I work at a newspaper and have had to read our extensive -- and painfully ignorant -- coverage of Cash For Clunkers. It has made me so angry and depressed I can barely see straight. Packed with quotes to the effect of "I'm getting $4,500! How could I pass up this deal?" (Ummm ... you're getting $4,500 to lose $15,000) and, from a car salesman, "We're selling cars like candy today!" (Awesome, the economy is saved, really.) Finally in today's paper, at the very end of the article, our reporter talked to a couple people who weren't biting. The last one actually made me grin. I'd like to meet this guy and shake his hand:

"Wesley Smith, of Bear, also is holding on to his 1990 BMW. Its paint looks bad and it gets 16 to 18 mpg, but it's still running great with 408,000 miles.
"What would I want to get rid of it for?" he said."

Sounds like a kindred soul, Mercedes or not. Right before this guy they talked to a man with a 250,000 Tahoe who said he wouldn't consider junking it ... it runs like new. It was kind of nice to know these people are floating around amidst the madness. Of course we need people to buy new cars to keep the economy going ... but that can happen without forcing people to waste and trash things prematurely (especially since they do that naturally ... why push them?). The industry has a circle of life. Some people seem to get it; others don't.

__________________
1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

No one is forced to participate. Dodge dealers are offering to match the g'ment rebate and other makers will likely need to follow. In my opinion it's the quickest way, so far, to get cash down to the local level. Sure beats giving a bank president a huge bonus.

You get it.

__________________
Question Authority before it Questions you.

Yep...I get it...

Here's what I have already:

I have a car that's 100% paid for...the only thing I need to provide ANY OUTLAY FOR is some maintenance...

HOWEVER...If I'm drawn in by the Sirens' Songs of the Government Waste Machine...I can get the following...

1. - A new car, where if the rebate is matched, it MIGHT just about cover the depreciation I get when I stick the key in the ignition, turn it and drive off the dealers' lot...

2. - A new car, that now requires a higher insurance premium...my older unit didn't need to carry all of that other crap...but hey...I'm now sticking money that I could have used for other items into some insurance monkey's pocket...Oh! Joy!

3. - A new car, that despite its newness, will still require the same type and amount of REGULAR maintenance...and since I've always been a little skeptical of maintenance intervals in the newer models...I'll still stick to the same tried and true methods that have allowed me to keep my current stock of vehicles long after everyone else has trashed theirs...

4. - And I also get to watch a carefully maintained, wonderful piece of road-worthy history get unceremoniously raped and destroyed by earthers that couldn't care less about quality, let alone appreciate anything but their short-sighted and ill-gotten gains.

Yah...I get it...If I "buy" into the Government's plan of removing "junkers/clunkers" from our highways...I'm getting it alright...right up the ol' Hershey Highway...Shift column, shift column boot and transmission too.

Short-term thinking for short-term solutions...and the bankers still get money stuck into their pockets...

Remember the term NEW CAR PAYMENTS????



Somebody wake the bus driver up...there's a chance we might crash. Oh! Wait! Never mind...I'll just get off this lemmings' express...

__________________

M. G. Burg
'10 - Dakota SXT - Daily Ride / ≈ 172.5K
.'76 - 450SLC - 107.024.12 / < .89.20 K
..'77 - 280E - 123.033.12 / > 128.20 K
...'67 - El Camino - 283ci / > 207.00 K
....'75 - Yamaha - 650XS / < 21.00 K
.....'87 - G20 Sportvan / > 206.00 K
......'85 - 4WINNS 160 I.O. / 140hp
.......'74 - Honda CT70 / Real 125
.
“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ Yogi Berra ~

It a better deal than the trillions we are spending in Iraq.

I have to ask...WTF does "Cluckers For Cash" have to do w/Iraq?

Slow day at the keyboard?

__________________

M. G. Burg
'10 - Dakota SXT - Daily Ride / ≈ 172.5K
.'76 - 450SLC - 107.024.12 / < .89.20 K
..'77 - 280E - 123.033.12 / > 128.20 K
...'67 - El Camino - 283ci / > 207.00 K
....'75 - Yamaha - 650XS / < 21.00 K
.....'87 - G20 Sportvan / > 206.00 K
......'85 - 4WINNS 160 I.O. / 140hp
.......'74 - Honda CT70 / Real 125
.
“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ Yogi Berra ~

Don't let the door smack you in the ass on the way out.

In the mean time, our national and local economies are getting a big boost from this program and many people will keep their jobs because of it. But obviously your to narrow minded to see the bigger picture here and what this program will actually accomplish.

__________________
Question Authority before it Questions you.

I'd say you are the narrow minded one throwing out insults like that. You are near the top of the list of insulters for no reason here on SF. How much energy is spent designing the new car? How much energy is spent getting the raw materials for the new car? How much energy is spent transforming the materials into the car shape? How much energy is spent building the new car? How much energy is spent shipping the new car? How much energy is spent marketing the new car? No study has been done on this yet everyone seems to claim this is better for the planet. I cannot think of one example of destroying something that works perfectly in order to have a newer one that shows that's the right thing to do, or better for the planet.
McCain's got it right: we don't need to give money to the big three since we own one of them.

