Trade in a Clunker program...

[Tiger]

Hey Everyone,

I am shocked... I just looked at the edmunds.com value for my car... a paltry $2600 for my car! That's alot of BMW for the price! Although KBB said $4700...

The 540i qualified to be traded in because it is combined 17MPG... you need to be 18 or under to qualify.

Now the US gov't is offering up to $4500 for the 'clunker' and if for some reason you like Chrysler product, Chrysler will give you $4500 additional or zero interest loan... now that $9000 trade in credit!

Now before I get ahead of myself... Let's see if any other manufacturers going to offer something similar but not as much as Chrysler.

I can't htink of any affordable cars that would be comparable to our E34... and I shudder to think they will crush our E34... but most likely going to junkyard and parted out or shipped out of the country.

What do you think?

[Tiger]

Looking at the list for maximum $4500 credit...

Toyota Prius
Toyota Camry Hybrid
Honda Civic Hybrid
Lots of hybids but I am not interested in those...
VW TDI cars

Honda Civic GX
Interesting thing about this car is it uses Natural Gas and from what I read... people gets about 38MPG overall... much higher than EPA rated and there is $4000 Tax Credit. Intersting thing also since you are not buying gasoline that has federal and state road tax... this is also another potential big saving.

All other cars... diesels and hybrids cost a big fortune... $40,000+ like the BMW 335D, Mercedes E320 CDI, etc... Biggest kickers are the large car such as Lexus Lh600 or Mercedes S400 Hybrids that cost $100,000+.

[dennyg]

There are a few ways to make some money additionally with your car. 1 Take off the front bumper splitter. 2. Engine cover 3. If your seats are decent trade out for bad ones. Same with tires and wheels. /Tool kit.......well you get the picture. You could make an additional 1000 or more. Any way to pull the cats and weld it back so it would run okay?

[Tiger]

LOL... very funny. Technically you are right... the car just need to be in running condition...

[tim eh?]

So let me get this straight - the US government is offering to give people money for dumping their old cars and buying new imported cars (what they think everyone's going to buy a Ford?) And this is supposed to help the environment and stimulate the US economy? OMFG we're all going to hell and it's not because we're bad it's because we are stupid... what am I missing something?

I am not US bashing, I think we are all stoopid. We are going to have the same silly program here in no time... I'm mad about it already. How about a tax on (distance travelled per year / car's mpg determined by annual emissions testing) instead? I don't want to pay taxes so people can trash old classics for new beaters and then drive them twice as far because they get awesome mileage. I did my part, I saved my car from the scrapheap (fingers crossed) ... that's a whole car! Rant over for now.

[Tiger]

Yeah I know! Isn't that awesome? This is one way to get the money back from our gov't and put us in much more debt to boost the economy. Wait a minute... people deeper in the debt hole is better for the economy?

I share you sentiment... I am not ready to trade the BMW in... I know I will survive in much better shape than any other new car I buy if I got hit or crashed.

You know... I didn't even look at British cars other than the Mini... I should check out Jags for any great MPG cars... if any...

[Paul in NZ]

they seem to think that there are no energy inputs for makin new cars or junking perfectly good older ones.I would rather keep my relatively innefficient old car going than let it go to someone who will trash it and then dump it.Sooner or later we have to learn new ways of living.We cannot stay on this consume consume consume treadmill

[whiskychaser]

Dont know if you guys have it, but there is a site in the UK called 'webuyanycar.com'. I put mine in and they offered £245:( Which is about £200 more than they offered somebody I know for their 535i sport. Of course I couldnt possibly say whose car that was:D
Edit: get your car valued with edmunds.com. It says mine is worth USD 2213!
OK, I put in a coupe of zeros to make up a zip code of 50025 but I might still have change if I shipped it over;)

[Ross]

You, my Canuck friend, have the picture. Doesn't make a bit of f'ing sense to me either.

[Ross]

Like this
http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/pts/1289981658.html

Anybody here?

