Cash for Clunkers

[laughingwillow]

I traded in my old ford ranger yesterday for a new toyota tacoma under the cash for clunkers program. I'd been holding onto the ranger hoping to wait until new fuel economy technology came around for trucks but that doesn't seem to be in the cards in the near future. So I did my homework and decided the tacoma was the way to go due to the decent fuel milage and the deep discount of $4,500 for my junker ford. This is a program that directly benefits consumers as well as main street businesses, imo

Here are the positive effects of the program that I see.....

Inefficient vehicles are being retired and replaced by models getting fairly higher mpg. (My ranger got about 20 mpg on the highway and the toyota is rated at 27.)

People are being saddled with lower car payments and getting better milage with their new vehicles. That leaves more disposable income in the hands of consumers who are more likely to spend the difference rather than save it.

Car dealers are moving inventory and increasing production to meet demand.

On the down side,,,,,,

The price of used cars will prolly increase as the supply dwindles due to the clunker's program cars being crushed and recycled instead of being resold.

Auto repair shops and automative parts stores may suffer as unreliable old vehicles are taken off the street and replaced by new models.

[Amomynous]

Another downside it that it makes me uncomfortable to have an economic ground of life that is so tied to spending and growth that they're now basically paying people to buy things, borrowing money from future generations with long term government debt!

My car is 18 years old, but it gets about 40 MPG, so it doesn't really qualify.

[laughingwillow]

I hear you, amom. And agree.

However, the way I understand it, the cash for clunkers money came out of the economic stimulus pot appropriated earlier in the year after the bank bail outs. While I don't agree with the appropriations in question, I'm happy to see it being spent in a manner that will trickle up in practice rather than trickle down in theory.

lw

[Amomynous]

Yea, if you're going to spend money, getting more efficient cars on the road seems a hell of a lot better thing to do with it than certain other things that are being pursued.

The positive economic news for the day: it was announced that the US deficit is only tripling this year. Originally, it was feared that it would be growing even bigger. That shoudl make the stock-market rally!

[senorsalvia]

Ahhh, it's "only trippling"  Whew!!  Fer a moment I thought the good ole US was having an economic problem :e_wink:

[JRL]

Good on you, lw. I think the money does the most good the lower it is given. Money in Amerika trickles up not down.

[laughingwillow]

Man, I sure traded up. I bumped the dash the other day and turned on the emergency flashers. After pushing buttons for about 10 minutes I finally pulled out the owner's manual and located the flasher switch. Then yesterday I was backing down the driveway and the view from a small camera located on the tail gate latch popped up on my rear view mirror. hahahahaha!

lw

[Syd]

New cars are fun!

[Amomynous]

Then yesterday I was backing down the driveway and the view from a small camera located on the tail gate latch popped up on my rear view mirror.

That would freak me the hell out. I hate it when cars talk to me or do things for me, like lock doors or turn the lights on or off.  I don't even like automatic transmission, 'cause I'll be the one who decides when to shift, thank you very much. Heck, I don't even like anti-lock breaks. If I want to pump I'll pump. If I want to skid I'll skid.

[laughingwillow]

LOL  We have a few of the same traits, amom.

I only buy vehicles with manual transmissions. And I would rather have roll down windows than the automatic variety, but that isn't even an option these days.

lw

[Syd]

My E39 has four, one  touch auto-windows. That feature is bomb!

[Amomynous]

I only buy vehicles with manual transmissions. And I would rather have roll down windows than the automatic variety, but that isn't even an option these days.  

Ain't it the truth!

When my wife and I got married and she got pregnant we went out looking for cars. I actually got some arrogant satisfaction when, on more than one occasion, we were told the car "didn't come with a manual transmission," at which point I haughtily put my nose up into the air and took my leave of the showroom.

Of course one good thing leads to another, and by the time we had two children we bought a mini-van. Those things are the WORST. Of course that probably makes sense. I've observed that one looses about 15 or 20 IQ points for every kid you have, so by the time you have three or four I imagine that a mini-van is about the only thing you can handle. (My kids are a bit older now, but I'm still waiting for those points to return ).

My daily commuting car is a 18 year old clunker, which doesn't have power anything, the way I like it. But unfortunately it's starting to show its age and make all sorts of strange sounds.

[laughingwillow]

LOL I found another new feature on the tacoma today. There is a little button that when pushed lights up an "auto LSD" indicator on the dash.  (I had to look twice. hehe) And as I discovered the function while driving to class, there was a moment of hesitation after I set the process in motion.

But in the end lsd is a limited slip drive and NOT a button I'll be prone to push in the future. Last year during a couple of snow/ice storms it was easy to spot the vehicles with the limited slip function engaged, as they were the cars holding up traffic on the hills. What a joke for the most part, imo.

The only instance I can visualize needing the lsd function in a vehicle would be maybe while driving with the cruise control engaged on highways that may have patches of ice. But then again, one would need to use the cruise control feature to warrant the use of lsd and I'm not big on cruise control either.

lw

[JRL]

I read recently that you should not use cruise control in slippery conditions.

BTW I am a member of what we call the mini-van army(working musicians)