My commentary on the CARS initiative may be a moot point as, at this time, the govt is rethinking its financial position on it. This is just a method to give the automotive sector even more money from the stimulus package. How does it help the average American? It doesn't put a dime in our pockets. As a matter of fact, it will cost each of us $3.26 (based on 307 million of us). I guarantee you that the dealers will figure out a way to screw you. I have never left a dealership without a painful burning sensation in my backside. What is even more bizarre is that the car you trade in cannot be resold at all. The dealers are supposed to render the engine and transmission useless. If the engine goes in your '96 Chevy Impala, you may be out of luck buying a recycled one from the salvage yard for $700. You will be forced to spend 2 grand or more on a newer crate engine. If there is one at the salvage yard, I'm sure supply and demand will come into play on the pricing. This goes against the American spirit of reusing what you have instead of just throwing it away. The only people who will truly get a deal are those driving a true piece of shit that is paid for except for the fact that they will wind up with a car payment and higher insurance costs. The program does not have enough limitations either. I went on GM's website http://tinyurl.com/ncqfjm to see just how stupid of a deal they could come up with. You can trade in a 2008 Ford Crown Victoria (at least 50% of all cop cars) on a Chevy Aveo and get $4500. Then the dealer will take the Ford (which would have about 15,000 miles on it) and crush it. How the hell does that make sense? Why don't they just grab the first piece of crap '83 Pontiac they see and give the owner the newer car? Then they would really be getting the clunkers off the road.
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I agree destroying the engines & transmissions from the cars is stupid. They should have mandated the vehicle had to be disassembled and barred the VIN from being able to be re-registered even as salvage title. That gets the "gas guzzler" off the road but allows the good parts to be recycled.
ReplyDeleteThe way I understand it, the 2008 Crown Vic wouldn't qualify for the program. The value of the car has to be less than the amount of the credit.
If you revise your scenario to a '98 CV in "fair" condition (KBB private party value: $800), and still trade it on a '09 Aveo using the CARS program, you end up with approximately a 30% lower monthly payment over just buying an Aveo putting $800 down.
The people who could actually benefit from the program are those who need (not want) a new car and that 30% makes a difference between being able to afford the loan or not.
the rule to destroy the cars is totally understandable, considering that we are the throw-away society. look at what is going on with laws having to be passed to get people to use a personal water bottle as opposed to buying throw-away bottled water! recycle also means reuse! just think where rob would be if he did not use and reuse wood products when remodeling the house. and ted, why woubie's back yard would be missing a lot of cool things if ted did not call all the time and tell her about stuff folks were throwing away. and my garden, where would i be if my landlady just can't toss an old plant, whether it is something she had or another tenant. tho there are times when i question the reuse of something. just got a catalog from the smithsonian yesterday, and in there they are selling flower pins made in africa, from soda cans. now that sounds good til you think about how sharp the edges of an aluminum can are, and here are those very edges making nice little flower petals. the new weapon of choice of any wanna-be ninja! so, would airport security confiscate the pretty flower, or would they even notice it. oh yeah, it should set off the alarms. but i bet you they would let it go on the plane. just another thing to worry about when flying!
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