Cash-for-Clunkers bill may get fast tracked
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) have said they would like to fast track the Cash for Clunkers bill through the legislative process. There's a legitimate fear that new car sales will stagnate while buyers wait for the bill to pass, which could take a very long time if it's attached to the much broader climate change legislation. Says Reid:
"Cash for clunkers is really important. Every country in the world is selling less cars than they did before except one country: Germany. And in Germany they have a program for cash-for-clunkers. We need to do the same."Germany, the first country to implement a car scrapping scheme, has seen new car sales improve by over 20% in each month since the plan's launch in February. Under the proposed legislation in the U.S., new car buyers would be eligible for a voucher worth up to $4,500 after trading in an older vehicle if the replacement manages at least 10 mpg better than their so-called clunker.
[Source: Detroit News | Photo: Tommy Draper]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Collin 11:28AM (5/13/2009)
Ah, the wording on this article would make my car eligible on some cars. My car is rated at 36mpg highway, so if I purchased a Prius or VW TDi, then I'd be eligible.
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Bill 11:33AM (5/13/2009)
As the Wall Street Journal pointed out, this bill would mostly encourage truck sales, to clear out the huge stockpile domestic automakers now have.
And trucks don't have to show the mileage increase that cars do under the current terms of the legislation.
So you can trade your low mileage truck for another low-mpg truck, helped by a generous federal subsidy.
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Rhys 2:48PM (5/13/2009)
I look forward to this. Despite the criticisms that people throw around about this bill, it'll help get my 1990 Volvo 740 Turbo wagon which really chews up the gasoline (and oil, since it's piston rings are shot) off the road. The car I've been eying manages 25 city and 31 highway. That would put me in the $4500 range. I think it's a win-win.
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David Robison 3:08PM (5/13/2009)
Unfortunately, Subaru has done basically NOTHING to improve mileage in the a3 years since they made my Outback. May go for that Jetta TDI...
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ale 5:38PM (5/13/2009)
Yo, Mahindra is going to have a ball with this; a word of advice to Mahindra, if Washington gets around to putting this into action, market actively, that's all I can say. Come on, Mahindra would easily satisfy the car requirement let alone the lax truck requirement. The ball's in yo court Mahindra...
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Paul Sallmen 2:37AM (5/14/2009)
This is almost farcical. The fuel economy improvements are virtually nil. Have a look at this article about the silliness of cash for clunkers:
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2009/03/10/scrap-it/
I like the part where they say something to the effect that for maximum benefit to the environment, a car should be on the road for 19 years!
Clearly this cash-for-clunkers program, like the one in Germany, is an indirect tax to those who either, don't have a car that qualifies, don't want to trade in, or don't even have a car. It is really just a bailout in disguise. Plus, this just creates a fake market and devalues all the cars in the used car market, especially ones that won't qualify for the program. With America's $10 trillion debt, I don't think Americans can really afford this.
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carepi1979 4:22PM (5/14/2009)
so, everybody who is buying a car has to go to ebay or craigslist and buy a $500 piece of junk that they can trade in for a $4500 voucher?, it does not sound so bad, now, clunker prices may go up due to demand (to get rid of them), is there a provision about how long should you own a clunker or what brand of new car can you buy to be elegible?
Otherwise Vw is getting all the clients with it's TDI's.
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michelle 12:17AM (7/24/2009)
Nope, that isn't gonna happen. To be elegible for the $3500 or $4500 voucher, you have to have been the registered owner of the car for at least one year. So going out to buy up clunkers isn't gonna work. Bummer, huh? :)
SLIMKIN 11:35PM (5/21/2009)
Someone who has an old car (say, older than ten years) but mpg is about 20, trades it in for a hybrid, would serve the purpose of helping stimulate the automotive industry and also improve the gas consumption, significantly. However, according to the proposal, he is unable to take advantage of "cash for clunkers" and then probably it may not make it attractive/economical enough to trade his car in.
Wouldn't you think that such people would be more useful than one who has an SUV with 108mpg, trades it in for another SUV with 22 mpg ?
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ROCK WEB MEDIA 12:09PM (6/22/2009)
I don't qualify because my car already gets good gas mileage. But my dad swears by the car buying process here:
http://excarsalesman.typepad.com
I have a feeling dealers are going to automatically increase prices because of the increased demand (artificial) for great MPG cars. So the thousands of savings from this bill for consumers is not entirely accurate.
With the price increase, I'm certain some markets you'll come out even as if they never offered this voucher. It is poorly written legislation.
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