Clunker program - no joy
Ashton Crusher
of the "free" $4500. I've got a 92 Explorer 4x4 in perfect shape, and
an 89 S-10 in excellent shape. The Expy only has 134K on it, the S-10
has 193K. There seems to be no way to replace either of them with
anything remotely similar without spending 18K to 25K. It just
doesn't make sense to me to get rid of two perfectly good vehicles and
spend upwards of $13K. And that's not really getting like for like as
far as the explorer, I'd wind up with considerably less heavy dutyness
without spending much more then that. So I gave up and figure with
the $13K I didn't spend I can buy a lot of gas and repairs.
In the process another issue dawned on me that I have not heard anyone
talking about... If I spent the $20K or so I would have to pay $1600
in sales tax. So depending on whether I got the $3500 or the $4500
rebate that lowers the actual value of the rebate to $1900 to $2900.
Still some nice coin but I wanted to dump the S-10 and that was only
good for the $3500 and to get a similar truck I'd have to spend nearly
the $20K so it's only a $2000 freebie.
Plus I'd have to buy a 4 cylinder. I drove some,... eh, they're OK I
suppose but nothing to get excited about.
While trying to find the absolute cheapest way to make something work
for the least money I eventually settled on the Jeep Patriot as the
only option that meet all criteria of lowest final cost as an S-10
replacement, even though it's not a pickup. Just try to find one
you'd want to own though. I also drove one and the road noise is just
horrendous once you get over about 45 or 50 mph. I decided I could
not live with that racket.
The final issue was the thought that instead of getting stuck with a
vehicle I don't really want (4 cylinder, bottom of the line) I could
do better by just keeping what I've got and if and when they need a
repair that's too expensive for what they are worth just go out and
buy a one or two year old NICE vehicle and probably get it for $5000
to $10000 less then what I would be paying now for the lesser vehicle.
I'm sure there are people where all the things line up right for them
and this cash for clunkers is a decent deal but I can't make it work
for me.
harry k
From what I have seen, the only people who gain with the program are
those who had planned to buy a new car anyway. Trading up just for a
gain of some MPG does not make economic sense. The Gubmint, of
course, will hammer on the "good for the ecological system" aspect.
Harry K