Cash for Clunkers

[TravelBug Member Find all posts View Profile Close TravelBug]

I think the sweet spot is for people who typically buy a new car and drive it for close to its full useful life. When they go in to buy a new car, instead of getting $2K for their trade-in, they can get $4.5K (for example). A person like that may decide to buy a car this year instead of next.

I agree because that's exactly what we did a couple of months ago. We decided to buy a new car now instead of 2 to 3 years from now...they're practically giving them away and it was the most pleasant car buying experience I've ever had . Interestingly, the car we replaced had a mileage rating too high for this program.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

Classic cars are not only better looking, their simpler engines are easier and cheaper to repair. Heck, I can even do some of that myself and I am not that mechanically inclined. When it comes to design, I think a term used for modern car design in an aricle some years ago in British Car magazine when the MGRV8 first came out (when MG resumed production) sums up modern car design. It described modern cars as ''jelly bean cars'' because they looked more like a jelly bean than a car.

When I am in the states and driving my 1968 MGB or 1968 Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible, I regularly have people ask me if I would be interested in selling them. I doubt anyone driving a jelly bean car has that experience. I am just sorry I had to let my 1964 Studebaker GT Hawk go when I took my present position over here. Oh, well, maybe I will go find a nice British classic that I can buy in the UK and drive here.

[chellej Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close chellej]

I agree. There are head turners that will never be Classic.

I have an idea that some nicer vehicles, that are not being used, will get crushed... if they are only sitting, the owner just waiting for a bit of a nudge.

Some… no big deal.

Classic, many times, depends on the eyes of the beholder.

One I have my eye on for bringing to super shape: A 2002 Buick Park Avenue 4dr (3.8L 6cyl).

Most likely these won’t qualify to be scrapped due to their mpg. I like that as I hope there will be parts availability for many years to come.

The one I’m evaluating has 56k miles and can be had for $200. It is worth being kept for the mpg and its excellent ride alone. It has fuel mi. 23 in town and 33 highway.

It is so easy to get in and out of. Quite wonderful smooth ride with great road handling. I believe GM made this one right... comfortable SEATS, sound system, Quite Ride, Power On Demand, Stopping Power, Great Fuel mi. on regular Unleaded. Lots of cup holders, two in the back with a console all in the arm rest stows away in the seat back. Tri Zone climate control.

So far I find nothing economically wrong with it.


Caroll just might enjoy a trip in this car!

Is the price a typo? $200 ? I'd say if it runs it is a real steal.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

I agree because that's exactly what we did a couple of months ago. We decided to buy a new car now instead of 2 to 3 years from now...they're practically giving them away and it was the most pleasant car buying experience I've ever had . Interestingly, the car we replaced had a mileage rating too high for this program.

I bought a new Honda Ridgeline RTL 6 months ago which at 17 MPG is not a vehicle that qualifies for anything except it is great. I traded in a Honda Accord EX-L with only 45,000 miles on it and in perfect condition. It doesn't exactly fit the clunker category and got 30 MPG on the highway.

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

There is a great Cash for Clunkers calculator at the Kelley Blue Book site New Cars, Used Cars, Blue Book Prices & Car Values - Kelley Blue Book


Cash For Clunkers - Facts About The Government Sponsored Car Allowance Rebate System - Kelley Blue Book

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

That is interesting. Just for kicks, I tried my 1993 Ford Ranger XLT Supercab, V6, 2wd, Auto with 52,000 miles. It gets 19 MPG. According to their web site it does NOT qualify as a clunker. I wonder what does. In any event we have no interest in getting rid of it. It is in good shape and is our Tijuana vehicle.

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

That is interesting. Just for kicks, I tried my 1993 Ford Ranger XLT Supercab, V6, 2wd, Auto with 52,000 miles. It gets 19 MPG. According to their web site it does NOT qualify as a clunker. I wonder what does. In any event we have no interest in getting rid of it. It is in good shape and is our Tijuana vehicle.

It is completely based on fuel economy, not age or condition of the vehicle. The cutoff is 18 MPG for most vehicles. The program's intent was to get the gas-guzzlers off the road.

The official website is www.cars.gov.

