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Cash for Clunkers - Does it Work for You?

2647 messages,  Last post on Oct 01, 2009 at 6:33 PM

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What is this discussion about? Car Buying, Legislation

Edmunds Cash for Clunkers Calculator
 
I Traded My Clunker and Bought a....?


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#27 of 2647
Re: Wait for the bill or not? [binarylogic] by kernick
Jun 30, 2009 (6:43 am)
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Replying to: binarylogic (Jun 29, 2009 1:26 pm)

I can see the dealer being held responsible for making sure the vehicle gets moved and signed over to a junkyard, but how is the dealer sure or responsible that the clunker will get crushed, or get crushed in a timely manner?
 
How does the dealer know that the junkyard doesn't resell the drivetrain to be rebuilt? Or what if the junkyard simply has a backlog, or wants to remove more parts, and doesn't crush the vehicle for 4 months? Is the dealer responsible for that? Does the dealer get the voucher, or get fined if any of these things happen at the junkyard?
 
If I were a dealer, particularly not entry-level vehicles I might avoid this clunker-program, and not signup for it.
#28 of 2647
Re: Wait for the bill or not? [kernick] by dtownfb
Jun 30, 2009 (7:01 am)
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Replying to: kernick (Jun 30, 2009 6:43 am)

"If I were a dealer, particularly not entry-level vehicles I might avoid this clunker-program, and not signup for it."
 
It would be foolish for a dealer to not participate in this program. No upfront fees to join and no telling how many sales you may be able to get from it. In today's market, you can't afford to exclude yourself from this program.
 
it will be interesting to see the advertising from the dealer's once this bill goes into affect.
#29 of 2647
Re: Wait for the bill or not? [joel0622] by binarylogic
Jun 30, 2009 (7:24 am)
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Replying to: joel0622 (Jun 30, 2009 5:12 am)

Call NHTSA...that's who I called and the person that answered the hotline seemed to know what he was talking about. Toll-Free: 1-888-327-4236
#30 of 2647
Re: Wait for the bill or not? [dtownfb] by kernick
Jun 30, 2009 (10:57 am)
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Replying to: dtownfb (Jun 30, 2009 7:01 am)

It would be foolish for a dealer to not participate in this program.
 
Let me better define "not entry-level vehicles" for you and give some reasoning. There is quite a list of Makes that do not sell entry-level vehicles: the obvious are Mercedes, Jaguar, Cadillac, Lincoln, Lexus, BMW, Infiniti, Acura, Buick, Land Rover, and maybe a few others.
 
Now while there will always be a few millionaires driving around in the '88 Ford Bronco, there really are very, very few, who all of a sudden are going to say "gee, I'm going to trade in the ol' Bronc for an Infiniti G37 coupe". The typical person with a clunker a) can not afford the payments on a new $25K+ non-entry-level vehicle, and b) probably couldn't get financing.
 
Secondly there are not many people driving clunkers who are going to come in the dealership looking like they work a decent job. All that marketing money and the $ spent to make the dealerships look really nice and shiny - all to create an atmosphere - can be brought down by having the '88 Bronc in the customers' spot, and the customer wearing the Walmart happy-face shirt.
 
Appearances and atmosphere are very important to many businesses. Show up looking like a bum, and it doesn't matter if you can squeak by with the $; they don't want you in.
#31 of 2647
Re: Wait for the bill or not? [binarylogic] by joel0622
Jun 30, 2009 (12:12 pm)
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Replying to: binarylogic (Jun 30, 2009 7:24 am)

Call NHTSA...that's who I called and the person that answered the hotline seemed to know what he was talking about. Toll-Free: 1-888-327-4236
 
We called 3 different times asking the same question and got 3 different answers.
 
The best advice for now is for everyone to sit tight, ignore everything you have heard, and wait for the final word on it to come out
#32 of 2647
Re: Wait for the bill or not? [kernick] by kdhspyder
Jun 30, 2009 (12:30 pm)
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Replying to: kernick (Jun 30, 2009 10:57 am)

Sorry this presumes that certain people's money is not green enough. Nothing is farther from the truth....for a lot of reasons.
 
The typical person with a clunker a) can not afford the payments on a new $25K+ non-entry-level vehicle, and b) probably couldn't get financing
 
From daily experience this is simply not true....and why does the new vehicle have to be $25K+. I'll go out on a limb and guess that most of these clunkers traded in by the buyers on the edge will result in the new owner driving off in a $17000 vehicle that cost less than $13000....or lower.
#33 of 2647
Re: Wait for the bill or not? [kdhspyder] by volvomax
Jun 30, 2009 (3:15 pm)
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Replying to: kdhspyder (Jun 30, 2009 12:30 pm)

From my experience,there is usually a financial reason why people drive clunkers or older cars. Even with the gov't cheese I think the vast majority of them would be unable or unwilling to take on a new car loan.
 
Remember, in order for this program to make sense you have to be driving a broken down,nasty, POS. Most older used cars are worth more than $3500.
The people driving them aren't coming in the door as it is.
#34 of 2647
Re: Wait for the bill or not? [kdhspyder] by kernick
Jun 30, 2009 (4:36 pm)
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Replying to: kdhspyder (Jun 30, 2009 12:30 pm)

I'll go out on a limb and guess that most of these clunkers traded in by the buyers on the edge will result in the new owner driving off in a $17000 vehicle that cost less than $13000....or lower.
 
That's what I was saying. Higher end brands will be lucky to see 1 or 2 customers over many months who are trading in a clunker. So why would one of these higher end brands want to have to deal with getting at least their administration and finance people up-to-speed on the many pages of what this bill entails.
 
If I run a BMW dealership, I say let the 1 or 2 customers I might get, go down the street and bug the Lexus dealer, and park some junk out front on a Sat. afternoon. I wouldn't want the oil-stains in my driveway.
#35 of 2647
Re: Wait for the bill or not? [volvomax] by kernick
Jun 30, 2009 (4:38 pm)
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Replying to: volvomax (Jun 30, 2009 3:15 pm)

Exactly. The vast majority of people driving clunkers are either living check-to-check and have poor credit, make minimum or near minimum wage, are very cheap, or don't really care what they drive. I don't want them in my dealership. Let them go down the street to the Kia dealer. I wouldn't want my salespeople wasting time and then finding out the people have $100 deposit, and a credit score of 400.
#36 of 2647
Re: Wait for the bill or not? [kernick] by ldisler
Jun 30, 2009 (4:59 pm)
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Replying to: kernick (Jun 30, 2009 4:38 pm)

I think your under estimating a lot of people who drive older vehicles. I'm turning
in my 99 Mercury Villager thats worth $1000-2000 in trade. I bought this car new
and it's in good shape (not a clunker). I have great credit, but it doesn't matter
because I'll be paying CASH. I don't think I'm alone.

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