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"Cash for Clunkers" Bill Passes!

Started by Rich S, June 19, 2009, 07:19:35 AM

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Rich S

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress approved a "cash for clunkers" program Thursday to provide government incentives of $3,500 to $4,500 to motorists who trade in their gas guzzlers for more fuel efficient vehicles after Senate Democrats narrowly defeated a Republican effort to kill the plan.

Auto state senators said the program would help hard-pressed car dealers and automakers by bringing buyers into showrooms, and they got help from President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, who made calls to wavering Democrats urging them to keep the plan alive.

"This is an emergency for families and small businesses -- for an industry that has been the backbone of our economy for a generation," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who sponsored the proposal.

Opponents said it would increase the federal debt without doing much to get expensive-to-operate vehicles off the roads.

.....

Under the proposal, car owners could get a voucher worth $3,500 if they traded in a vehicle getting 18 miles per gallon or less for one getting at least 22 mpg. The value of the voucher would grow to $4,500 if the mileage of the new car was 10 mpg higher than the old vehicle. The miles per gallon figures are listed on the car window's sticker.

Owners of sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks or minivans that get 18 mpg or less could receive a voucher for $3,500 if their new truck or SUV got at least 2 mpg higher than their old vehicle. The voucher would increase to $4,500 if the mileage of the new truck or SUV was at least 5 mpg higher than the older vehicle.

Dealers participating in the program would receive an electronic voucher from the government for the trade-in to apply to the purchase or lease of a qualifying vehicle. The bill directs dealers to ensure that the older vehicles are crushed or shredded to get the clunkers off the road.

The program was intended to help replace older vehicles -- built in model year 1984 or later -- and would not make financial sense for consumers owning an older car with a trade-in value greater than $3,500 or $4,500.

The U.S. industry is expected to generate about 9.5 million vehicles sales in 2009, compared with more than 13 million in 2008 and more than 16 million in 2007.

.....

The bill is H.R. 2346.

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Oh, boy . . . !!!
Rich Sullivan CLC #11473

1971 Eldo Conv., 2013 CTS Cpe

Ohio57-62Sedan

I think I'm going to trade in my 57 Caddy now.... And you guys put them in office...

DinoBob

The program was intended to help replace older vehicles -- built in model year 1984 or later -- and would not make financial sense for consumers owning an older car with a trade-in value greater than $3,500 or $4,500.

These are important distinctions that I think take a lot of the sting out of this for the hobby. The 1960 Sedan Deville sitting in someone's yard is not going to be eligible so those parts will not die as a result of this bill. Nor will the "barn find" in someone's aunt's garage be traded in on a Prius.
Bob Belloff

Ohio57-62Sedan

Bob,
   Thanks for your response.. I just think it all a bunch of crap. I'm 35 years old and the day I was born I was in Debt.. so I can trade in my Six thousand dollar Hurst old's for fortyfive hundred.  but I cant get a credit for my Cadillac... what a bunch of clueless idiots we have in Washington.. I don't think bill is worth the paper it's written on on in my opinion... I shelled out more for my Old's than I did for my Cadillac.. not that I would trade any of my cars in anyway, or buy a new car... We The People Need to Vote all of them out of office and replace them with people with solid core values... there has been too much greasing the wheels going on in this country far too long.. I don't think the clueless idiots in Washington are working in our best interest here..   :(

For the People that voted for the non American they can keep the change.... I'll keep my old cars and guns, and freedom..  >:(


CadZZilla

quite honestly, the government is the clunker, maybe we should trade it in for a new one?
Jeff Wecker
Abilene, Kansas

1970 Cadillac Sedan Deville 4 door HT

DinoBob

Our government is the worst one in the world. Except for all the others.

I'm not sure who these people are that you are referring to with "core values". We have not had much luck in changing the "system" with anyone we have elected in recent memory. What we have to remember is that we, in fact, are the system. And when we change ourselves, and our priorities, and what we deem "important", then the system will change.
Bob Belloff

The Tassie Devil(le)

Don't blame the Government.

