Cash For Clunkers - This is what happens.

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Makes the Environmentalists feel happier.

I normally despise bigotry, but I'm starting to feel like making an exception for them.
 
Holdenhsvgtsr
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:
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Good point. I would have brought it up myself if the cost of buying a new car didn't far exceed any of those things simply by itself. Or that many people can afford to actually operate a car but can't afford the steep cost of buying a car on top of that.
But other than that, yeah.
 
Jim Prower
Makes the Environmentalists feel happier.

I normally despise bigotry, but I'm starting to feel like making an exception for them.
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I'm a little worried about how ape-nut-crazy environmentalism is getting attention. First Al Gore, then that Whale Wars show that glorifies eco terrorists, and now the proliferation of stupid public policy.
 
I just thought of something: Is it common knowledge that these perfectly usable cars are purposely destroyed and I was just an idiot, or is this one of those fine print bills that everyone loves until they actually figure out what is going on?
 
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Bet it looks a lot like this, though

barry%20looking%20east1.jpg
 
Heh, does look the same, only with less rust. All those cars awaiting the cutting torch...cars which, until then, were just fine...

Being delayed: Yeeeeeah. looks like this lil' program's costin' us taxpayers more than we thought. This isn't being reported...why?

Oh, right, it's good for the environment(alists)

I should call up the dealer and ask them if a '85-88 Nova comes in, if I could buy it off 'em for a buck or something before they scrap it. Could use a spare parts car. I'd feel like one of the early preservation groups in Britian, too. Saved from scrap...

Reminds me of something. Allow me to Quote the Reverend Wilbert Awdry...

Rev. W. Awdry
One day Edward saw a traction engine in the yard. "Hullo!" he said, "You're not broken and rusty. What are you doing here?"
"I'm Trevor," said the traction engine sadly. "They are going to break me up next week."
"What a shame!" Said Edward.
My driver says I only need some paint, Brasso, and oil to be as good as new," Trevor went on sadly, "But it's no good. Master doesn't want me. I suppose it's because I'm old-fashioned."
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I'll bet that if you could ask any of the cars there, they'd say almost the same thing. Most of them, though, won't have a Vicar to save them.
 
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I think I need to stop reading this thread. I've just felt this strange compassion to go out and rescue a Ford Explorer.
 
Jim Prower
Heh, does look the same, only with less rust. All those cars awaiting the cutting torch...cars which, until then, were just fine...

Being delayed: Yeeeeeah. looks like this lil' program's costin' us taxpayers more than we thought. This isn't being reported...why?

Oh, right, it's good for the environment(alists)
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I doubt that it's that good for the environment considering all the energy wasted and pollution released when these perfectly good cars are destroyed.

Most of the cars turned in for the program in the thread I posted probably have polluted the same amount in their lifetime than the pollution released when a new car that only gets 2-3 more MPG is produced.

@Toronado -Yes, a 6-speed at that
 
Jondot
I think I need to stop reading this thread. I've just felt this strange compassion to go out and rescue a Ford Explorer.
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As do I , than again there is a fully loaded one down the road for like $2,000. Unfortunately I don't have that much money.

This should be the point of the program, sell the used cars for cheap to people(like me) that can't afford much.
 
JCE
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.
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They tend to get good gas mileage, thus not qualifying.


JCE
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.
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You mean they can make them burn through gas just like they did when they were new? Awesome!

JCE
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.
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They are allowed to part them out, they can sell the interior, exterior, anything like that except for the engine.


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? 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.
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You do realize that these cars that are being turned in with the cash for clunkers programs are being turned in because they'll get less money with a trade in?

That 2001 (insert vehicle) isn't worth 3k the way it sits, which is why they turn it in through the program, because they'll get more money that way. It's their car and their choice, and they drove off the lot in a brand new vehicle.


JCE
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.
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If it makes you feel any better, we saved a 1980's fox body Convertible with a 5.0 from getting killed in this thing. The only cars being junked where I work is a mid-80s Dodge Ram, an old Ford Winstar, and a beat up Jeep Cherokee.
 
Incandescent light bulbs will suffer a similar fate in Canada soon. So they can be replaced with mercury-filled fluorescents of landfill doom. Nice.

Howabout, instead of, you know, killing the old technology with government intervention and embracing the new, we let the old live on until it becomes extinct? I'll use the lightbulb example again.

So many people are caught up the flourescent hype, because it'll save electricity and they can get brighter light, etc. What they don't realize is that flourescents and incandescents have co-existed for a long time already, and the reason why is this: Incandescents have a warmer glow, a lower colour temperature. Red light just makes food and skin tone look better. Flourescents, in comparison, are greenish in colour. Green light makes people look sickly and food looks like crap. Hence why we still prefer to use red light in film, television and restaurants. Maybe we do want a character to have a sickly skin tone in some scenes, but the point is, we should have a CHOICE.

If we can't afford a hybrid, we should have that choice to buy that 80s Volvo or Toyota or Chevy that stills runs. Not forcefully kill them off until they become extinct.
 
TS
I doubt that it's that good for the environment considering all the energy wasted and pollution released when these perfectly good cars are destroyed.

Most of the cars turned in for the program in the thread I posted probably have polluted the same amount in their lifetime than the pollution released when a new car that only gets 2-3 more MPG is produced.

