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Smart Shopper Cash for Clunkers - Does it Work for You?
2647 messages, Last post on Oct 01, 2009 at 6:33 PM
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I Traded My Clunker and Bought a....?
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Replying to: ldisler (Jun 30, 2009 4:59 pm)
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Replying to: kernick (Jun 30, 2009 4:38 pm) 
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Replying to: gagrice (Jun 30, 2009 5:40 pm) |
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Replying to: kernick (Jun 30, 2009 10:57 am) I'm starting to feel pretty inferior for driving my 2000 Intrigue with 178k miles (few dents and a rust spot by the fuel tank). all this time i thought I was saving money by not having a car payment. In reality, I have poor credit, make minimum wage, and can't afford a $25k car loan. I better find the guy who's life I'm living. Kidding aside, I do tend to agree but not from the point of view that people that drive "clunkers" somehow can't afford a new car. But from the POV that people that can afford a car payment and drive a clunker do so because they are cheap and don't think buying a new car is a good use of their money (myself included). Even if they could get $3500-$4500 for their car, they would still find the remaining amount too expensive. But then you will have those who will use this opportunity to buy something new and drive it into the ground. You just don't know! Which is why any dealer that sells a car that is less than $45k should register. Remember there 300 million people in this country and about 150 million are eligible drivers (guessing). The banks and lending companies will take care of finding those that qualify. If the dealer sees a pattern of people not getting qualifiedy a person, why not discuss financing upfront like real estate agents do? I can see that being a royal pain dealing with people who you can't get financed. Lots of time wasted. BTW, I just replaced my Intrigue with a 2006 Camry. I buy used cars for myself, new for my family. I regularly drive my cars over 120k miles.
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My 2000 ford tauras has front suspension shot has a big dent and 120k miles .Its probabily worth 500$ but the new combined mileage is 20 mpg so i get nothing. I take the train to work and also own a 2007 camry which my wife/family car.i can afford only 1 payment so i drive the clunker.if this was avialable i would have picked a jetta or something in a lease . I do not like the generalization . last year i put 1000 miles on my clunker and 8000 miles on my motorcycle living in NE. I take the train to work and the camry is the family vehicle[avg 12-13k a year as wife is a stay at home mom]. |
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Replying to: kernick (Jun 30, 2009 10:57 am) Our local Cadillac dealer sells an entry level vehicle, for the time being at least. It's called a "G3".  Also, a lot of people who buy BMW 1 and 3 series, Mercedes C-series, etc, are people who are really stretching to afford them. They only care about the perceived status that comes from the name. Now granted, chances are that these people are already driving around in a used BMW or Benz that they really can't afford, and want to get into another one they really can't afford, so I'd guess that not too many of them are driving vehicles that would qualify under this clunker bill.
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Replying to: andre1969 (Jul 01, 2009 5:53 am) |
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Replying to: ldisler (Jun 30, 2009 4:59 pm) I don't think we are. We do this for a living. We see far more people in this business than you do. As an individual, you may have a different reason for driving an older, cheaper car. But, please do not mistake your individual experience for the market at large. You ARE pretty much alone. |
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Replying to: dtownfb (Jun 30, 2009 7:02 pm) I think they are accurate. I've been doing this for 20 yrs. I do tend to agree but not from the point of view that people that drive "clunkers" somehow can't afford a new car. But from the POV that people that can afford a car payment and drive a clunker do so because they are cheap and don't think buying a new car is a good use of their money (myself included). There are SOME who do think that way yes. Mostly old Volvo drivers. However, it is the nature here in America to want as new a car as you can afford. Especially if it is the family car. Generally speaking(and that is all we can do here) there are financial reasons why people drive old cars. If the dealer sees a pattern of people not getting qualifiedy a person, why not discuss financing upfront like real estate agents do? I can see that being a royal pain dealing with people who you can't get financed. Lots of time wasted. Banks are getting harder and harder to deal with. Just the other day we had a customer who was trading in a car financed w/ Bank of America. Paid them perfectly. Was 60 days late on a dept store credit car with a high balance of $150! Dropped his score to 660. Best rate we could get him was in the 11's!. Needless to say, B of A turned him down flat. This was a person with good income and a pretty decent credit history. This guy, like a lot of people thought he had good credit. Imagine how tough it is right now for someone without good credit. BTW, I just replaced my Intrigue with a 2006 Camry. I buy used cars for myself, new for my family. I regularly drive my cars over 120k miles. Yep, most old car driving people buy used. This exercise in gov't cheese is useless for them.
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Replying to: volvomax (Jul 01, 2009 8:32 am) Which is why I like reading your advice as well as the other regular salesmen and finance managers that post here. I still think it's an over generalization but we still agree on the overall premise. We (kernick included) are just looking at "financial reasons" a bit differently. No biggie. Unfortunately, our obsession for shiny, new, good smelling things has controlled our society for the past several years. With the way the banks are acting (your example hits the nail on the head), we, the people, need to get our personal credit situations taken care of before buying big ticket items that require credit. I have a bad feeling that this is the new normal for banking/lending for the foreseeable future. Or until the housing market turns around. The big banks still have a lot of money invested in bad mortgages and aren't willing to take risks. Unfortunately, you all are the collateral damages of this housing crisis fiasco. |
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