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Cash for Clunkers Begins Today...

Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 8:17 am
by Apoptosis
I've been thinking about doing this with my Jeep Wrangler...

Here's how it works: If you own a 1984 or newer vehicle that has been insured and registered to you for the past year and gets a "combined" 18 miles to the gallon or less, you can qualify. The car must also be drivable. If you trade it in for a car that gets an additional four more miles per gallon or more, your reward is a $3,500 voucher, which can be used toward purchasing a new car. If you switch to a vehicle that gets 10 miles-per-gallon or more in fuel efficiency, then the government gives you $4,500. The program is simple and the dealer gets the check from the government... More can be found about this program at www.cars.gov

To make things ever better Chrysler Group LLC announced Wednesday it would match the government's incentive program for most of its 2009 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep models. The automaker will offer consumers an additional $3,500 to $4,500 rebate or zero precent financing on top of the money they will already receive from the federal government. That is a wicked deal as you could get up to $9,000 off the price of a new car....

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up about the program. My local dealer said they didn't care if the Jeep was stripped as long as it could still drive as they are just going to crush the cars that get traded in under the program anyway... Part out your clunker or work truck and you can get a new car on the cheap. Too bad Chrysler doesn't make anything I want.

Re: Cash for Clunkers Begins Today...

Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 9:05 am
by GI-JOE
Any chance we can get pics of the jeep? :)

I thought about doing this to my ford explorer, but I can't afford to buy a brand new car again. :?

Re: Cash for Clunkers Begins Today...

Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 10:02 am
by geokilla
I personally see this as a good and bad thing. The good is that old, gas guzzlers can be taken off the road and be replaced with newer, more efficient cars. The bad is that the money could be better spent to improve some other part of the American health system. I'm not American so I don't know much on how the U.S. health care system works, but that's basically how I see this.

@Apop. Whatcha going to trade it in for?

Re: Cash for Clunkers Begins Today...

Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 3:21 pm
by Nobahar
Actually the energy cost to build a new car exceeds that lost by maintaining/repairing and driving a used vehicle, even if it has worse gas mileage. From an environmental standpoint, buying a new car will always hurt the environment more than help it if you can keep your vehicle running.

But, this is a nice incentive for people with lemons to purchase a new car and help stimulate that sector of the economy.

Re: Cash for Clunkers Begins Today...

Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 4:58 am
by Apoptosis
Government’s ‘Cash for Clunkers’ Program Is Suspended After Just One Week - http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id ... _article=1

Well that was fast... guess I should have moved faster to do something.

Re: Cash for Clunkers Begins Today...

Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 7:57 am
by bubba
I was a little annoyed they were just shredding perfectly good engines and crushing the frames. Why not send the WHOLE thing to the junk yard to be turned to spare parts.

Re: Cash for Clunkers Begins Today...

Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 8:20 am
by Apoptosis
bubba wrote:I was a little annoyed they were just shredding perfectly good engines and crushing the frames. Why not send the WHOLE thing to the junk yard to be turned to spare parts.
because they want those engines off the road. They aren't crushing the frames, just seizing the engines and making them inoperable.

Re: Cash for Clunkers Begins Today...

Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 10:05 am
by geokilla
Cash for Clunkers ends today. The government's out of the 1 million or whatever they allocated for the program.

Re: Cash for Clunkers Begins Today...

Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 12:19 pm
by Apoptosis
geokilla wrote:Cash for Clunkers ends today. The government's out of the 1 million or whatever they allocated for the program.
The house just passed a bill for more money, so it looks like it will continue now.

Re: Cash for Clunkers Begins Today...

Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 12:52 pm
by Sowser
It was 1 Billion, with a B. They're trying to find another 2-3 Billion to keep it going. I haven't liked any of the bailout programs but at least this one has a direct benefit to individuals and generates local revenue through sales tax rather than going to businesses that are going bankrupt due to their own greed/incompetence. Whenever you capitalize profits but socialize losses you're asking for a world of hurt!

Re: Cash for Clunkers Begins Today...

Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2009 4:51 pm
by Major_A
In turn this program is ruining the American economy and American automotive industry. This is all my own personal belief, so please don't throw facts at me.

Example: What would you rather buy with your voucher? A) Honda Civic B) Ford Focus C) Chevy Cobalt D)Dodge Caliber

If you chose anything other than the Civic there you are a damn fool. While Americans know how to build reliable, powerful and semi fuel efficient V8's the V6 and 4 cylinder they do not. The quality of the Civic is better than any of those other cars and the mechanical aspect can't be touched. They should have put in a stipulation that the trade-in HAS to be an American manufacturer's vehicle. So instead of helping to bring the Big Three back out of bankruptcy we are digging the hole deeper. The people who own older cars that would really benefit from this stimulus will keep their car as long as they possibly can, hence why they drive an older car in the first place.

Why not put some of this money into a VIABLE alternative fuel research that can me made in the USA so we can stop depending on foreign sources to power our country and in-turn our economy?