[Tiger]

Dude... that's insane. Well, I guess Obama do want clunkers... so we have to make clunkers for him. LOL

Come to think of it, if we part everything and sold everything, we would get alot of money... just the engine and transmission alone can get quite alot of money... so is the cats.

[whiskychaser]

I see a business opportunity here. You get £2800 (USD 4700) for scrappage. I could buy a wreck and ship it for about £1000. Take away US duty and taxes on scrap - whats that? - 10%? Leaves about £1600 to split 50/50. Then ship it back to me. I can get £2000 scrappage when it comes back. Thats another £1000 to split 50/50...

[Ross]

It's a crock of ****. They(us, damn it!)might as well just send a billion(more) in cash to the auto mnfrs., at least we could eliminate the foreign makes from it then.
Here is the deal; http://www.cars.gov/files/TheRule.pdf
The cars are to be crushed, eventually and the drivelines cannot be sold, unless as seperate pieces. This is a windfall for the wrecking yards also.
Nothing, including the gas sucking v-8s and our beloved M30s are preordained for the smelter. If the wrecker can sell the drivelines he's welcome to do so, just separately. Only the "engine block" has to be certified to have been shredded or crushed. The auto wrecking industry being the epitome of credibility.
About the only requirement aside sub 18 mpg is that the car has been registered for the past year, no dragging some heap out of the junkyard, field, etc.
Interesting is a clause requiring that engines be disabled by the dealers accepting them, this could be fun.
The scrap value should be added on top of the government dole, this is where the buyers can expect to be cheated.
This topic is auto related but political also so I'll STFU now.

[Tiger]

Damn! What a waste of resources!

[zhandax]

OMFG we're all going to hell and it's not because we're bad it's because we are stupid... what am I missing something?

Well, you did leave out the specifics...we continue to send the same dumbass theives back to Washington time and time again.

If you need anymore evidence of how wrong DC gets things, how about their claim of a combined 17mpg? Thats about what I get sitting on the freeway in rush hour traffic downtown with a 4-litre V8 and the air conditioner running. Before the gubmint demanded all gas have ethanol added, I got 26mpg at 100mph. Now its more like 24. Thanks, CONgress.

[tim eh?]

Up to 50,000 cars meant to be scrapped under a German scrappage scheme have been illegally sold abroad instead, the country's police union says.

nice... maybe a few e34s will make it to Africa. Who comes up with a 50,000 car scam? How do you expect to hide that?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8188267.stm


Well, you did leave out the specifics...we continue to send the same dumbass theives back to Washington time and time again.


Good point, we have different dumbass thieves here but it's the same deal.

[Tiger]

I have no doubt that some of the US cars that were supposed to go to junkyard ends up oversea... So out of 250,000 cars that were traded in so far... how much do you think some will sneak out?

Zero? Extremely unlikely.

[whiskychaser]

Up to 50,000 cars meant to be scrapped under a German scrappage scheme have been illegally sold abroad instead, the country's police union says.

nice... maybe a few e34s will make it to Africa. Who comes up with a 50,000 car scam? How do you expect to hide that?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8188267.stm



Good point, we have different dumbass thieves here but it's the same deal.

I've been in the transport/shipping/logistics business for 30 odd years. I'd be very interested to learn how you get 40 cars in a container. The longest containers are 45x8x8 feet. Maybe its like the how many elephants do you get in a mini joke?

[Tiger]

That's easy... crush them in... then stretch them out at the destination! LOL

[Ross]

I have no doubt that some of the US cars that were supposed to go to junkyard ends up oversea... So out of 250,000 cars that were traded in so far... how much do you think some will sneak out?

Zero? Extremely unlikely.

Most that get turned in on this program will be crap cars anyway.
A few nice ones and a few collectibles will probably get turned in by well intentioned fools. It's comforting to think they'll be smuggled out and saved but I doubt it.

[Bo525i]

Here´s what I´d give to our various governments to help them with their "helping the environment" and "boosting the economy" plans :D

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/********-bag.jpg