, resulting in a reduction of fuel-costs by nearly $680 annually at current gas prices.

Additional statistics from the Hyundai sample prove further that the CARS program is truly removing ?clunkers? from the road. Eighty three percent of the initial trades take in a truck, SUV or van and 86 percent of the new vehicles purchased are passenger cars. The average age of a trade-in model is nearly 14 years, and the average odometer reading is more than 140,000 miles. The average ?clunker? achieves about 16 miles per gallon according to EPA data, while the average new car sold under the program achieves more than 25 mpg.

Yes, I think things like that can make a difference - hence my support of this program.

Not because I can post stats to "make me feel good" but because I have definite ideas about how the world should be and the far reaching consequences of our individual and collective actions.