cash for clunker casualty

[bodhi_tree777]

man, this kind of sucks. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21...19704

[ColonelPanic]

That is an interesting casualty! THat thing was in such good shape aside from the mechanical glitches.. Which I kinda thought was normal to have to call your mechanic after driving an Italian car for a short distance. I'm glad that this program exists -- it IS doing what it was intended, everybody is selling new cars. But cases like this where they're getting rid of that kind of car is pretty sad. The Explorers and such, those should have been crushed a long time ago. The Hyundai dealer I was at the other day had a number clunkers taking up the section where the new cars should be and only had around a dozen new cars left in stock. Some of the clunker cars are definitely pieces of crap, but others with a little TLC could have been nice rides. They had just taken in an 80's 300zx, could have used a little paint but wasn't *that* bad.

[L5K]

I agree. They shouldn't be forcing the dealers to destroy the cars, they should have a separate part of the program that allows the government to sell back out the better clunkers. Some type of auctions or something would have been great.

[jake75]

If the dealer wanted the car that bad, all he had to do was say - hey - cash for clunkers is $4,500 - I'll give you $4,500 in trade. And in states like Ohio that would save the new car buyer the sales tax on that $4,500 (about $300) because the sales tax is calculated after the trade in. However., in the case rebates the taxable value is before the rebates are applied. Therefore I suspect nothing that is worth more than $4,500 is being crushed.

[zionzr2]

Yet another lesson in Unintended consequences.

[bodhi_tree777]

Seems like the owner of this one was just being lazy. I can't see giving up any car that only at 18k original miles (and with that sweet, sweet interior). I'm more or less for the C4C program because, when it comes down to it, it is helping some people out there. I just wish they'd better thought out the fate of some of these cars. I bet somewhere on the Internet there's a Maserati forum where grown men are weeping openly.

[joatmon]

In the video they said he had been trying unsucessfully to sell the car for months, and with the C.A.R.S program, he got the $3500 he had been trying to sell it for. While it may have looked nice on the video, or had an uncommon name, nobody was willing to pay $3500 for it, except the government paid that much to get it off the road.Sounds like a Colonel Panic Vibe kind of car, be glad you didn't buy it.

[lovemyraffe]

It is sad when you see good cars destroyed. I agree that it has helped out many people get into a newer car, but they really should have thought through what to do with all the clunkers. Not all of them should be destroyed.

[dcbridgwater]

The government should have taken "Cash For Clunkers" program one step futher and instead of destroying them all, take some of the better clunkers throw in a few dollars for tuneups and put them in a pool where some one who cannot afford a car payment could take in a real hunk of junk and trade it for some thing better. That way they could get even more of the worst cars off the road.

[silvrhawk7]

especially in the next couple of videos where they tell you how they eliminate the clunker... they take the oil out an put the glass compound in the engine that kills it before it goes to the junkyard (they did this to a mercedes as well) personally i think its kind of ridiculous considering the engine/and transmission parts could be salvaged. But hey, thats our great government thinking "wisely" again.... I love how also this program is going on and GM kills one of their better econoboxes GREAT THINKING GM

[Kincaid]

I can't watch the video here at work - isn't that a Biturbo? Those things are not worth $4500. Nice body and that's about it.

[L5K]

The car might have sold for 3500 dollars if it was through a website set up as part of the cash for clunkers program. Or it might have sold for 1000, either way it would increase the "chain" of good things happening.At present, the owner got rid of the car, then the owner got a better car. I'm almost certain that this car wasn't polluting much, as it was barely drivable, but we'll count that as well. 3 good things happened.However, what if instead of destroying this car, we take some time to find an owner for it... Now we have the original owner gets it gone, original owner gets a better car, government reclaims SOME (most likely not all) of our tax money it forked over, the new owner now salvages this car to fix another (bonus point for this polluter is still off the road), or fixes this car and now has a running car. This would have 5, or 6 "good" things happening depending on how it took place.Now to be realistic there would have to be a limit of like two weeks or something that the better clunkers are available for sale/auction. IF they don't sell, then destroy them. I look at this like I look at the heavily modified classics you see them working on on tv. I HATE watching them rip up and destroy interiors, hoods, fenders, and other parts for cars that will never ever be made again. Somebody out there could use that.

[KNINE]

Another successful federal subsidized program. When will we ever learn?

[Kincaid]

Well, the good news is that only the engine will be trashed in that car. The rest of that car (and what a beautiful looking interior) will be parted out to help other Biturbos stay on the road.Too bad he couldn't retrofit it with a small block Chevy like they do old Jag XJ sedans.

[silvrhawk7]

Now, im not an environmentalist here but someone on here said now you have issues with those engines that cannot be recycled and will rot in a landfill or junkyard, last time i checked that was an issue with the environment....

[silvrhawk7]

Quote, originally posted by K-NINE »Another successful federal subsidized program. When will we ever learn? Next to socialist healthcare......Were on a roll

[joatmon]

Quote, originally posted by silvrhawk7 »Now, im not an environmentalist here but someone on here said now you have issues with those engines that cannot be recycled and will rot in a landfill or junkyard, last time i checked that was an issue with the environment....Glassing the inside of the engine just makes it not repairable, but it's still recyclable as scrap metal.