Most Cashed-In Clunkers...

[Lou Park]

So, I could trade my 67 DodgeDart Gt Convertible and get $4500 back. Got thinking about it this weekednd and I figured out that I am against cash for clunkers due to the fact that it takes future classic cars and destroys them and destorys the spare parts that would have someday been used in their restoration.

Isn't that what Al Bundy drove?

[rxc463]

It's the criteria for picking the clunkers to trade that gets me. I have an old 87 s-10 4wd blazer 2.8 v-6 with 252k on the odometer. I don't even try to track the fuel mileage anymore. The rub is that if it were 2wd it would qualify, the 4wd does not! Guess I'll just wait till the body finishes falling off it and then use it for a tractor

[chorizon]

The problem I have with the car rebate is the same one I have with just about any rebate the dealer uses to "lower the price".

Auto dealers offer incentives to come and buy their cars. Usually they are offered from the finance company, or maybe the vehicle manufacturer themselves. Either way, those incentives are coming from an entity other than the auto dealer.

A few friends and people I work with have taken advantage of the rebate and bought new vehicles. In many of these cases, the people share their experiences and seem to have received a good deal $4500 off the sale price of the car and were for the most part, happy .

When I asked if they negotiated a lower price, then took the $4500 off that price (which only seems fair, right?), a couple of them looked like I'd just punched them in the stomach.

Bear with me, the last couple of times we went car-shopping we rather easily got the dealer to knock $7K to $10K off the price.

We all know their is a decent amount of "wiggle-room" on the price of a new vehicle, especially these days. Father-in-law bought a nice new Ford P/U about 6 months ago with all the accoutrements for $17K, now I'm seeing these vehicles advertised for well over $20K.

It seems like the lion's share, if not all of the $4500 is actually going into the dealer's pocket, not the consumers.

But maybe, that's the point?

[Lou Park]

Isn't that why you look up the vehicle's cost factor on the internet before you go shopping?
lou

[PanelDeland]

the comments in this thread seem to follow what I've heard from folks around me.I'm against the Cash for clunkers.Not because mine doesn't qualify(3 of my 4 do),not because they crush classics(most have no collectablevalue,though I did hear of a 83 Maseratti being turned in) and i really don't want a car payment.
I'm against it because it seems like we already went down this road about 6-10 years ago and would up with the bottom falling out of the mortgage market and home prices dropping leading to the (start or intensification) of the economic collapse.In addition the clunkers that are crushed will not be available for people who bought new cars under the law when they find they have lost their jobs or have overbought,thus driving the prices of used cars up.additionally cars do not appreciate like homes thus causing greater losses on a loosing purchase to begin with.In the long run it seems like it will cause the recession to be longer than it would have been.This is strictly my theory on what it will bring.

[FireLion]

Yup, just wait 6 or 8 months and you should be able to find a helluva deal on a repo'd rice burner, oops, I meant Japanese or Korean car.

[caseydog]

The Maserati traded in was a 1983 (I think) Biturbo. That was not a Maserati on par with the early years, or the current models. The 80s were not kind to Maserati. So, I wouldn't shed any tears for that loss.

Come to think of it, the 80s were not kind to most cars. I'd almost say that ANY car produced in the 80s should maybe qualify as a clunker.

Remember the Lamborghini Countach? Every schoolboy's dream car in the early 80s?

I drove a Countach a few years ago. Talk about a dream-killing experience. What a pice of crap. Slow, hard as hell to drive, and horrible handling.

CD

[mikeschn]

[Aaron Coffee]

Nah, Al Bundy drove a 70's Plymouth Duster, one of my favorite lines from that show is "A Plymouth's a darn nice car, I ran over my first wife with a Plymouth." Reminds me, wish I still had my Duster.

[TLC]

This one's getting a lot of mileage on it.

[Aaron Coffee]

In a few years the government will have to bail out the used car market(the independents, and the we finance anybody lots) because there will be a shortage of high mileage used cars. As far as classics my philosophy is that at one time even a '57 Chevy Bel Air was thought of as just another used car. I think my pickup (98 Dodge Dakota v6)is begging to be put to sleep, brake light and abs light just came on lately, the speedometer doesn't register under 25mph, theres a squeel under the hood that won't go away, but all of that can be fixed for what one or two payments for new car would be.

[jeep9806]

Kurt,

They stopped making the regular jeep cherokee in 2001 so they are at least 8 years old!! No government money will ever be worth trading in my 98 cherokee!!

Todd

[Roly Nelson]

Is it true that because of the $4500 cash bonus, the new buyer will get a 10-99 and have to pay taxes on it, as earned income? If so, they just slid another one in on us...........and who is surprised?
Roly

[caseydog]

Is it true that because of the $4500 cash bonus, the new buyer will get a 10-99 and have to pay taxes on it, as earned income? If so, they just slid another one in on us...........and who is surprised?
Roly

I did a few minutes of research, and this is what I found.

The C4C money is NOT taxable income on your federal income taxes. That was written into the C4C legislation.

Beyond that, each state can decide how it will treat the money.

Some plan to consider it part of your down payment, making it subject to sales and/or excise taxes.

Some states with income taxes will tax it, some will not.

The worse case number I found is that the state income tax on the full $4,500 payout would be about $280. So, instead of getting $4,500 for a worthless piece of crap, you are really only getting $4,220.

CD