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Automotive News & Views Cash for Clunkers - Good or Bad Idea?
4110 messages, Last post on Nov 23, 2009 at 11:42 AM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
For questions about how the program works or to discuss program details, please visit our discussion titled, "Cash for Clunkers - Does it Work for You?"
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Replying to: hesaid (Oct 30, 2009 7:12 am) Well, this C4C rebate was never meant to be welfare. There's nothing saying that it was only meant for the poor or financially strapped. It was merely an enticement to get more people to buy a new car, whether they needed one or not, could afford one or not, in an attempt to stimulate the economy.
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I bought another vehicle (Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland) on April 8, 2009 - long before the C4C program came along - and I am totally happy with it. The C4C would not have worked for me, so I would not have gone with it anyway. The bad news is that the dealership I bought from (one of the best performing dealers in its area) was one of the almost 800 dealerships closed after Chrysler chose to sell/give its soul to the devil. That being said (posted), the cost to the taxpayers for the next many years will be staggering, and our children will have to pay for it along with all these other government programs. So much for, "we must do it for the children."  I see Dear Leader and his peepz are using the White House web site to rip yet another privately owned entity, claiming that C4C was a success. Yeah, right... another example of our tax dollars at work.
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Did the government ever explain how a 1998 Dodge Neon and 2008 Hyundai Accent qualified under the program? I found these two on the CARS website pdf list of traded-in vehicles after the program finished. The Dodge Neon never came up as qualifying on the CARS website and the Hyundai Accent actually did show as qualifying even though EPA gas mileage estimates for the Accent were way higher than the 18mpg CARS threshhold. I called the CARS toll free number and the guy said he had no clue why certain autos were qualified. Anyone ever hear about these? |
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Replying to: jef98zj (Oct 30, 2009 9:34 am) I am sure that from their standpoint it was a huge success. It allowed them to get rid of their discounts and jack up their prices before they applied the rebates, essentially putting most of the rebate money in their own pockets. |
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Warren Brown over at the Washington Post said this today: "Car dealers constitute a potent lobbying group. If the current slump lasts long enough and runs deeply enough to threaten their businesses, look for them to grease up the lobbying machine for another C4C push, just in time to take advantage of congressional concerns about the 2010 election year." Real Wheels
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Replying to: andre1969 (Oct 30, 2009 7:38 am) Welfare or a Redistribution of Wealth - what's in a name?  It seems your argument is that "the ends justifies the means." and most taxpayers are going to disagree with that when they understand the numbers. Let me put it another way, hypothetically speaking, would it be fair for me with a $175k income, living in a $500k house to go door to door in a poor neighborhood and collect money from people saying that a govenment program makes it law that they have to give me money so I can buy a new car? No, that would be outrageous but the only difference is that Uncle Sam does it via taxes as opposed to me doing it door to door. I don't mind doing my part to help jumpstart the economy but I'm offended when the government uses my money for a plan that was not well thought out.
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Here's the newslink indicating that the White House disagrees with Edmunds CFC analysis. Some harsh criticism of Edmunds by them ! link title So folks and Edmunds mods-What is your response? What do you have to say ? 
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Replying to: hesaid (Oct 30, 2009 12:18 pm) Well, if you're poor enough, you really can't afford a new car anyway, so giving you an extra $3500 or $4500 for your old clunker, which then gets you back into a car payment, increased insurance, etc, really isn't doing you any good. Plus, if you're poor enough, you're not paying much in taxes anyway. I think you need a taxable income of around $33,000 to end up paying $4500 in federal taxes, anyway. And that's not counting other exemptions and deductions. I think the standard deduction is around $5250 and each personal exemption is around $3300. So, if you don't itemize and use the short form, don't put into a 401k and don't have health insurance taken out, you'd probably have to make about $41-42K before you racked up a $4500 federal tax bill. So if you qualify for C4C, you're not paying any taxes at all that year. |
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Replying to: deltheking (Oct 30, 2009 1:27 pm) http://www.autoobserver.com/2009/10/edmundscom-responds-to-white-house-criticism- .html
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I never liked the idea of Cash for Clunkers. There were to many requirements. The biggest one I thought was the cut off year was something like 1994, I mean I do not see many clunkers in that yr and newer. They should have had like 1970 through 1990. The government did Nothing in the way of Helping the Real people that needed help and that is the poor and middle class who make up the majority of working people. They only help the rich . I can only hope when the banks need more bailout money that the government wakes up and not loan anything out to them any more.
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