Cash For Clunkers.....Figured Out!!!
 

Re: Cash For Clunkers.....Figured Out!!!
 

Oh, don't be like that. The program will pay for itself in 8.5 years! :lol:

Re: Cash For Clunkers.....Figured Out!!!
 

Think of all the nasty old cars (SVXs) etc. that got taken off the road. They had to be replaced by new cars which used how many barrels of oil to produce? Not to mention steel and plastic.

Re: Cash For Clunkers.....Figured Out!!!
 

And we sold all of the scrap metal to China for cheap and they will produce more good stuff with it and sell it to us at top $$. Also the way to go backwards. We have been in reverse sence February! :mad: :mad: Everything that has been done has raised taxes (or will), destroyed jobs, and put us in a downward spiral. :mad: How has this been working for you? :o

Re: Cash For Clunkers.....Figured Out!!!
 

finally someone figured it out:lol::lol: I figured it was smoke and mirrors to hide the terrible things Obama's cabinet is doing to this country

Tom

Re: Cash For Clunkers.....Figured Out!!!
 

I wish I could escape to Canada but I have no money because there are no jobs around here to save up money:(

Re: Cash For Clunkers.....Figured Out!!!
 

I guess most of the clunkers destroyed under this program wouldn't have survived that long anyway :)
And, you're not counting the interest that would have been accrued on those pesky $3B...

Re: Cash For Clunkers.....Figured Out!!!
 

What? With all our government sponsored health care and other social programs?:eek:

Re: Cash For Clunkers.....Figured Out!!!
 

Yeah, see your system is set up differently than ours obviously. And although all the rich people in America hate Canada's tax structure, it really is more fair-everyone should be taxed the same if you ask me, but maybe thats just cuz I'm poor:(

Re: Cash For Clunkers.....Figured Out!!!
 

It's a lucky thing you are not handling the health budget. Your maths on the above is all over the place :p

I don't know your street prices, but how can you equate the saving of 224 million gallons of gasoline a year at maybe $4 pump prices to being the equivalent of the same amount in gallons of crude oil at about $1.80 a gallon?

Plus, your estimate of the possible saving could be viewed as fairly conservative in a couple of ways. For one thing I would say the average clunker does closer to 13k or maybe 15k miles a year, which will bump up the differential.

For another thing, and I accept your less efficient cars in the States probably would give only 25 mpg, but here in Europe anybody buying economical cars in schemes like you are discussing, none of these cars will do less than 40 mpg, most doing closer to 50 mpg. The gallons are Imperial and bigger than the US gallons, so 40 mpg here would be 33 mpg over there.

If people changed to these more economical turbodiesels potentially it could halve the amount of fuel used by these "clunkers" as you call them.

Even leaving the bare economics and mathematics aside for the change, I'm sure at least some of the incentive for pushing the change was keeping auto workers in a job, and contributing to taxes and keeping dollars flowing.

In a recession if the government does something to free up the economy, they are damned.

In a recession if the government does nothing to free up the economy, ....................

:rolleyes: :lol:

Re: Cash For Clunkers.....Figured Out!!!
 

Another thing that this program has done is raise the prices on used cars.. Now for someone who truly is poor or in school (potential redundancy, I know:rolleyes:) that 1992 toyota corolla that was $1500 is now $2000 and potentially out of reach.

Re: Cash For Clunkers.....Figured Out!!!
 

I don't care how much oil this will save, you still can't spend your way out of debt! :(

Re: Cash For Clunkers.....Figured Out!!!
 

I ever see one of them on the side of a road I'll ride up, flick em off, and leave a nice greasy cloud of svx smoke for them to choke on.

Re: Cash For Clunkers.....Figured Out!!!
 

Let me get this right . The government , ie the taxpayer , forks over $4500 for an old and often times perfectly good car . It then mandates that the engine be essentially destroyed , rendering the resultant hulk worth what , maybe $250 or at best $500 for parts . Instant destruction of $4000 worth of your money times the estimated sale of 700,000 vehicles , you do the math !! It stinks :mad:

Alan .

Re: Cash For Clunkers.....Figured Out!!!
 

This is true; I remind my daughter all the time when the subject turns to finances. (Think she finally gets it.)

The thing is, the point of the "cash for clunkers" program (which I believe was badly structured and probably did very little good for the long haul) was economic stimulus, not debt reduction. GM maintains their uptick in sales has enabled them to keep a production line or two rolling. Ask the folks cashing those paychecks (and spending money, and paying taxes) if the program was worthwhile. And all the detractors predicting a windfall of repos because people were induced into buying cars they can't afford are conveniently overlooking the fact that those buyers still had to qualify for their loans in a tight credit market. Will some default? Sure. some always do.

And we've been brazenly, collectively asserting "I don't care how much oil this will save..." for 30+ years now. That attitude costs us dearly. We really need to consider another angle.

dcb