The clunker program, just another government flop.

[garner49]

A vehicle at 15 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 800 gallons a year of gasoline.
A vehicle at 25 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 480 gallons a year.
So, the average clunker transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by 320 gallons per year.


They claim 700,000 vehicles – so that's 224 million gallons / year.

That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil.

5 million barrels of oil is about 1/4 of one day's US consumption.

5 million barrels of oil costs about $350 million dollars @$75/bbl.

So, we all contributed to spending $3 billion to save $350 million ... How good of a deal was that ????

The Government Procurement Standard!

[quicksilverdon]

It served as a stimulus to the economy. There were tons of cars sitting in inventory, and I read that some auto workers were brought back to work after cars were sold.
The average improvement of traded in car to new car was 9.6 MPG - that is for the life of the car, not just one year.
I think it's better than spending money on something like a missle defense system, that with luck will never be needed, and every test (that wasn't rigged) showed it doesn't work.
It is also better than pouring money down the Iraqi rathole.

[Teekypt]

Odd that you should post this. My co-worker was pre-approved for one of these, lol, she told me today.

Gonna take her to the dealership tomorrow so she can get a car...she needs one, and I'm glad to take her I hope it works out for her.

[SantaGuy]

Although I was no fan of Ronald Regan, I remember him talking about the trickle down effect. When they announced the Cash for Clunkers program is when I started looking for a car.

My first choice was a Mustang but it did not qualify, so I looked at a VW Beetle. (It had to be a ragtop.) Then I got sticker shock. Even with my $3500 Explorer and a $2500 discount from the dealer it was still going to be nearly $500.00 a month for 5 years. Add to that both the Mustang and Beetle had no rear seat room.

Since I now started looking used, a Cruiser Vert was a good choice.

So the new car dealer did not get my money but Car Max did. And now the dealer is getting my warranty and service work.

And I did sell the 218,000 mile Explorer. But not for $3500.

Maybe Regan was right. At least about that.