[kas]

On a postive note, buyers were not forced to buy certain vehicles. Lets recall the old U.S.S.R where government owned factories produced POS cars that were made by 'people' unions and Communist Party management always triumph that each and every year they meet Moscow's goals.

Whatever Happened to Buying American?
The cash for clunkers program turbo-boosted auto sales -- just not for Detroit.

When Julia Reusch of Blue Bell, Pa., decided to trade in her 1999 Ford Explorer as part of the cash-for-clunkers program, she nixed the idea of purchasing another Ford product. "I didn't feel compelled to buy American, given my experience with the Ford," says the 28-year-old who noted that her Explorer was problematic even when it was new. Instead, she opted for a Toyota Prius. After only a week, she's hooked. "It's wonderful. I love it," she says.

That's great news for Toyota, but it's hardly the kind of sentiment Detroit's automakers were banking on when the clunkers program launched at the end of July. The program was originally designed to boost the economy in general and the nation's auto industry in particular. But the latest Department of Transportation statistics, released last week, show that American cars represented a total of 42 percent of vehicles purchased under the $3 billion U.S. government-funded program. Only two U.S. models--the Ford Focus and Ford Escape--were among the top 10 cars sold; Toyota and Honda together hold six of those spots. Even though final sales data isn't yet available, those figures are unlikely to change much now that the program is set to end on Monday, Aug. 24.

This program was "not the shot in the arm" for Detroit that many thought it would be, says Gerald C. Meyers, a professor at the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business. That's because the imports "are there with the design and the inventory," he says. Joe Wiesenfelder, senior editor of Cars.com, an online site for car shoppers, says that those participating in the vehicle-swap program have shown a preference for smaller cars, "and that's where the domestics are weakest, both in products and reputation." Chrysler and General Motors are also suffering from lower inventories, because of the production shutdowns and slowdowns associated with their bankruptcy periods, he says. "It's likely the foreign brands will come out on top in terms of new vehicles purchased in exchange for clunkers." That's not an entirely bad thing since foreign brands like Honda and Toyota have long had U.S.-based factories as well as American workers and dealer networks that also benefited from the program.

Even though Ford has made great strides in developing quality cars, it's drivers like Reusch who stand to continue penalizing the brand because of their experiences with their older vehicles. General Motors and Ford "have really good, reliable cars, but they're being bitten again by their past transgressions," says Jonathan Linkov, editor of Consumer Reports' autos coverage.

Kent Nessel, 38, from Danielsville, Ga., traded in his 1998 Jeep Cherokee for a Nissan Versa, lured by the high marks it received from Consumer Reports. Though he felt "pangs of guilt" buying a foreign car with the help of U.S. taxpayer money, he didn't find enough available domestic choices that got 27 miles per gallon. "If the Big Three could compete with the foreign makers, I probably would have gone with one of them," he explains.

But domestic automakers take issue with arguments that they don't have enough fuel-efficient offerings, and that consumers aren't flocking to them. Ford and GM ramped up inventory in response to the program's demand. Kerry Christopher, a spokesman for GM, also points out that the company offers 74 eligible cars and trucks. Over at Chrysler, spokesperson Kathy Graham says 70 percent of its lineup qualified.

With or without the clunkers initiative, it remains to be seen whether customers will buy American. A recent University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index showed that although the scores increased for all domestic companies, they still fall behind Honda and Toyota. And customers hold a strong perception that the Big Three don't have enough attractive, small, fuel-efficient vehicles, says John Wolkonowicz, an automotive analyst for IHS Global Insight: "They think of a big truck and go to Chevy. They think small and go to Toyota." GM has a product in every category eligible for the program, but consumers aren't aware of it, a marketing flaw on GM's part, says Wolkonowicz.

For most consumers, says Linkov, it's ultimately about mileage, with Toyota and Honda eking out better numbers than all comparable domestic vehicles. That was certainly the case for Karen Mallia, 54, from Columbia, S.C. She tried in vain to find a domestic brand to replace her 2000 Chevy Blazer. She says the Ford Fusion didn't come in a hatchback and the Saturn Vue and Chevrolet Equinox were too big. She ultimately settled on a Toyota Matrix--something smaller, reliable, and fuel efficient. "I felt some underlying guilt that there was no domestic car that would suit my criteria, but honestly, that's why the U.S. car industry has been in such trouble for so long," she says.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/212999

This post has been edited by kas: 8-20-09, 7:36pm

[sarinne]

looks like the program is running out of money again.

[cron]

Program ends on monday.

[kas]

When the getting was good, Ford Motor Co. made a mimimum of $4500 on each Explorer manufactured at the local assembly plant. This is even after throwing bags of money at the UAW clowns, many still who are receiving 90% of their paycheck, thanks to the taxpayers. Referring back to Alan's comment about a possible repo problem in the future, how long will some fools handle a combined $400 or greater monthly note/insurance for the next four or more years. IMHO, look for more 13 year old gangstras to be boosting cars around town.