Blame the Auto Manufacturers that come up with these ideas of ways to sell vehicles, and the Lobbyists that are astute enough to earn the money that the instigators of these ideas pay them for.

The Government doesn't want to spend money on anything they don't need to, and someone is definitely going to get a real good payment for getting the Government to spend money it doesn't need to.

Can't see the Petroleum Industry being that much involved, as they want to sell more fuel, not less.

Then again, who is going to benefit out of the collection of all these supposed "Clunkers".   Is it the Steel Recyclers?   Or the Plastic Recyclers?  Or the Vehicle Parts Recyclers?

Bruce. >:D
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

Ohio57-62Sedan

Quote from: The Tassie Devil(le) (Bruce Reynolds) on June 19, 2009, 06:17:15 PM
Don't blame the Government.
Bruce. >:D

Why Not they have been screwing up in office my whole life.. circa 1973

Quote from: The Tassie Devil(le) (Bruce Reynolds) on June 19, 2009, 06:17:15 PM
Blame the Auto Manufacturers that come up with these ideas of ways to sell vehicles, and the Lobbyists that are astute enough to earn the money that the instigators of these ideas pay them for.

Do you have some inside info on this?? If so share it .... As far as I know the Government has been Screwing the auto ind sience the 70's why change now...

Quote from: The Tassie Devil(le) (Bruce Reynolds) on June 19, 2009, 06:17:15 PM
Then again, who is going to benefit out of the collection of all these supposed "Clunkers".   Is it the Steel Recyclers?   Or the Plastic Recyclers?  Or the Vehicle Parts Recyclers?

CHINA !!!!! Our Government is still selling us out... wake up people....

RobW

But if you think about for a minute...how many of the "clunkers" will really be taken off the road? So some poor slob can get $4500 off on a new car. So what? Does anyone think that's all that's holding him back? Where is he going to come up with another $8-$12,000? If he had any money in the first place he wouldn't driving the POS they're willing to give him $4,500 for!
The only real downside is some decent cars will be lost if crushed. But the biggest problem will be whenever you find something that should be cheap based on its condition, the seller will think he can get $4,500 from the dealer so he should get that from you.
Rob Wirsing

CadZZilla

what our moronic leaders are doing is making people get deeper in debt, all that voucher will do is make the down payment, leaving the poor shnook saddled with several months of big payments!  >:(
Jeff Wecker
Abilene, Kansas

1970 Cadillac Sedan Deville 4 door HT

Ohio57-62Sedan

I dont know how old you are zilla but as for myself I was born into debt... with no possable way to pay it off... we are just being sold a bunch of poo... IMHO

The Tassie Devil(le)

Quote from: Ohio57-62Sedan on June 19, 2009, 09:14:14 PM
Why Not they have been screwing up in office my whole life.. circa 1973.  Do you have some inside info on this?? If so share it .... As far as I know the Government has been Screwing the auto ind sience the 70's why change now...
No mater what Government is in power, Republican, Democratic, Liberal, Labour, Communist, Socialist, whatever, everyone thinks they are getting screwed.   The only people that like any Government is the person that can get something they want....for nothing.

If enough people complained about a bad Law, it gets fixed, but there are far too many people that don't care, and think that they can't do things to change things.   Boy, are they wrong.   SEMA has managed to do some good for the Auto Enthusiast, but then, Sema is lobbying for the manufacturers that are associated with their organisation.   Individually, we cannot do much, but, united, we can.   Just that most of us don't know how to go about it.

QuoteCHINA !!!!! Our Government is still selling us out... wake up people....
Last I heard, the value of Scrap was at rock bottom, and even China isn't buying anything.   They have such stockpiles to use up first and I even gave away a half a ton of scrap steel as it was in the way, and it would have cost me more in petrol to take it to the recycler than what I could get for it.