@Toronado -Yes, a 6-speed at that
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Why did you think I put "-alists" in parenthises?

It's good for them, because seeing these big cars scrapped (apparently, '85-'88 Novas don't qualify) gives them a bit of a power trip. Like they own the world, because that's what they want to do, really.
 
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It's a pretty wasteful and hypocritical program.

For the most part a crushed car is recycled at a metal refinery. The whole thing, or it's shredded leftovers, are dumped into a vat where it's melted. The metals seperate and each form a layer at a certain level in the vat depending on their density. Common knowledge. The only problem is that only the metals do this--everything else just burns off, including plastics, rubbers, and glass, which all have their own recycling processes. Not to mention the fact that a car in good condition is worth pennies in materials compared to it's market value.

Oh, and by the way, 15 years ago now my dad bought a fuel efficient truck. It's a 4-cylinder Ford Ranger. He didn't buy a honkin' V8 SUV or truck like everyone else, because he didn't need it. Guess what? His truck doesn't qualify for this free money that all the wasteful buyers are getting. The guy that did the right thing in the first place is getting punished. Explain that one.

EDIT: Assuming the dealership doesn't part out the car like PB says they can, all the materials except metals are wasted. Instead of being recycled they are turned directly into pollution. The really bad kind that comes out all black and sooty.
 
Keef
Explain that one.
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I'm not sure but your dad was a smart man.

EDIT: I think American needs to quit being so caught up in the past and move on. Big heavy bricks of cars are done. I don't like hybrids, but we need to get with the programs like the rest of the world did a decade ago and not rely on massive engines to produce power.

EDIT: Diesels for example. You guys know America hates diesels unless they're inside a big truck.
 
Perfect Balance
That 2001 (insert vehicle) isn't worth 3k the way it sits, which is why they turn it in through the program, because they'll get more money that way.
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Which doesn't explain why the vehicle has to be destroyed. And that Blazer would have to be pretty ratty for it to be worth only $4500. For that matter, where could you sell a 530i that you wouldn't get more than $4500 for it?
 
Toronado
Which doesn't explain why the vehicle has to be destroyed. And that Blazer would have to be pretty ratty for it to be worth only $4500. For that matter, where could you sell a 530i that you wouldn't get more than $4500 for it?
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Looking at some cars online, a mint 530i costs about 5k, so he probably wouldn't have made any money if he tried to sell it privately. He did save himself the trouble of trying though.

I would have liked to have it of course, but every show car I've ever seen is just as ruined as this BMW is to me, so I'm not too bothered. Sucks, yes, but oh well, move on, it wasn't your car to make choices with.

That Blazer is not worth anything though, I'd be pushing to say 4k.
 
I don't believe that Blazer is worth more then 4k no, but I dont think it should be destroyed.
 
It seems I'm one of the few that just don't care.

I don't want 99% of the crap cars being crushed, nor do I care if they are. Sure they might still work, but so far I've only seen one that I can truly say is a good piece of engineering being destroyed.
 
Perfect Balance
EDIT: I think American needs to quit being so caught up in the past and move on. Big heavy bricks of cars are done.
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So, we need to artificially manipulate the markets, lowering the value of the dollar, causing our national debt to skyrocket? Apparently Alarmist propoganda wasn't working.

Look, if you're not concerned that the cars being bought are more or less being partway paid for out of your pocket, fine, your money to burn. I'm not saying you're wrong in preferring small cars, but you're getting a lit-tle touchy with people, here. I see more people complaining about the scheme on a fiscal basis than on the basis of the cars being scrapped. (Granted, It tugs at my heartstrings personally, but I'm going to leave that out of it from now on.)
 
Perfect Balance
That Blazer is not worth anything though, I'd be pushing to say 4k.
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The Blazer is worth the same as the Beamer is. More if it was 4WD. Fact.

Perfect Balance
Sure they might still work, but so far I've only seen one that I can truly say is a good piece of engineering being destroyed.
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That's fantastic. Were those horrible, I'm assuming American (because its you) pieces of engineering functional automobiles that could have been used to help support people in actual need had they not fallen under the hypocritical "doing this somehow saves the Earth" pretense?
 
Yes, it would probably be a good idea for Americans to downsize, but the government shouldn't be allowed to play a role in it. The markets should decide. I don't care if these cars are detroyed either. The problem is that this program is dictated by the government, not the free market.
 
Still dodging the fiscal question, I see..

Does it, or does it not, bother you that the government is putting their grubby little fingers into the pot, and artificially manipulating the markets, spending your tax dollars, and driving inflation up and our dollar's relative value down? The incentives alone aren't the only cost: I assume the government pays to have the cars cut up and scrapped as well? Not to mention the energy and transportation costs. Or are those coming out of the dealer's pockets, and thus you don't get that raise?
 
Jim Prower
Still dodging the fiscal question, I see..

Does it, or does it not, bother you that the government is putting their grubby little fingers into the pot, and artificially manipulating the markets, spending your tax dollars, and driving inflation up and our dollar's relative value down? The incentives alone aren't the only cost: I assume the government pays to have the cars cut up and scrapped as well? Not to mention the energy and transportation costs. Or are those coming out of the dealer's pockets, and thus you don't get that raise?
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No, it doesn't really bother me.


You're acting as if it's something new.
 

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