Originally Posted by 97prizm
So three years ago i donated my 1997 Geo Prizm to the Local "alternative " high school automotive shop. It needed a harmonic balancer and some minor tlc and it would have gone another 246,000 miles or, (328,306 km for everyone else) no problem. I was told "Oh yeah we keep donated vehicles for 3-5 years and get them running, show students how to rebuild vehicles." I went down to pull n pay today for some parts and was curious if my old car was ever scrapped. Well come to find out yep November of 2017 "we crushed it sorry". What a bummer. I'm so bummed that this country disposes of 13 million cars annually. Anyone else have this happen? I kind of wanted to purchase it back. I was surprised they got rid of it so quick.
It was the story of my father in law's Escort. It only need something minor and it is a really great car. Yeah, the engine is smooth and efficient, and the transmission shifts like new. That's about it.
Everyone has rose tinted glasses on when they look at their ride, but they don't see the parts they are used to (i.e. the faded paint, the bouncing suspension, the weak AC, the rattles, the out of fashion, the lack of demand, the safety record, etc etc.
Cars get another chance in junkyard, they can be bought for cheap to be repaired and flipped, they can also be parted out to save multiple other cars. If they fail to redeem themselves, that's probably capitalism tells you that it is the end of life of the cars.