Wasteful
The cash for clunkers program is wasteful. It breaks my heart. I've been watching the stories about the charities (more here), that are going to suffer, and this just makes me sad .
That car ran. With proper maintenance, it would have ran for several more years. Or could have anyway.
Do you know how many people struggle to afford a car that can get them to and from work? Or high school kids who are in bad situations who look for a car to get them to school, to an after school job, so they can try and make a better life?
And here we have a government subsidized wasteful program. My car is 13 years old. We're in the market for a new one. We will not be trading my car in, my parents want it back. It's got 180,000 miles on it and it will probably run for 100,000 more. Now, because it's a Honda, and therefore fuel efficient, it doesn't qualify for the program. But this whole idea of taking a car that runs and destroying it just makes me sad.
Another unintended side effect from this may be the rise in used car prices, as most with old cars that qualify for this program weren't previously in the car market, and will only be able to afford used. This rise in prices will also hurt lower income families.
The program itself is a mess of red tape and incompitence. Dealers are destroying cars per the instructions but the money is limited and it's first come first serve, so they are rushing to get ahead of the line so they can be sure to get paid back for the money they've already given to the customers. What's worse, they have no collateral for that money. They have to destroy the engine so if they don't get the money from the fed, they are left holding the bag. Not a good place for shaky car people to be in.
Secondly, salvage and demo yards that pick up cars are motivated to pick them up so they can retrieve useable parts from them. With the engine destroyed, their motivation to pick them up from the dealer lots is down to nothing.
All these people are trading in paid off cars for car payments. The government is encouraging the same bad behavior that got us into this mess in the first place. Old is bad ... new is good! Materialism is awesome! Let's all take out loans and drink latte's and toast our financial decline.
Nick Clites, who is in charge of used cars for the dealership, was prepping a 1988 BMW 535IS, with 214,000 miles on the odometer, for its death. He drained the oil, then donned a silky blue protective suit, goggles and gloves and poured a sodium silicate solution into the engine. He revved the car, and within a few seconds, the solution hardened into a glass-like substance, the engine seized up and the car was dead.
That car ran. With proper maintenance, it would have ran for several more years. Or could have anyway.
Do you know how many people struggle to afford a car that can get them to and from work? Or high school kids who are in bad situations who look for a car to get them to school, to an after school job, so they can try and make a better life?
And here we have a government subsidized wasteful program. My car is 13 years old. We're in the market for a new one. We will not be trading my car in, my parents want it back. It's got 180,000 miles on it and it will probably run for 100,000 more. Now, because it's a Honda, and therefore fuel efficient, it doesn't qualify for the program. But this whole idea of taking a car that runs and destroying it just makes me sad.
Another unintended side effect from this may be the rise in used car prices, as most with old cars that qualify for this program weren't previously in the car market, and will only be able to afford used. This rise in prices will also hurt lower income families.
The program itself is a mess of red tape and incompitence. Dealers are destroying cars per the instructions but the money is limited and it's first come first serve, so they are rushing to get ahead of the line so they can be sure to get paid back for the money they've already given to the customers. What's worse, they have no collateral for that money. They have to destroy the engine so if they don't get the money from the fed, they are left holding the bag. Not a good place for shaky car people to be in.
Secondly, salvage and demo yards that pick up cars are motivated to pick them up so they can retrieve useable parts from them. With the engine destroyed, their motivation to pick them up from the dealer lots is down to nothing.
All these people are trading in paid off cars for car payments. The government is encouraging the same bad behavior that got us into this mess in the first place. Old is bad ... new is good! Materialism is awesome! Let's all take out loans and drink latte's and toast our financial decline.
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