Cash for Clunkers Program

[TheMercenary]

I wondered about this as well. A perfectly running 4 banger VW bug probably pollutes less than most cars on the road.

[lumberjim]

holy mother of fuck.

30 deals written on a monday. I was jammed from 10 am untill 12 am doing one after another.

Obama says he'll guarantee the program will cover all deals written thru midnight tuesday....... I'm afraid of tomorrow.

It's this insane activity.....managers paging for salesmen that are already all with people.....deals backing up in the rack....people waiting 3 hours to see me.....and then being all shitty and too impatient to listen to anything i have to say.....

i should call in sick.

[TheMercenary]

Ok, has anyone actually gone on line and had to register and did you get this as a term of service agreement for your trade in? If so, WTF? I got this in an email and have not been able to confirm it yet. I would like to hear from any first hand buyers or someone in the know.

I was also forwarded an interesting video feed from Tony Pacheco, Kansas City Headlines Examiner. In it, staunch conservative Glenn Beck noted that when you log into the http://www.cars.gov/ website, it makes you agree to the following disclaimer:

“Any or all uses of this system, any or all uses of this system and all files on this system may be intercepted, monitored, recorded, copied, audited, inspected, and disclosed to authorized CARS, DOT, and law enforcement personnel as well as all authorized officials of other agencies, both domestic and foreign. By using this system, the user consents to such interception, monitoring, recording, copying, auditing, inspecting and disclosure at the discretion of CARS or the DOT personnel.”

If true, that is a bit frightening for the average Joe who never reads the fine print when cash is involved.

Anyone?

http://www.examiner.com/x-10974-Kans...d-and-the-ugly

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by lumberjim

I doubt very much that they'll give you a $4500 dealer discount on a focus. very much.

maybe including rebates....they might have a $1000 mark up in a loaded focus.....no dealer will lose $3500 on a car if it's not being reimbursed by the manufacturer.

The Top Ten Cash for Clunkers Trade-Ins:
1. 1998 Ford Explorer



2. 1997 Ford Explorer



3. 1996 Ford Explorer



4. 1999 Ford Explorer



5. Jeep Grand Cherokee



6. Jeep Cherokee



7. 1995 Ford Explorer



8. 1994 Ford Explorer



9. 1997 Ford Windstar



10. 1999 Dodge Caravan



The Top Ten Cash for Clunkers New Cars:
1. Ford Focus



2. Honda Civic



3. Toyota Corolla



4. Toyota Prius



5. Ford Escape



6. Toyota Camry



7. Dodge Caliber



8. Hyundai Elantra



9. Honda Fit



10. Chevy Cobalt

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/auto...-and-new-cars/

[TheMercenary]

Can anyone think of a reason they will not release the data so Congress can see whether or not it is really worth the expense BEFORE the vote for more money? Can anyone defend that?

August 06, 2009
Obama administration withholds data on clunkers

The Obama administration is refusing to quickly release government records on its "cash-for-clunkers" rebate program that would substantiate — or undercut — White House claims of the program's success, even as the president presses the Senate for a quick vote for $2 billion to boost car sales.

The Transportation Department said it will provide the data as soon as possible but did not specify a time frame or promise release of the data before the Senate votes whether to spend $2 billion more on the program.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Sunday the government would release electronic records about the program, and President Barack Obama has pledged greater transparency for his administration. But the Transportation Department, which has collected details on about 157,000 rebate requests, won't release sales data that dealers provided showing how much U.S. car manufacturers are benefiting from the $1 billion initially pumped into the program.

LaHood, the program's chief salesman, has pitched the rebates as good for America, good for car buyers, good for the environment, good for the economy. But it's difficult to determine whether the administration is overselling the claim without seeing what's being sold, what's being traded in and where the cars are being sold.

LaHood, for example, promotes the fact that the Ford Focus so far is at the top of the list of new cars purchased under the program. But the limited information released so far shows most buyers are not picking Ford, Chrysler or General Motors vehicles, and six of the top 10 vehicles purchased are Honda, Toyota and Hyundai.

LaHood has called the popular rebates to car buyers "the lifeline that will bring back the automobile industry in America." He and other advocates are citing program data to promote passage of another $2 billion for the incentives -- claiming dealers sold cars that are 61 percent more fuel efficient than trade-ins.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/new..._clunkers.html

[ZenGum]

Toyoda*-san say "Domo arigato gozaimasu**, Amerika-san!!"



