Comments on: Cash for Clunkers Program Suspended

By: Rosa

Rosa — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 14:39:53 +0000

@Jana – where are those “foreign” cars built, Tennessee? The Toyotas and Hondas you see were not assembled in Japan and shipped here (though the parts may have been.) The Ford plant here is closed so we can’t buy the trucks they used to make even if we wanted to.

Don’t let the decal on the car fool you, all the big car companies source their product wherever they can do it cheapest.

By: Jana

Jana — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:24:40 +0000

Totally agree with Glenn. What a bunch of BS. The people I see are buying new cars allright most of them foreign and are barely able to pay their bills now. Seems funny to offer such a deal and not try to encourage people to consider an american vehicle. That would probably be too much to ask. We own a 1972 Chevrolet Pickup that I guess the american government would consider a clunker but do not think for a moment we would EVER give her up. Things aren’t made that way anymore in this country! I too live in Texas and it is no wonder this great state wants to secede.

By: Glenn

Glenn — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:28:21 +0000

This program is so ridiculous. I live in Texas in a county that has a buyback program similar to the one the Federal Government has. Sure you are getting a car that doesn’t get great fuel economy off the road, but what about all the resources it takes to build a new car? Also is really a good idea to encourage people to take on more debt? That’s what got us into this predicament in the first place.

Just my 2 cents.

By: LOL

LOL — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:05:03 +0000

Tony, what makes this program laughable is that if you had the brand spanking new 2010 Jeep, it also would qualify as a ‘clunker’ (combined 15/mpg).

Anyhow, don’t consider your car to be ‘traded in’ on this program. The dealer is required to junk / scrap / crush whatever vehicle you bring in — it will not be resold except for it’s weight in metal (2-3 hundred bucks) — so only expect that much when you ‘junk’ your ‘01 jeep.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg.....p;id=28801

By: Tony

Tony — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 21:34:54 +0000

Well this sucks for me, cause I was seriously thinking about trading in my ‘01 Jeep. I would have gotten 8-10k off MSRP with that and other deals automakers currently have.

By: Cat

Cat — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 21:21:13 +0000

I think they need to at least fund the deals that have been done so far.

By: LOL

LOL — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:43:51 +0000

Looks like the House just approved an additional $2 Billion for this program:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/32235069

If this passes the Senate, then our Government just destroyed 700 thousand cars…

By: JR

JR — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:20:22 +0000

I think it’s a great program. It gets the gaz guzzlers off the road and replaces them with more eco-friendly models. It also stimulates the economy by giving people the incentive they need to go out and spend some of the cash they’ve been holding on to out of fear. I really hope they refund the program and keep it going.

By: Austin

Austin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:20:42 +0000

Why are rewarding people who bought gas guzzlers by giving them a discount on a new car? How the H$%& is encouraging people to buy new cars going to help an economy that has finally imploded from overspending?? Idiots.

By: craig

craig — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:58:35 +0000

It’s a victim of its own success. Congress is trying to add 2B to refund it and keep it going but not sure if that will be good idea or not.

By: LOL

LOL — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:41:57 +0000

#7) the linked article says there are 23,000 dealerships — and the thought is that all 250,000 cars the program was intended for may have already been completed.

“A survey of 2,000 dealers by the National Automobile Dealers Association found about 25,000 deals had not yet been approved by NHTSA, or nearly 13 trades per store. It raised concerns that with about 23,000 dealers taking part in the program, auto dealers may already have surpassed the 250,000 vehicle sales funded by the $1 billion program.”

**sarcastic** I think the government should immediately start a new ‘cash for ghettos’ program, to pay people to burn down their own houses **/sarcastic**

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:19:14 +0000

The source is for the figure of 23K vehicles, not the article.

A quote from the “source”:
“a White House official said later the program had not been suspended and officials there were assessing their options.”

The post should be retitled: “Cash for Clunkers Program COULD BE Suspended”.

I’m hopeful they will come up with some way to keep it going.

By: LOL

LOL — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:10:17 +0000

#4) the source (FoxNews) is linked in nickel’s article.

As for the program in general: this falls easily into the fallacy described in ‘Economics in One Lesson’.

http://jim.com/econ/

Instead of a kid breaking a window, the government has destroyed a quarter million good/working cars. Why are we paying people to destroy assets?

By: Brent

Brent — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:20:15 +0000

Hah! If the federal government can’t run something the equivalent of a promotion, what chance do they have of running health care? The Cash-for-clunkers program has infinitely less moving parts than government-controlled health care. Makes you wonder…

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:49:41 +0000

Where did you get this information? I have only heard it *might* be suspended.

By: atamanah

atamanah — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:53:39 +0000

I looked into the program and I think the idea is great. If I hadn’t sold off my old heap a few years back it would have made for a nice discount on my current vehicle, but oh well.

Texas has a similar program, but it is income based, where part of your purchase is subsidized if you live in an Ozone Non-Attainment area. I think the hardest part is being able to reach the people who have the vehicles that are the most troublesome, folks who have “grey” inspection stickers that they paid a bit extra for or those that just have refused to get it done because they knew it wouldn’t pass. I think the program needs to focus on this aspect more so.

By: RB @ RichBy30RetireBy40

RB @ RichBy30RetireBy40 — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 06:24:07 +0000

This is hilarious. Why is the government so inefficient. Do we really want bigger and bigger government if they are doing head fakes like this with such a relatively small program? I say no.

Rgds, RB

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:11:23 +0000

The Federal government shouldn’t be funding programs like this. It would be a better program if ran by the private sector.