U.S. CARS Program

Post Reply New Topic

Wondering if anyone is going to participate in this program?

CARS Program

I have a vehicle that qualifies. Seriously thinking about it.

Don't do it. You will find that you will waste more money than if you just kept the clunker until you could get yourself a car with cash. You will be buying a new car which loses 60% of its value in the first 2 years. You may be forced to purchase a car you do not want (due to EPA requirements), and the banks will take you to the cleaners to pay for all the loses on their other loans.

Simply drive your clunker until you can get another car. That is what I am doing.

Seriously, you would be much better off buying a 2 or 3 year old car than participating in this lemon of a program... do the math... you get $4000 toward a new car, and you give up your old car... the dealer will likely inflate the price of that new car by a few thousand anyway, so what you end up with is a new car for $4000 off the sticker price... say the car you want is $20,000, you'd get it for $16,000... if you bought it on contract, with interest it would add up to close to $20000 after 5 years...

buy the same car, used one year, and you'd pay maybe $10, 000, or 8000 or less on a 2 year old car... the cars they make today usually run 15 years or more before their engines start to get unreliable... buy the same car used 5 years, and you'll likely get it for under 3000... same car, 10 years old, can be had for under a thousand, less if the car needs work, but you'd add the cost of the work to the price, bringing it close to the price of the 5 year old car.
so,

pay $16000 plus interest for a car that will last 15 years,
or
pay $8000 for a car that will last 13 years,
or
pay 3000 or less for a car that will last 10 years

brand new car price per year: over $1000 (plus interest)
2 year old car price per year: around $600 (plus interest)
5 year old car price per year: $300

or, even better, keep your clunker, drive it till it dies, price per year $0, then use the money you saved to buy a 5 year old, reliable ride.

We have a similar program in the Netherlands, and it's very popular here.

Oh Well, the program has been available for only a week and they have run out of a billion dollars.

Cash for clunkers

Govt. Suspends Program

I guess this is how rationing works. It's going to be about who you know and what they can do to get you a better spot in line. Not the best for an Aspie.

May have run out.