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News: Cash for Clunker's

I thought this was pretty interesting .... I was reading along thinking it all made sense until I got to the last "condition" to qualify ...

http://www.fool.com/retirement/general/2009/07/29/why-cash-for-clunkers-wont-save-the-economy.aspx

They want to crush and destroy all eligible trades?? :pat:

Who thinks up this stuff?:rolleyes:
Thanks for posting this article. I have been wondering what the rules would be now I know. Reminds me of that old country western song "Crazy" Where oh where are term limits.:bash:

Fred:patriot:
 
With this offer good only on new '09 and '10 cars and most people that own older cars that make 18MPG or less not being able to afford much better, it seems to me that the ones that this is meant to help probably still can't afford a brand new car... betcha next thing we hear the government (read "we, the people") will figure out some way to bail out the owners of these cars... in the same way we are bailing out those that bought homes they couldn't afford. And those of us that pay our bills and mortgages on time will end up footing the bill.
 
With this offer good only on new '09 and '10 cars and most people that own older cars that make 18MPG or less not being able to afford much better, it seems to me that the ones that this is meant to help probably still can't afford a brand new car... betcha next thing we hear the government (read "we, the people") will figure out some way to bail out the owners of these cars... in the same way we are bailing out those that bought homes they couldn't afford. And those of us that pay our bills and mortgages on time will end up footing the bill.
I was thinking the same thing. Now we can just sit back and wait for this to create a new economic crisis. :(
 
With this offer good only on new '09 and '10 cars and most people that own older cars that make 18MPG or less not being able to afford much better, it seems to me that the ones that this is meant to help probably still can't afford a brand new car... betcha next thing we hear the government (read "we, the people") will figure out some way to bail out the owners of these cars... in the same way we are bailing out those that bought homes they couldn't afford. And those of us that pay our bills and mortgages on time will end up footing the bill.


Well said MT. It's another one of those "what the H**l are they thinking" goverment programs. Make sure and pay your taxes, there's a lot to pay for from fewer and fewer workers.

Bruce :D
 
Well said MT. It's another one of those "what the H**l are they thinking" goverment programs. Make sure and pay your taxes, there's a lot to pay for from fewer and fewer workers.

Bruce :D
Yes and there is more to come for us to pay for. They are just getting started. :(
 
Well, I'm paying less taxes! My pay got cut - again - by 10%. I'm taking over our Customer Service Manager's job (who is now gone), so now I'm working 11 hour+ days - yes - for less pay. My property taxes are going up 10% but it won't be as much as I thought it might be. The county reduced the taxable value on my house by 3% (even though the value has probably gone down 30-40% from a few years ago, which is not unlike most folks). Like many states, we finance our schools through our property taxes in Ohio (even though my state ruled that it was unconstitutional to do so THREE times in the last 15 years) so the property taxes here are pretty steep.

I still look on the bright side of things - I have great friends (like you folks!), I still enjoy my job (the days go by LIGHTNING fast!), and I'm still employed in this lousy economy!:patriot:
 
Here you go they have already run out of money for this program.

Cash for clunkers program may be running on empty

By KEN THOMAS, AP
The government's popular "cash for clunkers" program may be running out of money after only a matter of days as car shoppers flock to dealerships to take advantage of the rebates.


The White House said Thursday it was assessing its options amid concerns the $1 billion budget for rebates for new car sales may have been depleted. The program officially began last week and has been heavily publicized by automakers and dealers.
Transportation Department officials called lawmakers earlier Thursday to alert them of plans to suspend the program as early as Friday. But a White House official said later the program had not been suspended and they were reviewing their options to keep the program funded.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said they were working to "assess the situation facing what is obviously an incredibly popular program. Auto dealers and consumers should have confidence that all valid CARS transactions that have taken place to date will be honored."
Dubbed the Car Allowance Rebate System, or CARS, the program offers owners of old cars and trucks $3,500 or $4,500 toward a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle, in exchange for scrapping their old vehicle. Congress last month approved the plan to boost auto sales and remove some inefficient cars and trucks from the roads.
The program was scheduled to last through Nov. 1 or until the money ran out, but few predicted it would be depleted in days. Through late Wednesday, 22,782 vehicles had been purchased through CARS and nearly $96 million had been spent.
But dealers raised concerns about large backlogs in the processing of the deals in the government system. A survey of 2,000 dealers by the National Automobile Dealers Association found about 25,000 deals had not yet been approved by the government, or nearly 13 trades per store.
It suggested that with about 23,000 dealers taking part in the program, car dealers may already have surpassed the 250,000 vehicle sales funded by the $1 billion program.
"There's a significant backlog of 'cash for clunkers' deals that make us question how much funding is still available in the program," said Bailey Wood, a spokesman for the dealers association.
The reports that the CARS program could be suspended created confusion among many dealers, who had showrooms filled with car shoppers looking to scrap their gas guzzlers.
Alan Helfman, general manager of River Oaks Chrysler Jeep in Houston, said he was worried that the government wouldn't pay for some of his clunker deals. His dealership has completed paperwork on about 20 sales under the program, but in some cases the titles haven't been obtained yet or the vehicles aren't on his lot.
"There's no doubt I'm going to get hammered on a deal or two," Helfman said.
The clunkers program was set up to boost U.S. auto sales and help struggling automakers through the worst sales slump in more than a quarter-century. Sales for the first half of the year were down 35 percent from the same period in 2008, and analysts are predicting only a modest recovery during the second half of the year.
So far this year, sales are running under an annual rate of 10 million light vehicles, but as recently as 2007, automakers sold more than 16 million cars and light trucks in the United States.
Lawmakers said they would try to find additional funding for the program, which under the legislation could grow to $4 billion for the funding of up to 1 million new car sales.
Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., who developed the legislation, said he would work with the Obama administration to keep the program going "until it reaches its goal of helping consumers take 1 million gas guzzlers off the road."
Others suggested using unspent economic stimulus funding. "I can think of no better use for unspent stimulus dollars that are gathering dust than financing 'Cash for Clunkers,'" said Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich. Michigan lawmakers planned to meet on Friday to discuss the program.
Brendan Daly, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said they would work with "the congressional sponsors and the administration to quickly review the results of the initiative."
General Motors Co. spokesman Greg Martin said the automaker hoped "there's a will and way to keep the CARS program going a little bit longer."
 
