"Clunkers" Program gone???
 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government plans to suspend its popular "cash for clunkers" program amid concerns it could quickly use up the $1 billion in rebates for new car purchases, congressional officials said Thursday.

The Transportation Department called lawmakers' offices to alert them to the decision to suspend the program at midnight Thursday. The program offers owners of old cars and trucks $3,500 or $4,500 toward a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle.

The congressional officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.


See:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/AP-sou...&asset=&ccode=

I may be biased, but this is the only stimulas money that is really working. Car sales are going crazy for all brands. This money is actually stimulating the retail sales market.

That's crazy. According to the Gov. website it has close to $779 million dollars left.

http://www.cars.gov/

There is one down side to this program that is a result of too much input by the global warming faction.

If you don't know we have to drain the oil from the engine and add sodium silicate (liquid glass) to the engine and run it until it seizes the engine. We then have to sell it to a scrapper who must crush the vehicle. I guess it's their way of killing these no good gas hog ungreen vehicles.

The problem with that is a lot of these vehicles have good used parts on them which is desperatley needed by the salvage industry. Why are they needed? Because people are keeping their vehicles much longer and maintaining them much better to make them last, so there are fewer salvage vehicles out there. Used part prices are much higher percentage wise these days due to a lack of supply.

So they sell the crushed vehicle for scrap and get 1/50th the return that parting the car out would bring.

Just plain dumb.

Like I said it is stimulating sells :thumb:, but 4 days into it and the billion is gone :eek: , bummer.

At $4500 per clunker, one billon dollars will only buy back you 222,222 cars. Heck, there are that many clunkers in NJ alone. Here is the link to the offical .gov site:

http://www.cars.gov/index.php/

I had a salesman (the one that sold me my HHR) tell me on Monday that they thought the cash for clunkers deal would be done by the end of the week. He claimed that the money broke down to average only 13 vehicles per dealership before it would be gone. Guess he was right.

They're actually crushing the cars? At first I heard they were scrapping the engine and transmission and just then saving the rest for parts... I had heard about seizing the engine...but crushing them? That's ridiculous!?!?? I said from the beginning that this was flawed. There are some perfectly good cars getting wasted just because they get poor mileage. I know people who NEED a dependable car who can't afford one that would benefit from one of the many cars being traded in. A girl I work with traded in a 2000 Blazer in perfect shape (just needed tires), but that qualified because of it's mileage. It would have made someone a perfect car!!!!:roll:

They stated all along those turned in for this program would never be placed back on the road and be destroyed (crushed).

Granted, a lot of potential good cars are going bye bye, but overall, I think it's been a hit.

We had a similar program here in Canada last year, and was the only reason I bought the HHR-SS. I got $1000 for my Jimmy that I paid $500 for 3 years previously. It had 450,000 on the odometer and the only think working on it was the 4.3 Vortec engine. It was accepted because it was plated and insured.

It got people like me who usually buy old used cars to look at new cars instead.

It was definitely a good stimulus to get new buyers out there. The car went straight to auction (but the condition mine was in probably the crusher)

i think its up to the dealership what to do with the shell but the motor and trans has to go. they put a lock on the vin# to keep you from putting a different motor back in it. just what i have heard may not be true.