Cash For Clunkers - This is what happens.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Eric.
  • 259 comments
  • 24,061 views
So all these guys basically do is kill an engine which belongs to whatever car they feel like killing as long as it's not a Honda? Geez what idiots. At least they could try and sell the car to a family or someone who is actually in need of a new car. I'd be more than happy to take over that Blazer, it looked perfectly fine.

So do these guys do this as a job on that Honda forum or something? I hope that Honda forum isn't full of people like those guys :rolleyes:
 
Bram Turismo
So all these guys basically do is kill an engine which belongs to whatever car they feel like killing as long as it's not a Honda? Geez what idiots. At least they could try and sell the car to a family or someone who is actually in need of a new car. I'd be more than happy to take over that Blazer, it looked perfectly fine.

So do these guys do this as a job on that Honda forum or something? I hope that Honda forum isn't full of people like those guys :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

That's at a dealership, and when the car is traded in and fits the requirements of the Cash For Clunkers rebate, they have to do this.
 
Didn't they say the engine had significant damage? If it was to the point where it was undrivable, what's the problem?
 
MINICOOPER120
Didn't they say the engine had significant damage? If it was to the point where it was undrivable, what's the problem?
Click to expand...

No, that was the point of running the sodium-silicate mixture instead of oil...it seriously damages the engine in some way.

edit:

VRTC concluded that the sodium silicate method was the best option. The other methods all had significant problems related to their effectiveness, practical limitations based on vehicle variations, and/or safety risks for workers involved. Sodium Silicate solution is a mixture of water and sodium silicate solids.

When, after draining the oil, it is introduced into the engine oil system, the oil pump is able to distribute the solution throughout the engine oiling system. The heat of the operating engine then dehydrates the solution leaving solid sodium silicate distributed throughout the engine’s oiled surfaces and moving parts. These solids quickly abrade the bearings causing the engine to seize while damaging the moving parts of the engine and coating all of the oil passages.
Click to expand...

http://www.cashforclunkersfacts.com/car-dealers/engine-destruction
 
I feel slightly offended watching that. I have a '95 Blazer and its fine, its not a "clunker". I don't agree with this Cash For Clunkers thing at all, well atleast the destroying portion of it.
 
spad_scrappage.jpg



Mmm, I read about this on Autoblog... I think it's utterly ridiculous. Then again I think the whole plan is utterly ridiculous.

We've got this in the UK, and it's really not working. The whole idea is to grab more sales for our domestic car companies (therefore securing more jobs, yada yada), right? Well over here it's basically done the opposite.

The top 3 companies to benefit from the UK scheme are Hyundai, Kia and Chevrolet (Daewoo). All of which build their cars in South Korea. In fact the only remotely bri'ish manufacturer to benefit whatsoever was Nissan (who build most of the cars in Sunny Sunderland), who saw a sales increase of a whopping 6% (compared to Hyundai's 91%). Hmm.
 
We have the same problem in the UK. I was quite vocal about it on my blog. (Tree'd by Jon...)

It's taking plenty of perfectly servicable cars off the road which isn't particularly environmentally friendly as it is, and brand new cars are replacing them which have used a lot of energy being produced.

If that wasn't bad enough, there are plenty of morons in the general public who have no concept of a car's qualities beyond it's age. There have been numerous reports of people chopping in Porsche 944s and the like in for Hyundai i10s, and Autocar even reported on one garage who'd turned away an old git trying to replace a 1970s Porsche 911 with a Kia something or other, and offered to help him sell it privately instead - at least some dealerships have their heads screwed on.

The one saving grace for car enthusiasts is that many dealerships aren't simply crushing the cars - there's no law that says that they can't strip them down and sell on the parts, so that's what's happening - so at least the second-hand parts market should be kept healthy for a bit.
 
Wait, they destroy the cars being traded in? As in, they have to do it? Are you serious? What idiot thought that was a good idea? You probably could have gotten nearly 4500 for it on the open market and then someone would have had a car.
 
Last edited:
Toronado
Wait, they destroy the cars being traded in? As in, they have to do it? Are you serious? What idiot thought that was a good idea? You probably could have gotten nearly 4500 for it on the open market and then someone would have had a car.
Click to expand...

blamekeynesians.png


What did you think they did with the cars?
 