Someone needs to tell the dealers and the ad agencies.......they are still running ads......:dunno:
 
Someone needs to tell the dealers and the ad agencies.......they are still running ads......:dunno:
Oh that's okay. There will just have to be a bailout for the dealers who are going to get stuck. :(
 
Apparently Congress approved another 2 billion for this program. We here in Tucson had so many cars on the streets today I couldnt understand why. Tonight I watched the news and they came here from out of town in caravans to take advanage of this program. We had dealerships that ran out of cars. Can you believe that. Gosh that is a shot in the arm for Tucson. This State has a annual balance budget requirement and they have made unbelievale cuts in everything to try and meet it. I hope the rest of the country also had these results. Maybe this will put some people back to work.

Fred:patriot:
 
Apparently Congress approved another 2 billion for this program. We here in Tucson had so many cars on the streets today I couldnt understand why. Tonight I watched the news and they came here from out of town in caravans to take advanage of this program. We had dealerships that ran out of cars. Can you believe that. Gosh that is a shot in the arm for Tucson. This State has a annual balance budget requirement and they have made unbelievale cuts in everything to try and meet it. I hope the rest of the country also had these results. Maybe this will put some people back to work.

Fred:patriot:

We went to 2 Chevy dealerships to look at Camaro's ... NONE.
Stopped at a Ford dealership to look at the Snakes. NO 2010's.

The Ford salesguy said the lot had been :willy_nilly: with people coming in to take advantage of the C for C program, and many of them left :mad: because they couldn't qualify for an AUTO loan. He said they blamed the dealership because they didn't understand the program still requires good credit. :pat:

So, I'd say busy as usual. :lol:
 
P.S. Let me just add this - one of the salesmen at Jimmy Johnson Chevrolet (yes, he owns a dealership) stated on TV this morning, that the dealership is indeed selling cars - but pretty worried about what it will take to obtain the C for C $$ back from the government. He stated that for each C of C there is a good size amount of paperwork that accompanies each one and that his office staff is scrambling to complete it.

My question is - the program has been extended after it's first week - Has each dealer already been alloted a certain amount of guaranteed govt. $$, do they know how many cars they can sell? Or do they just sell up their stock and then cross their fingers that the govt. will reimburse them? :squint: I hope it's the former.....
 
The problem in Tucson is that many of the dealers let there inventories deplete and now they just do not have the cars in stock to sell. Can you imagine this happening.:pat: I believe Congress will extend this until most everyone who can qualify will own a new car.;) I am just happy that people are spending money maybe this will be the mechanism to get this economy moving again I sure hope so.:)

Fred:patriot:
 
The problem in Tucson is that many of the dealers let there inventories deplete and now they just do not have the cars in stock to sell. Can you imagine this happening.:pat: I believe Congress will extend this until most everyone who can qualify will own a new car.;) I am just happy that people are spending money maybe this will be the mechanism to get this economy moving again I sure hope so.:)

Fred:patriot:

I hate to be the voice of doom - but I would not think that selling cars to those that can already afford (qualify) for them is going to be the answer. Or maybe it's just baby-steps. Unless the buyers are paying for them with cash, they are just buying debt. Just what this nation needs, more consumer debt, right? :squint:
Hmmm - sorry, that's why I don't normally discuss politics - None of it is logical to me. :(
 
I hate to be the voice of doom - but I would not think that selling cars to those that can already afford (qualify) for them is going to be the answer. Or maybe it's just baby-steps. Unless the buyers are paying for them with cash, they are just buying debt. Just what this nation needs, more consumer debt, right? :squint:
Hmmm - sorry, that's why I don't normally discuss politics - None of it is logical to me. :(
As I understand it (which I am not a genius) the sales tax in Az is 8% on a $40,000 car that would be $3200.00 Then you have the high lic plate fee that would be a min of $800.00. Our State and City have laid off a lot of workers. This would allow them to hire some back. The credit is what makes the financial markets tick and frees up more money they are welling to loan to small business which allows them to meet payroll needs hence they may start hiring more workers. With all that said who really knows what will work and what wont.:dunno:

Fred:patriot:
 

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