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Interesting Cash for Clunkers Story


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Saw a story on the news tonight about some folks in California that traded in their 2001 Xterra for a new Volkswagen. They did it under the CFC program and got 3500 for it. Apparently a few weeks later they were surprised to see it all clean and shiny for sale on the dealers lot for $5900. They are pissed "because they wanted to get that gas guzzler off the road". :thumbsdown: Apparently the dealership had second thoughts and decided that it couldn't justify it as a clunker and put it up for sale like a regular trade in. They didn't submit it to the GOV for reimbursement so they apparently have done nothing wrong. Dealer said that $3500 was a fair trade in for the Xterra. Honestly the people who traded it in as a clunker should have their heads examined. The idea was to get people with crap cars that were worth less than the CFC trade in price to get new cars, not junk new(ish) cars so that you can prove how great you are.

I say good for the dealer. Thanks for not using our tax dollars to junk a perfectly good ride.:clap:

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It's sad - I've seen some cool older rides in the Clunker lot - and I'm still pissed off that I can't buy Pathy parts (even non-running ones) off a clunker.

 

Good for the dealership, in this case, and a big whack on the head to the Xterra dumpers! P...

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Saw a story on the news tonight about some folks in California that traded in their 2001 Xterra for a new Volkswagen. They did it under the CFC program and got 3500 for it. Apparently a few weeks later they were surprised to see it all clean and shiny for sale on the dealers lot for $5900. They are pissed "because they wanted to get that gas guzzler off the road". :thumbsdown: Apparently the dealership had second thoughts and decided that it couldn't justify it as a clunker and put it up for sale like a regular trade in. They didn't submit it to the GOV for reimbursement so they apparently have done nothing wrong. Dealer said that $3500 was a fair trade in for the Xterra. Honestly the people who traded it in as a clunker should have their heads examined. The idea was to get people with crap cars that were worth less than the CFC trade in price to get new cars, not junk new(ish) cars so that you can prove how great you are.

I say good for the dealer. Thanks for not using our tax dollars to junk a perfectly good ride.:clap:

 

I call it BS. ALL C4C cars are immediately seized with sodium silicate. But I don't think the xterra would qualify under the C4C program. If it didn't then more than likely the dealer said he'd accept trade in which would probably be around that. But if somebody comes in and asks to do Cash 4 Clunkers then the dealer HAS to do it or face fines that start around $15k. The government is NOT screwing around on this. So if there was any validity to the story the government would whack the dealership hard.

 

but the Xterra isn't a clunker by any means.

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I call it BS. ALL C4C cars are immediately seized with sodium silicate. But I don't think the xterra would qualify under the C4C program. If it didn't then more than likely the dealer said he'd accept trade in which would probably be around that. But if somebody comes in and asks to do Cash 4 Clunkers then the dealer HAS to do it or face fines that start around $15k. The government is NOT screwing around on this. So if there was any validity to the story the government would whack the dealership hard.

 

but the Xterra isn't a clunker by any means.

 

I'm sorry what exactly are you calling BS? If you read closely you would see that the dealer did not submit it as a CFC car therefore the Federal gov't has no claim.

 

Heres the full story. Note that most of the comments below are pro dealer.

http://taxdollars.freedomblogging.com/2009...for-sale/36999/

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There was an 02 Xterra in the Junkyard here with "CARS" painted all over it, and the engine siezed. So not all dealers were so intelligent.

 

BTW, my step-dad had to sieze up the engines on the cars that came to the dealer he works at. The sodium silica, or what ever they use, comes in a gallon jug that they have to affix the VIN number onto and ship back.

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The CFC program is a bunch of crap anyways. Why should my tax dollars go toward someone else getting a new car. One of my friends who doesn't have much money was extremely upset. Many of the so called clunkers are nicer than his daily driver and he can't afford to get a new car. So the government is making him pay for other people who have more money and nicer cars to get a new car on his nickel. He would have been glad to be able to upgrade his current ride to one of the so called clunkers in the dealer lot. Why shouldn't he have been able to bring in his car and just swap it for a better clunker than what he is currently driving?

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The CFC program is a bunch of crap anyways. Why should my tax dollars go toward someone else getting a new car. One of my friends who doesn't have much money was extremely upset. Many of the so called clunkers are nicer than his daily driver and he can't afford to get a new car. So the government is making him pay for other people who have more money and nicer cars to get a new car on his nickel. He would have been glad to be able to upgrade his current ride to one of the so called clunkers in the dealer lot. Why shouldn't he have been able to bring in his car and just swap it for a better clunker than what he is currently driving?

 

 

I got it....Junkers for Clukers!!! :D

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What gets me is that this was to stimulate the American Economy. It sees that most of the cars that people bought were imports. At least they could have limited it to American made cars.

you do realize that most of these "foreign" vehicles are made in america by amercan workers, right? but i think the same thing.. it should have been GM, Ford and Chrysler only. but i doubt people would have bought as many cars..

 

actually there were also other reasons besides stimulating the econ.. and that was to get rid of all these gas hogs in order to get off the foreign oil addiction and to minimize carbon dumping. on those two points this was way more successful then stimulating econ.. that was just very temporary as car sales are back to the dumps.

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actually there were also other reasons besides stimulating the econ.. and that was to get rid of all these gas hogs in order to get off the foreign oil addiction and to minimize carbon dumping. on those two points this was way more successful then stimulating econ.. that was just very temporary as car sales are back to the dumps.