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

My trade in value for my 1994 Ford Explorer XLT in good condition was $675...the dealer offered me $400 last September. I sold it myself for $2000. I could have gotten $3,500 for a 2009 or 2010 Honda Pilot. Oh well....I could have waited if I had known this program would come along...but we got a fantastic deal on our Honda Pilot and I am not sure if they would go that low again with this program.....maybe. When we bought it last September the dealerships were deserted and desperate for business. We hammered them hard.

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

When we bought it last September the dealerships were deserted and desperate for business. We hammered them hard.

What kind of deals were you seeing? I'm currently dealing on a Toyota Highlander, and the last offer from the dealer was about $1500 below invoice (as listed from Kelley Blue Book website), and that was before the $1000 rebate. Total of about $2.5K below invoice, or ~$5K below sticker. Good deal these days?

I'm visiting the Honda dealer on Monday to see what they kind of offer they will make me for a Pilot. A "Government Motors" vehicle is completely out of the question, and nothing from Ford sparked my interest -- any others that I should look at that compare to the Highlander or Pilot?

BTW, I do have a vehicle that qualifies for the CARS program that I will be trading in.

Kurt

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

Those levels sound great if you are also getting the trade in clunker value as well...I don't know as I have not shopped it for a year. It depends on what model you are after. We wanted the Honda Pilot Touring 4x4 and those were in limited supply at the time....even then. Most dealers had one, maybe two and many had none. There was a very large supply of the LX and EXL models and the prices were much much better on those. We were stuck on getting the Touring model as we wanted all the features and options. I have no idea what the supply is now.

Toyota was not offering those levels on the Highlander at the time and we were surprised but we liked the Honda Pilot much more.

One good way of getting the dealers bidding against each other is to use the quote feature at KBB. Request the max number of quotes several times all for different dealers and let them email/call you or they email you and you call them. Then start playing dialing for dollars and pit them against each other. I usually start furthest away to see how much they will budge and then work my way closer. When they really start balking at how low you take them is when you know you are close to their bottom line. We have a lot of dealers in So. Cal so it is easy to work them against each other as they are very aggressive.

I value bottom line price and pay cash. It may be different if you want dealer financing. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

What kind of deals were you seeing? I'm currently dealing on a Toyota Highlander, and the last offer from the dealer was about $1500 below invoice (as listed from Kelley Blue Book website), and that was before the $1000 rebate. Total of about $2.5K below invoice, or ~$5K below sticker. Good deal these days?

I'm visiting the Honda dealer on Monday to see what they kind of offer they will make me for a Pilot. A "Government Motors" vehicle is completely out of the question, and nothing from Ford sparked my interest -- any others that I should look at that compare to the Highlander or Pilot?

BTW, I do have a vehicle that qualifies for the CARS program that I will be trading in.

Kurt

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

Update

Yes, that deal from the Toyota dealer was before the $4500 for the CARS program trade-in. Today we stopped by the Honda dealer and test drove a 2010 Pilot. Loved it. Dealed back and forth for a while, and even though it probably wasn't quite as good of a deal than we had working w/ the Toyota dealer, we ended up with a Bali Blue Pearl Pilot EX. My gas mileage will be going up about 80%! Because I am tall, I didn't want a sunroof (takes off about 2" of headroom), and actually didn't want leather again (too sticky in the summer). So the EX was a good fix for us.

Tomorrow I have to say goodbye to an old, trusty friend (my old SUV ). One of the pains with using the CARS program is that I need to come up with proof of registration and continual insurance for the last two years. Insurance is no problem, but I normally only keep the latest registration slip in my glove box. Now I have to go down to the DMV to get last year's copy. So it goes.

Kurt

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

One good way of getting the dealers bidding against each other is to use the quote feature at KBB. Request the max number of quotes several times all for different dealers and let them email/call you or they email you and you call them. Then start playing dialing for dollars and pit them against each other. I usually start furthest away to see how much they will budge and then work my way closer. When they really start balking at how low you take them is when you know you are close to their bottom line. We have a lot of dealers in So. Cal so it is easy to work them against each other as they are very aggressive.