The oil is drained, then the "solution" is added (I've heard of some dealerships using plain old salt water). Basically it corrodes the inside of the engine, and the engine is run untill the pistons seize up and are practically welded inside the cylinders.

I'm not sure if they absolutely have to do this, but I know there are big fines ($15k+) for dealers if a car that was traded in under the cash for clunkers program is found to have been resold.

This has to be one of the dumbest things ever. Yay Obama.
 
Toronado
Wait, they destroy the cars being traded in? As in, they have to do it? Are you serious? What idiot thought that was a good idea? You probably could have gotten nearly 4500 for it on the open market and then someone would have had a car.
Click to expand...

Germans. that's where this started.
 
Omnis
What did you think they did with the cars?
Click to expand...
I thought they donated them to charity or resold them to low income families or something. I never even dreamed that they destroyed them. That was just too stupid for me to even comprehend as an option. I am... aghast at the idiocy.
 
I'm surprised an '01 Blazer would fall in to that category. Either way, it's senseless, I would not have minded owning that truck. I've seen an older Blazer with even more severe engine trauma that still ran without oil. We used to do doughnuts (albeit gimpy ones) in it every few weeks in an attempt to kill it completely. Always started though, never understood why, sounded like a black smith was feverishly hammering away under the hood too. :D

The car dealerships would be stupid to disable cars and trucks like this, why not just part the things out and make back some of our money for us? I hope I don't see this happening to really desirable cars like Fox Mustangs and 3rd Generation F-Bodys. I'd be wanting to pour Sodium Silicate down some peoples throats to disable them.
 
Wait, you have this in the US too? I thought it was the sort of brain dead idea only a British government could come up with. I didn't realise it was worldwide.
 
Roo
Wait, you have this in the US too? I thought it was the sort of brain dead idea only a British government could come up with. I didn't realise it was worldwide.
Click to expand...

It only started recently.
 
I get to do this tomorrow. I can't wait, what kind of real red-blooded male doesn't like blowing stuff up? And to get paid for it? I'd have done it for free!

The cars have to be destroyed anyway, so it's not like we're deciding to ruin these cars, we just have to because the government told us we have to.
 
I'd rather keep my job.

EDIT: I guess if I was REALLY against the idea, I'd be willing to lose my job over it, but I'm not going to lie, I'm going to enjoy doing it.


I dunno, something about being handed the keys to an old Jeep Cherokee and being told "here, break it." makes me all happy inside. Maybe it's because I've actually worked on a lot of them, and lets just say I'm surprised there isn't some insanely high suicidal rate for people who have to work on domestic vehicles.
 
Yeah but you're going to be pouring sodium silicate into the engine and the engine will just kerplukt in a few seconds. You're not going to be revving the piss out of it or shoving bananas in the headers or anything fun like that.
 
Yes but you see, you drain the oil first, then you drive the car without oil to the location at which it will be disabled and then disable it. There are no rules for how you are to get to that place.
 
Eric.
After seeing what they are required to do to cars turned in for this rebate, I've got to say this is one of the most irresponsible things they could be doing. That Blazer was in good shape, and its only a 2001...Someone could have bought that and gotten plenty of use of it.


What the hell.


http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/inside-out/169275-death-clunker.html
Click to expand...


1st of all leave it to idiot Civic forums to enjoy posting such things about American cars--show me a Honda or Toyota product in as good of a condition as that Blazer was (which was good) being "destroyed" on this forum and they loving it.

THIS IS A COMPLETE AND UTTERLY RETARDED IDEA. And here is why...

1. Perfectly servicable or drivable vehicles are being destroyed when there are literally tens of thousands of needy families where the parents are in desperate need of reliable transportation. They need to get to work to feed their families!
2. People that don't have a clue trade in their 1970 Porsches or 1982 Camaros just to get a few grand off of a new car--that car is a classic and is worth some money to someone. Someone could of taken that "clunker" and fully restored it to factory spec which would of be just as clean and fuel efficiant as a new one.
3. These morons never heard of recycling? How about they RECYCLE the materials? If they fuse cast iron heads to aluminum pistons/rods/block and etc that just prevents an easy recycling. Isn't the idea of recycling a good one? Or maybe someone needs to sell the parts to others that need them for their car. That Blazer had perfectly good lights, bodywork, wheels, glass, and etc just by looking on the video.