As far as an insight, no I have none, but I have seen how Governments can be manipulated by the people with agendas of their own.

The Greenies are not really pushing for Carbon Trading, as it assists Polluters.   If they could have their way, we would all be sitting amongst the trees, pedalling bicycles, and saving the environment.

Remember back to the first "Cash for Clunkers".   Who was behind that?   Wasn't it the Petroleum Companies and the Auto Industry that really wanted to sell more fuel and vehicles?   With the old vehicles off the roads, and the ones that weren't actually being used, they could get more new cars back on the road, and sell more petroleum products to make plastic items that further fuelled the Auto Industry.

People tend to forget that a lot of Petroleum is consumed in the making of Plastics, and other industries, and who sells the fuel, but the Petroleum Companies.   The sale of petrol out of Petrol Stations to the end user, the motorist, is a bonus.

Bruce. >:D

PS.   But seriously, the Governments, whoever they are, don't really want people using less fuel, as then the Tax Receipts will go down.   Everyone stops using fuel, and we all will get screwed in some way or another for a way of raising the same amount of revenue.
'72 Eldorado Convertible (LHD)
'70 Ranchero Squire (RHD)
'74 Chris Craft Gull Wing (SH)
'02 VX Series II Holden Commodore SS Sedan
(Past President Modified Chapter)

Past Cars of significance - to me
1935 Ford 3 Window Coupe
1936 Ford 5 Window Coupe
1937 Chevrolet Sports Coupe
1955 Chevrolet Convertible
1959 Ford Fairlane Ranch Wagon
1960 Cadillac CDV
1972 Cadillac Eldorado Coupe

Ohio57-62Sedan

#12
China was buying all the steel they could get their hands on this time of year last year... thats how I bought my Cadillac from the scrap yard... you have seen pictures of it would you have sent it to the crusher... they jacked the price so high people where scraping everything... now they have too much.... :o

cash for classics... is more like it...

DinoBob

I suspect that any post-'84 car worth less than $4500 at this point does not have much chance of ever being a classic.
Bob Belloff

Misfit

Is there really an American car newer than 1984 that any of you would pay $4500.00 for?
$4.50 maybe, but not $4500.00.

The clueless American........

MisFit

Ohio57-62Sedan

Quote from: Misfit on June 20, 2009, 03:56:50 PM
Is there really an American car newer than 1984 that any of you would pay $4500.00 for?
$4.50 maybe, but not $4500.00.

The clueless American........

MisFit

Buick GN   M/C SS

Misfit

And here I thought this was a Cadillac board. But I digress, I never stated a make or a model huh??

MisFit   ::)

RobW

Quote from: Ohio57-62Sedan on June 20, 2009, 04:33:40 PM
Buick GN   M/C SS
Any G body for that matter, GP's, El Camino's, Cutlass', Regals, T-Types, Malibu's.
Even the wagons are gaining in popularity.
And don't forget Mustangs.
Rob Wirsing

Rick Payton

if you can buy a GN for 4500 then do it.... I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to trade one in for a new car.... I think they are safe....
Rick Payton - President- US Distribution
WWW.FLATJACK.COM

1955 Cadillac Eldorado
1955 Cadillac Eldorado Seville
1955 Cadillac Coupe Deville
1956 Ford Thunderbird
1958 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham #590
1959 Cadillac Coupe Deville
1964 Corvette Stingray
1967 Cadillac Coupe Deville
1986 Mercedes Benz 560SL
2006 Cadillac XLR
2013 Cadillac XTS
2015 Cadillac Escalade

Ohio57-62Sedan

#19
Just bustin ,.... here I dont think anything past 76 is worth keeping.. and FWD unibody forget about it...
Quote from: Misfit on June 20, 2009, 04:36:52 PM
And here I thought this was a Cadillac board. But I digress, I never stated a make or a model huh??

MisFit   ::)

Dooohhhh!!!!  Cadillac king of the road...