i'm w/ ya on that, but 3 things...

some of the vehicles selling aren't gas guzzlers
they will be destroyed giving the dealer no opportunity to resell
that will hurt used car buyers looking for otherwise good cars

Yup, as I said, "vaguely inefficient" qualifies...and yup, a major part of the point is to hurt used car buyers so they'll buy new cars instead. It's intended to not only stimulate new car sales by making that credit available, but also by damaging the used car market.

we're both thinking alike. i guess just like the bailouts, the manufacturers are being helped more than the dealerships.

we know that used cars have a greater profit margin than do new ones, so forget the less wasteful dealers right?

there were dealerships doing MORE than fine here locally that were mandated to close. WTH(eck)?!!!

I can't help but wonder what is going to happen in the next year or so. The people buying NEW cars now can't possibly have only been held back by a $4500 down payment. On a normal car loan that is only $50-75 a month for 5 years. You can't tell me that they didn't do it because of $50 a month. When you count insurance and $300 a month for a payment that 50 isn't much more.

Would now be a good time to become a repo man?

There's a lot of speculation among economists that cash for clunkers is mostly encouraging those who were thinking of buying a new vehicle soon anyway. May lead to lower sales later. Guess we'll find out.

I just did the math, IF Marvin was getting his EPA 18mpg, not the 24mpg (Rounded up as EPA also does) I've actually been getting from him, then the minimum $8000 I'd have to pony up for a new vehicle would pay the difference in gas for 15000 miles a year for 10 years at current prices. After 10 years, new car is probably worth what Marvin is now, Marvin is either worth the same or more :D ... also I am getting towards optimistic that I can get 30mpg+ out of Marvin eventually...

i understand, but cannot confirm, that certain vehicles that were thought to qualify, actual do not. so, now dealers are calling buyers back, asking for the "lost" $3500-$4500 that the program did not pay! :eek:

i'd wait to destroy any so-called clunker @ least until the deal was in stone. as previously stated, many of them could be re-sold.

just some details...https://www.cashforclunkersfacts.info/

i understand the idea is working, tho it's a tax payer subsidy. but, the top 5 or six car sales related to this program do NOT include any by GM or Chrysler, so...

the Ford Focus is #1 however.

Just found out my aunt used cash for clunkers to replace her old jeep with a 2010 Prius. She's most pleased with the built in GPS, apparently. Her jeep had 200,000 miles on it (not sure what year, but it looked pretty old last time I saw it) and needed some expensive repairs, so I guess she falls into the "was going to replace it soon anyway" camp.

That puts the incentives into some sort of perspective. 9.6 mpg would qualify for $4,500, and at $580 savings per year, that's 7.75 years worth of gas savings equivalent from the rebate.