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Cash for Clunkers - How they destroyed the engines
- Thread starter StevieC
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Originally Posted By: Anduril
I've also heard that the dealers just raised the price of new vehicles by slighty less than you got for trading something in under cash for clunkers.
Don't they always do that to allow you that $1500 for push/ pull trade on lot when it's really about $2500 they got to play with.
I've also heard that the dealers just raised the price of new vehicles by slighty less than you got for trading something in under cash for clunkers.
Don't they always do that to allow you that $1500 for push/ pull trade on lot when it's really about $2500 they got to play with.
The element of the program that disturbed me was how it affected the economically disadvantaged. In our world, poor folks depend on cars too. They can't afford expensive new cars, so they depend on (hopefully reliable) used cars. This program took a lot of good cars off the market, thereby driving up the cost of used cars and costing poor folks more money.
Yeah, it screwed up the used car market for quite a while. We didn't own anything that qualified, though my wife got $1,000 from the state recently for scrapping her old Cavalier with a bad tranny because it wouldn't pass smog. That's likely more than it'd be worth even if it was in perfect condition.
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Originally Posted By: Rick in PA
The element of the program that disturbed me was how it affected the economically disadvantaged. In our world, poor folks depend on cars too. They can't afford expensive new cars, so they depend on (hopefully reliable) used cars. This program took a lot of good cars off the market, thereby driving up the cost of used cars and costing poor folks more money.
C4C didn't help, but it really was a drop in the bucket compared to the bottom falling out of the new car market.
Prior to the crash, I think new car and light truck sales were about 16 million units annually.
After the crash, it dropped to about 9 million.
That's a lot of cars not traded in, and for years. C4C was what, 600k cars, and cars that would have eventually sold for sure. But that wasn't even 10% of one years drop in sales.
So yes, it didn't help the market, but the biggest rock in the jar in the used car market was the missing 7 million new cars sales each year.
The element of the program that disturbed me was how it affected the economically disadvantaged. In our world, poor folks depend on cars too. They can't afford expensive new cars, so they depend on (hopefully reliable) used cars. This program took a lot of good cars off the market, thereby driving up the cost of used cars and costing poor folks more money.
C4C didn't help, but it really was a drop in the bucket compared to the bottom falling out of the new car market.
Prior to the crash, I think new car and light truck sales were about 16 million units annually.
After the crash, it dropped to about 9 million.
That's a lot of cars not traded in, and for years. C4C was what, 600k cars, and cars that would have eventually sold for sure. But that wasn't even 10% of one years drop in sales.
So yes, it didn't help the market, but the biggest rock in the jar in the used car market was the missing 7 million new cars sales each year.
All I know is that Obama and his crew saved the domestic car market- I don't care how they did it but I'm glad they did. If GM and ford had collapsed the amount of layoffs and unemployment would be huge. Just don't think about the layoffs at gm and ford but think of all the companies in their supply chain- literally hundreds, would lay in ruins. The whole Midwest where a majority of these companies are would be a huge cluster.
All these armchair experts in this thread can complain about how classic and cool cars were destroyed but I couldn't care less because our economy is better and families have food on their tables.
All these armchair experts in this thread can complain about how classic and cool cars were destroyed but I couldn't care less because our economy is better and families have food on their tables.
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What bothers me is that the government was directly telling car manufacturers, banks as well, that it's ok to produce [censored] products, engage in shady lending practices, etc. and there's no punishment because when it comes back around to bite you in the [censored], Uncle Sam has you covered.
Under a Republican president, no less, whose party preaches fewer benefits for the poor/unemployed individuals getting screwed by the system, but has no problem providing corporate welfare for the system that's doing the screwing in the first place.
Under a Republican president, no less, whose party preaches fewer benefits for the poor/unemployed individuals getting screwed by the system, but has no problem providing corporate welfare for the system that's doing the screwing in the first place.
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The best part is that you could've gotten a brand new car for about $6000
The Versa sedan's base price was 10k back then, and the credit was $4500
The Versa sedan's base price was 10k back then, and the credit was $4500
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