Cash for clunkers

[BabyMine]

For those of us looking into an automobile purchase this might help. The government just passed this bill. You could get up to $4500. That is on top of whatever you put down. We are looking for a minivan so this came at a good time.

http://www.reuters.com/article/earth2Tech/idUS216228605420090619

[KrisM]

Their version of "clunker" doesn't match mine :). DH has a Saturn that is 10 years old with over 100,000 miles on it. The windows don't roll down any more. We add a quart of oil every month because we don't want to pay to have the head gasket fixed at this point. Etc. But, it's rated at 27 mpg, so it's not a "clunker". It's really a bummer as we are in the market for a new(er) car and this would have really helped us.

[JElaineB]

deleted...

[wellyes]

I'm not thrilled about this because only "clunkers" that get 18 mpg or worse are eligible..... it's rewarding the least responsible vehicle owners. But I do understand the rational. I'm glad that they passed it.

Just sour grapes because my current car gets about 19 mpg :) and is most definitely a "clunker." Oh well!

[AnnieW625]

DH looked at this too. He has a 2001 Toyota Corolla with almost 120K on it, but because it gets 37 mpg it's not a clunker. My Pilot isn't a clunker either but I average between 19 and 21 mpg. We used to have a 1996 Chevy Silverado Extended Cab Long Bed and that thing got maybe 17MPG and we sold it 2 years ago for $6800 (it had maybe 50K miles on it) so even if we'd kept it we would've made more money selling it outright like we did than trading it to cash for clunkers.

[Snow mom]

Okay, I'm another sour grape on this one because we are looking to trade in DH's car, which is worth way less than $4500 and honestly gets about 15 mpg, but the epa has it listed as combined 21 mpg. I feel like this is another show of incompetence on our governments part. They made the bill completely about mpg, which I guess is fine if that is what they want to aim for, but then they are only requiring a tiny increase in fuel efficiency in order to qualify. If they wanted to make it about increasing fuel efficiency they should have made a minimum like 25 or 30 mpg for the new vehicle. Otherwise they should take into account other factors like age of the vehicle, potential pollution, etc. Anyway, I'm thoroughly annoyed at how this bill turned out...