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Unfortunatly most people look at automobiles as an appliance, nothing more than transportation from point to point.
With the low level of driver interaction and poor quality of most mass produced cars people just don't get into it like they used to. |
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I'll admit that my perspective is skewed by the fact that I am very sentimental about cars, even crappy ones. And I am very touchy about abject waste. My tune would be much different if they were parting these vehicles out or donating them to charity. But I do not see how giving people a fleeting incentive to rush into purchasing a vehicle while throwing away a reasonable machine is going to help a deeply damaged industry and economy over the long term. The automakers will get a temporary boost, then fill the lots back up with more new cars that will just sit there as they have the past few months. |
the way that car technology is going this program will fail simply because the bottom line is cars are becoming more and more complex making repairing them harder and harder for a lot of people who dont have the knowledge or tools to repair them. More electric vehicles, hybrids will be the future of cars. There will be petrol cars out there but not too many. SO when these hybirds and electric vehicles start needing repairs they will tommorows clunkers since we all know anything complete electronic breaks and is expensive to repair.
These "new cars" will need repair and most people will chose to buy a new car instead a fix a good running car thats mor suited for them. Today a car is a no different than a appliance in most people minds: why fix it when I can buy something new. |
As I said in one of the many other of these threads here on the forum.....people are going to be dumping mostly domestic SUV's and pickups.....and picking up foreign vehicles like toyotas, hyundais, kias, hondas, nissans, vw's, etc etc.... so the domestic auto makers will likely lose even more of their existing customer base (even if it was just selling replacement parts to people with those cars)....plus, they will lose the new sale on a replacement car. I forsee a shift of about 70%-80% of the cars "clunked" being domestics, and 70+% of their replacements being foreign autos. Just watch. In fact, all but one of every person I have seen or known that has recently bought a new car, went from a foreign to another new foreign, or domestic to foreign. Only one stayed domestic.
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The people who are able to take advantage of this program are not the ones who are in foreclousure, unemployed, or on welfare. If you applying for a car loan nowadays, your gonna need real good credit. Few if any banks are giving loans to people who can't afford them. From what I've seen and read so far, the vast majority of qualifying cars in this program are past their practical lifespan in terms of mechanical reliability and/or fuel economy. Sure many could squeeze another year or two out of their old car, but in the end they'll be worthless and will need to be replaced. |
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The people who take advantage of this program might not be on welfare, but they are still taking a handout from the taxpayer just the same. I haven't seen a car blown up on youtube that looked like a real clunker, in fact, most of them are nicer than many of our old clunker MB's. |
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Your local junkyard will be overflowing with parts car in the next year. Most of the "machines" being traded are at the end or near the end of their lifespan. High mileage, low fuel efficency clunkers. As for the damged industry, Americans build and sell more car than anyone in the world. Most "foreign cars" including Toyota's, Honda, Nissan's, Subaru's are built in the USA with many domestic parts. |
Every video that I have seen was of a junker, most were heading to the scrap yard anyway. I mean come on how much life does an 85 Jeep thats beat with 330k miles on it have left? If the car is worth more than $4,500 thier not going to take advantage of the program, they will trade it.
I don't give a damn about taking some junk off the road early, what bothers me is they are taking my $4,500 to do it, when I don't have a new car myself. |
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It does create a lot of jobs. Someone has to scrap and sell off those cars, and that makes work.
Junk yards are probably loving this. |
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I agree with what you say as far as this being about the economy, but I said as much in my long reply to your first post about my not getting it. It is about the economy. My opinion, and it is an opinion, is that this is a poor answer that at best will just have no lasting effect on the automotive industry. It sold a few cars, but what did it do for the underlying problem? I guarantee you it won't get the Chrysler and GM plants that just closed near me up and running again. It really was almost a liquidation rather than a stimulus ... it cleared out a lot of inventory, which will be replaced. How are they going to sell the next batch when there aren't any clunkers left to be traded in? What's the permanent fix in this? And it is, in a very small way, about you and I ... and everyone else who pays taxes. Anyone who pays taxes and votes has the right to laud or $^%& about any government program. My problems with the program are two-fold: I think it does nothing for the economy, and that is a legitimate complaint on my part. My other problem is just a personal rant: I'm bitter that my hard-earned money is going to reward people who bought inefficient cars, and the automakers that made them. If I thought it would help the economy at all, I could easily live with the second part. |
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The few negatives of the clunkers program will soon turn into a bonanza for all of us and our cars. Not only in spare parts, but also in the resale values of our newly restored vintage cars. ;) People really need to stop focusing on the negatives, and realize this program is good in many ways for everyone. For a measly few billion dollars, we'll help save an industry, help revitalize the economy, reduce unemployment, increase mpg, and reduce pollution. It's a brillant plan anyway you look at it. |
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So I admit to being a sentimental soul, but I don't think my thoughts should be written off. |
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