If they were really after that goal, they would have made the restrictions higher, to get the REAL gas hogs off the road. Things that they should have stipulated beyond the restrictions they had are: vehicle must be at least 10 years old (anything made now is only fractionally better in milage than anything in the last 10 years, heck even 20 years, but at 10, some are wearing out), no matter the vehicle type, it must get less than 17mpg, new vehicle must be the same type as one being traded (SUV-SUV, pickup-pickup, sedan-sedan, etc.).

 

Yes by what the government had in there the Xterra was a clunker, but they have better ratings than any WD-21s. I mean, I love my WD-21s, but to me, they would be the type of vehicle to be getting off the road before any Xterra.

 

Hell, since the standardization of MPFI, and computer controls, there has been amazingly better mpg ratings. Hell, my 88 averages 16 mpg, where my 93 averages 19 mpg, and MPFI is the only real change. My wife's VW is 22 years old and gets 23mpg on average, and the new 09 Eos is rated 21/31, not a lot of change in those 22 years.

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I couldn't have taken part in the CFC program with my gas hog '83 Chevy van even if I had wanted to. It's too old. Cut-off date for trade-ins was 84. The classic car lobbyists made sure nobody could trade in a REAL clunker by sticking that part in. I'm sure all the 80's domestic "classics" are safe now...

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Saw a story on the news tonight about some folks in California that traded in their 2001 Xterra for a new Volkswagen. They did it under the CFC program and got 3500 for it. Apparently a few weeks later they were surprised to see it all clean and shiny for sale on the dealers lot for $5900. They are pissed "because they wanted to get that gas guzzler off the road". :thumbsdown: Apparently the dealership had second thoughts and decided that it couldn't justify it as a clunker and put it up for sale like a regular trade in. They didn't submit it to the GOV for reimbursement so they apparently have done nothing wrong. Dealer said that $3500 was a fair trade in for the Xterra. Honestly the people who traded it in as a clunker should have their heads examined. The idea was to get people with crap cars that were worth less than the CFC trade in price to get new cars, not junk new(ish) cars so that you can prove how great you are.

I say good for the dealer. Thanks for not using our tax dollars to junk a perfectly good ride.:clap:

 

yep a lot of dealers did that once they realized that they werent going to see their $...a lot sold them to JYs for profit and some were resold on the lots as used cars and not trashed and crushed...I wouldnt have seized a single engine until i had my $ in hand

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I'm sorry what exactly are you calling BS? If you read closely you would see that the dealer did not submit it as a CFC car therefore the Federal gov't has no claim.

 

Heres the full story. Note that most of the comments below are pro dealer.

http://taxdollars.freedomblogging.com/2009...for-sale/36999/

 

I'm saying maybe the people who turned it in didn't ask for the CFC program. And if they didn't submit the car to the Federal Government the dealership is at risk of fines. If a person goes in requesting to exhange a car through the CARS program than the dealership is obligated to do exactly that. The dealer can't swindle the government and offer above the rebate or try to change the person's mind.

 

If I take my Suburban in and say how I want the CFC program. The dealer can't say "well I'll give you $6k for it." The Government set it up like that so the clunkers WOULD get off the road and dealerships wouldn't pick and choose with what they want.

 

Hopefully the dealership gets fined and learns their lesson.

 

Also as for the whole "helping american cars" debate. One of the key selling points to this bill was that it was going to help out American automakers. Our companies. Not saying Toyota, Honda, Nissan, etc don't have American workforces or factories. But they are also doing pretty well financially. GM and Chrysler just went through bankruptcy protection and restructuring. Ford has been limping along and is soon going to be out of assetts to chop. I've been following the bill since the first time they tried to push it through. So I wish it would've been used to help sell some cars and help out our own companies. Sadly it just didn't work out that way. I think only the Focus was in the top 10 of cars purchased with the program.

 

Also the Drivetrain thing is iffy. Government has been flip flopping ont he issue. Yeah the Engine is seized but most of what you get out of a car pricewise is the drivetrain. I'm not sure if they ok'd selling the transmission/rear diff/driveshaft/etc. I'd have to check on that. But body panels and interior are fair game.

 

Some of the stuff we've gotten at the junkyard through this program however would make you sick. There's REAL clunkers on the road and then there's ones that somebody put alot of time and effort to take care of. We got an 1985 LTD in MINT condition with 40k original miles. a few newer Explorers. None with over 100k. A Olds Bravada that is in pretty much new condition. 1985 Town Car, fully loaded. And the list goes on. We've only gotten maybe 3 cars out of the 25+ thus far that you can really say "well I can see why they traded that in"

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I put around $3k into my pathy this summer because I just bought it last year.

 

*doing what the factory should have*

 

B

 

Well I still need headers... :D

 

 

This cash for clunkers thing is a dupe for these reasons:

 

1. Using tax payer money to buy worthless Ford Explorers with blown transmissions that would have been at the junkyard.

2. Putting more people into cheap import cars and deliberately trashing good cars that we could buy.

3. Making more business for the crappy car manufacturers.

4. Helping people buy new cars with our tax money when they could have had a new small car anyway with dealer trade-ins.

 

Free cheese only comes in mouse traps...

Edited by Tungsten
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