Well, if the door is hitting me on the way out, it's hitting my wallet that still has cash in it and I'm sure that I'm going the right direction from inside the burning building and out where I have a chance to survive...economically. Thanks for the "ass-warning" - I like that advice when it's given in the right circumstances!

As for the "...your (you're) to (too) narrow minded..." crack... ( ) see if anyone can explain to us "thinned-gray-mattered folks" where the "Cash For Clunkers" cash is actually coming from?

The "Green Tree" down the street?

Little Miss Muffett's tuffet?

That pot at the end of the rainbow?

Johnny: OH!!!!! I KNOW!!!!! I KNOW!!!!! PICK ME!!!!! PICK ME!!!!
Teacher: OK! Johnny? Where is the "Cash For Clunker" cash coming from?
Johnny: It's coming right from your @**!!!!

Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Oh, did we happen to forget that little part?

What comes from the Gubment was already taken from us (or will be by the 15th of next April) and we won't be getting 100% of it back...either.

So, enjoy the "free cash" before you open your eyes folks...it might seem a slightly different color when you really realize where you're heading...again...in your financial future...

I avoided it the first time (Except in the 401(k) area! ), but I'm not steering myself anywhere near this branch in the logic road...it's a dead end street and there's nothing but bankers waiting at the end of it to pick u'all clean...

Enjoy that ride...again...but this time, take a little snowball with you...it might help cool you down as you go rollin' down...whereever...

__________________

M. G. Burg
'10 - Dakota SXT - Daily Ride / ≈ 172.5K
.'76 - 450SLC - 107.024.12 / < .89.20 K
..'77 - 280E - 123.033.12 / > 128.20 K
...'67 - El Camino - 283ci / > 207.00 K
....'75 - Yamaha - 650XS / < 21.00 K
.....'87 - G20 Sportvan / > 206.00 K
......'85 - 4WINNS 160 I.O. / 140hp
.......'74 - Honda CT70 / Real 125
.
“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ Yogi Berra ~

Yet.

__________________
86 560SL
With homebrew first gear start!
85 380SL
Daily Driver Project

http://juliepalooza.8m.com/sl/mercedes.htm

The local Chebby dealer is also matching the rebate.


Hehe, this question begs to ask the question... What would you get rid of your car for?

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-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

You don't get it.

__________________
Question Authority before it Questions you.

I get more than you think I get. Throwing cash back into a failed infrastructure doesn't fix the problem. A debt-drenched economy will fail; it cannot sustain itself indefinitely. It has failed already and taking taxpayers' money and throwing it out there to entice the consumer base to go back to it's irresponsible spending habits of a glorious yesteryear does no good. Want people to buy stuff? Find a way to get them to produce stuff. I'm not against people buying new cars, by any means ... obviously when people buy new cars, the auto industry is able to maintain more jobs, keeping more people employed, giving those people money to put back into the economy, etc. But people need to buy cars with money they've earned, not with debt or a handout, and they need to buy them responsibly. The clunkers piled up at dealerships are an example of the irresponsibility of automakers and consumers that worked for a few years but helped sink the industry -- and of the mentality that helped sink the entire country. The program designed to get rid of them is more of the same.

I'm not ignorant to capitalism and economy. I'm not saying that everyone should drive their car for 500,000 miles ... clearly that would render the industry dead and would take away some of the romance of car ownership (buying a car is in a way a right of passage). People have been buying new cars for decades. They have been driving, selling, parting out, and eventually crushing, cars, too ... I have no objection to this. But wastefulness and lack of foresight created a situation in which the system stopped working ... in addition to that, the American mentality that you "deserve" to retire when you're 50 as well as a manufacturing base that has moved out of our country and into China and Mexico added fuel to the fire. It didn't stop working because a few people got shy about spending money and just need a little cutesy push.

I thought it was cool that the BMW owner had some sentimentality and a sense of "why throw it away if it works?" Maybe it's the way I was raised. There's a time to retire an item and purchase a new one, or a nice used one if you like, whether it's a car, a TV or a pair of pants. You don't throw away a good pair of jeans because they're a year old and you "deserve" a newer, more stylish pair of jeans. That mentality has worked for me as far as financial stability. When something craps out, or really becomes inadequate, I'll go out and buy a quality item from a quality store (I'll pay more to buy it from a reputable, helpful store rather than buy it from some vague cyber discount bin). I never expect the government to pay me to do it.

Sorry if my post came off as implying that everyone who doesn't drive their car to 500k is an idiot. That wasn't my point. I know enough about capitalism to know that wouldn't work.

__________________
1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

This is program is not about you or me. It's about an economy that nearly collapsed and has of yet to recover. You can hide your head in the sand and let it collapse, as was done in the great depression, or you can offer loans and incentives to help save, stimulate and grow it.

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.

__________________
Question Authority before it Questions you.

Just like 80% of the cars in our sigs.

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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"I was a dirty bird, Carol's not grungey - she's *****in" John Milner....American Graffiti