EA11R
I have tears in my eyes. What is wrong with these people?
Click to expand...

They don't have brains in their thick skulls.

NISM0_SKYLINE
I feel slightly offended watching that. I have a '95 Blazer and its fine, its not a "clunker". I don't agree with this Cash For Clunkers thing at all, well atleast the destroying portion of it.
Click to expand...

You know what, everytime I start up my '97 minivan or my '90 Camaro V8 I will ENJOY flipping off these morons for this retarded idea. Yes, I take stupidity personally when it is THIS convoluted. I'll enjoy starting up my Camaro's V8 that gets a craptastic MPG rating and probably pollutes the planet more than a 2010 Camaro. I'll consider it my protest of this stupid idea.

Toronado
Wait, they destroy the cars being traded in? As in, they have to do it? Are you serious? What idiot thought that was a good idea? You probably could have gotten nearly 4500 for it on the open market and then someone would have had a car.
Click to expand...

This is what I thought. Someone trades in their reasonably good shape automobile (such as this Blazer) and then the dealership donates this to a needy family that NEEDS a vehicle to get to work. MAYBE THIS IS HOW YOU HELP THE AMERICAN PEOPLE! Give a vehicle to someone who needs it to get to work to feed his or her family? This cash for clunkers is a really bad idea because people are trashing vehicles that are NOT clunkers. A 2001 vehicle--that is TWENTY FIRST CENTURY produced is NOT a clunker.

Omnis
blamekeynesians.png


What did you think they did with the cars?
Click to expand...

*see above

Donate the good or decent ones to charity.

Toronado
Mine has run on 3 cylinders before when I was trying to see how long I could drive it before it exploded.
Click to expand...

My Camaro ran 15 miles on 7 cylinders @ 45mph. :D

Perfect Balance
I'd rather keep my job.

EDIT: I guess if I was REALLY against the idea, I'd be willing to lose my job over it, but I'm not going to lie, I'm going to enjoy doing it.


I dunno, something about being handed the keys to an old Jeep Cherokee and being told "here, break it." makes me all happy inside. Maybe it's because I've actually worked on a lot of them, and lets just say I'm surprised there isn't some insanely high suicidal rate for people who have to work on domestic vehicles.
Click to expand...

You are sick. Even though I don't really care about Chrysler or GM products I would never wish a good condition or possible collectable/classic car being destroyed.
 
JCE
Or maybe someone needs to sell the parts to others that need them for their car.
Click to expand...
Chevrolet still sells new cars that use those engines for crying out loud. I would yank the engine myself and tow the 🤬 car to the dealer.

Really, I am at a complete loss for words. What good does the government destroying perfectly serviceable automobiles do for the American people? Oh sure, it protects the tax dollars wasted on GM (of course, by using more tax dollars, which apparently makes sense to someone), but what about the people who can't afford a car payment? What about the people who just buy Kias or something?

Really, this is the angriest I have been about moronic government activities probably ever. And I don't even know why.
 
Damnit, where is that pic from the Railway series of the scared steam engines in the Scrapyard? Seems quite appropriate in this case...this whole thing has the smell of the Abolishment of Steam all over it.

I doubt this scheme will last long, but scrapping servicable cars is an absolute waste. At least let 'em become joyriders if they're that bad. Hope a few dealers decide to play Barrys-at-Woodhams....
 
JCE
This is what I thought. Someone trades in their reasonably good shape automobile (such as this Blazer) and then the dealership donates this to a needy family that NEEDS a vehicle to get to work. MAYBE THIS IS HOW YOU HELP THE AMERICAN PEOPLE! Give a vehicle to someone who needs it to get to work to feed his or her family?
Click to expand...

Sure give them a free car,then who pays for tax,insurance,fuel and the cost of a part when it does break and the cost of labour to have it fixed.

Sorry little jimmy can't have his happy meal as daddy needs a new headlight bulb.

Buying a car is only one stage of owning a car :rolleyes:
 
JCE, it's cheaper to let a car rot on a lot than to recycle it. The problem with this scheme is just that it boils down to us paying for the government to buy cars and destroy capital.
 

Latest Posts

Back