* head of Toyota Motor Corp
** thank you very much

[BrianR]

Do itashimashite, Toyoda-san.

[lumberjim]

as far as the concept of a 'stimulus' package goes....

i can say this:

I was at work until 2:20 am on thursday night. I did 15 deliveries. only 4 of them were cash for clunker deals. clearly.....business breeds business. We have done 52 cash for clunker deals since july 24th. it's the 7th, and we've sold 80+ cars. at this pace....we'll sell 450 cars this month. our record is 307.

my boss offered me $750 to come in on Sunday to bill deals and file clunker claims.

consider me stimulated.

[Undertoad]

And when the thing is over, your boss will pay you to stay home, because all the people who wanted cars will have gotten them and the resulting lull in September will be record-breaking too.

[TheMercenary]

Or like most programs being inacted under the stimulus bill, when the money is gone so will too be the "stimulus" and resultant "millions of jobs created".

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by lumberjim

as far as the concept of a 'stimulus' package goes....

i can say this:

I was at work until 2:20 am on thursday night. I did 15 deliveries. only 4 of them were cash for clunker deals. clearly.....business breeds business. We have done 52 cash for clunker deals since july 24th. it's the 7th, and we've sold 80+ cars. at this pace....we'll sell 450 cars this month. our record is 307.

my boss offered me $750 to come in on Sunday to bill deals and file clunker claims.

consider me stimulated.

That is amazing. I've found that the few Astras that were left have been snatched up as of late, as I wait for my settlement and consider what I'm going to get: I may not be able to find the same car. And I reallllllly liked that car.

Thanks for the information showing success in the program. UT, I think there might be a lull, but hopefully the business will then be in a position to ride out that lull...and as the economy slowly recovers it will be back to business as usual. Eventually.

[ZenGum]

The idea, of course, is that after the car-buying rush eases off, LJ will have a huge bucket of money from all that overtime, and he can go and spend that on beer and pizza, thus stimulating the beer and pizza sectors. Then the newly rich pizza boy can buy a new car from LJ and keep it all going.

Well, that's the idea. The fact that so many of those new cars are Japanese casts a few doubts on it all. Maybe Mr Takagawa will take a holiday in Hawaii or something.

[Shawnee123]

Many Hondas are made right here in Ohio.

eta: The Honda plants, not far from me, did cut back...their cutbacks involved no lay-offs. Everyone still worked (and they make a nice wage) but at a few lesser hours. These people work hard. I hope it stimulates their economy as well: all that money will go back into the economy as their buying power goes back to what they were used to.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

The Top Ten Cash for Clunkers Trade-Ins:
1. 1998 Ford Explorer
2. 1997 Ford Explorer
3. 1996 Ford Explorer
4. 1999 Ford Explorer
5. Jeep Grand Cherokee
6. Jeep Cherokee
7. 1995 Ford Explorer
8. 1994 Ford Explorer
9. 1997 Ford Windstar
10. 1999 Dodge Caravan



The Top Ten Cash for Clunkers New Cars:
1. Ford Focus
2. Honda Civic
3. Toyota Corolla
4. Toyota Prius
5. Ford Escape
6. Toyota Camry
7. Dodge Caliber
8. Hyundai Elantra
9. Honda Fit
10. Chevy Cobalt

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/auto...-and-new-cars/

I like the trend here as they may actually be getting some real crap off the roads. I still wonder if they are creating a hurdle for people who are driving super crap cars by crushing vehicles somewhat better than they're driving and pushing up prices in the used car market. It is too bad GM doesn't have anything beyond Cobalt, but Ford seems well positioned.

[morethanpretty]

This is slightly outdated, but still relavent I'm sure:

GM: Sold 18.7 percent of the cars purchased under the plan.

Toyota: Had the second-most sales, with 17.9 percent.

Ford: Third with 16 percent.

Detroit Three: Have had 45 percent of the sales.

Most popular trade-ins: The Ford Explorer was the most popular, followed by the Ford F-150 and Chrysler Jeep Grand Cherokee. All of the top 10 trade-in models are made by the Detroit Three.

Fuel economy: Purchased vehicles average 25.3 miles per gallon, a 60 percent improvement over the 15.8 mpg average of trade-ins.

http://www.star-telegram.com/busines...y/1522921.html

Thats not the only article that reports those, or similar figures either.