I value bottom line price and pay cash. It may be different if you want dealer financing. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

I do exactly the same thing except I use CarsDirect.com. I have used them for the last 4 Hondas I have purchased. You select the vehicle you want and put in your zip code. They will give you a guaranteed low price which is usually close to the bottom. You can also choose to get quotes from dealers which is what I do. I typically get at least 6 quotes and then I play them against each other. I paid just $26,000 for my new Honda Ridgeline RTL 7 months ago. It was a few thousand below invoice. The MSRP was $35,000. I was going to pay cash but the dealer offered me Honda financing at 1.9% fixed so I took that. If I can use somebody else's money at less than 2%, I am going to jump on it. One good thing is you avoid the hassles of dealing with commissioned sales people. It is a very easy process. I had quotes from Honda Dealers all over Southern California. I had similar experiences on the other Hondas I purchased using CarsDirect.com.

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

Nice. I have a longer than normal torso so I don't fit in many cars either especially with sunroofs. I could not fit in the Acura MDX...but I have always fit in the Honda Pilot even with a sunroof.

Did you get the $4500 for the Pilot too?

Yes, that deal from the Toyota dealer was before the $4500 for the CARS program trade-in. Today we stopped by the Honda dealer and test drove a 2010 Pilot. Loved it. Dealed back and forth for a while, and even though it probably wasn't quite as good of a deal than we had working w/ the Toyota dealer, we ended up with a Bali Blue Pearl Pilot EX. My gas mileage will be going up about 80%! Because I am tall, I didn't want a sunroof (takes off about 2" of headroom), and actually didn't want leather again (too sticky in the summer). So the EX was a good fix for us.

Tomorrow I have to say goodbye to an old, trusty friend (my old SUV ). One of the pains with using the CARS program is that I need to come up with proof of registration and continual insurance for the last two years. Insurance is no problem, but I normally only keep the latest registration slip in my glove box. Now I have to go down to the DMV to get last year's copy. So it goes.

Kurt

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

Did you get the $4500 for the Pilot too?

Yep, the Pilot qualified for the $4500 trade-in on my old vehicle.

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

OUT of GAS already?????

White House reviewing 'cash for clunkers' program

Louis By KEN THOMAS, Associated Press Writer Ken Thomas, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 1 min ago
WASHINGTON – The White House said Thursday it was reviewing what has turned out to be a wildly popular "cash for clunkers" program amid concerns the $1 billion budget for rebates for new auto purchases may have been exhausted in only a week.

Transportation Department officials called lawmakers' offices 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 officials there were assessing their options.

"We are working tonight to assess the situation facing what is obviously an incredibly popular program," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said of the Car Allowance Rebate System. "Auto dealers and consumers should have confidence that all valid CARS transactions that have taken place to date will be honored."

Gibbs said the administration was "evaluating all options" to keep the program funded.

A Transportation Department official said the department was working with Congress and the White House to keep the program going. The administration officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the discussions.

The CARS program offers owners of old cars and trucks $3,500 or $4,500 toward a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle.

Congress last month approved the program to boost auto sales and remove some inefficient cars and trucks from the roads. The program kicked off last Friday and was heavily publicized by car companies and auto dealers

Through late Wednesday, 22,782 vehicles had been purchased through the program and nearly $96 million had been spent. But dealers raised concerns about large backlogs in the processing of the deals in the government system, prompting talk of a possible suspension.

A survey of 2,000 dealers by the National Automobile Dealers Association found about 25,000 deals had not yet been approved by NHTSA, or nearly 13 trades per store. It raised concerns that with about 23,000 dealers taking part in the program, auto 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.

Alan Helfman, general manager of River Oaks Chrysler Jeep in Houston, said he was worried that the government wouldn't pay for some of the clunker deals his dealership has signed because they aren't far enough along in the process.

His dealership has done paperwork on about 20 sales under the clunker program, but in some cases the titles haven't been obtained yet or the vehicles aren't yet 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.

Even before the suspension, some in Congress were seeking more money for the auto sales stimulus. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., wrote in a letter to House leaders on Wednesday requesting additional funding for the program.

"This is simply the most stimulative $1 billion the federal government has spent during the entire economic downturn," Miller said Thursday. "The federal government must come up with more money, immediately, to keep this program going."

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 Thursday the automaker hopes "there's a will and way to keep the CARS program going a little bit longer."

White House reviewing 'cash for clunkers' program - Yahoo! News