‘Clunkers’ moved almost 700,000 new cars
Popular monthlong program came under $3 billion budget

The popular Cash for Clunkers program generated nearly 700,000 new car sales during the past month, giving the U.S. auto industry a badly needed jolt of activity during the deepest decline in auto sales in two decades.

The government, releasing final data on the car incentives, said Wednesday that dealers submitted 690,114 sales totaling $2.88 billion, bringing the program to a close under its $3 billion budget. Japanese auto manufacturers led American companies in new car sales through the program, which ended late Monday.

Many dealers are still waiting to be repaid for the Cash for Clunkers incentives they gave car buyers and were allowed to submit paperwork seeking reimbursement until late Tuesday.

Despite the summertime frenzy at dealerships, analysts said the growth in auto sales may be short-lived. Sales in July rose to 11.2 million when converted to an annual rate, the first month in 2009 in which sales had risen above the 10 million level. A drop in consumer confidence late last year sent sales plunging to depths not seen since the early 1980s, prompting lawmakers to create the program.

Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of the auto Web site Edmunds.com, said dealers and automakers clearly gained from the big boost in sales. But while the incentives helped consumers, average prices for vehicles went up as buyers less concerned about prices rushed to take advantage of the rebates.

Inventory shortages from the popular program could keep prices high and drive down new vehicle sales. “We have created a sales bubble and now that bubble has burst,” Anwyl said.

The Obama administration declared the program a major success, saying Cash for Clunkers provided a needed stimulus to the auto industry and the broader economy.

“Manufacturing plants have added shifts and recalled workers. Moribund showrooms were brought back to life and consumers bought fuel-efficient cars that will save them money and improve the environment,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers said the program will boost economic growth in the third quarter by 0.3 to 0.4 percentage points because of the increased auto sales in July and August. An estimated 42,000 jobs will be created or saved during the second half of the year, the White House said.

The biggest industry beneficiaries were Japanese automakers Toyota, Honda and Nissan, which accounted for 41 percent of the new vehicle sales. That outpaced Detroit automakers General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, which had a share of nearly 39 percent. Toyota Motor Corp. led the industry with 19.4 percent of new sales, followed by General Motors Co. with 17.6 percent and Ford Motor Co. with 14.4 percent.

The Toyota Corolla was the most popular new vehicle purchased under the program. The Honda Civic, Toyota Camry and Ford Focus held the next three top spots. All four are built in the United States.

The program, which began in late July, offered consumers rebates of $3,500 or $4,500 off the price of a new vehicle in return for trading in their older, less fuel-efficient vehicles to be scrapped. The trade-in vehicles needed to get 18 miles per gallon or less.

It proved far more popular than lawmakers originally thought. Congress added another $2 billion to the original $1 billion budget when the first pot of money nearly ran out in a week. The extra money was supposed to last through Labor Day, but the funding only lasted about a month.

Dealers loved the new sales, but they reported major hassles trying to get the government to repay them for the rebates. Many dealers are still waiting to get paid.

Peter Kitzmiller, president of the Maryland Automobile Dealers Association, said most dealers appeared to get their paperwork in by the Tuesday night deadline and he was hopeful the pace of repayments would pick up.

The Transportation Department said Wednesday that 2,000 people are processing dealer applications. The program was expected to cost $50 million to administer, but Transportation officials said the administrative costs would exceed that amount. They expressed confidence the extra costs would not push the program’s total expenditures beyond $3 billion.

Some consumers may be regretting their clunkers purchases, especially since many buyers traded in paid-off vehicles in return for new cars financed through loans. A survey of 1,000 Cash for Clunkers participants, conducted by CNW Research, an automotive research firm in Oregon, found that 17 percent had doubts about their vehicle purchase after taking on monthly car payments of $275 to $350 per month.

The government said 84 percent of the trade-ins were trucks and 59 percent of the new vehicles were passenger cars. New vehicles bought through Cash for Clunkers had an average fuel-efficiency of 24.9 miles per gallon, compared with an average of 15.8 mpg for trade-ins, a 58 percent improvement.

American companies accounted for all the top-10 traded-in vehicles. The Ford Explorer four-wheel-drive was the most popular, followed by the Ford F-150 Pickup two-wheel-drive, the Jeep Grand Cherokee four-wheel-drive and Ford Explorer two-wheel-drive.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32567404/ns/bu...utos/?GT1=43001

This post has been edited by kas: 8-26-09, 1:40pm

[Alan]

Just like I was saying......
Now I just need to wait and see if my second prediction comes true - lots of repos early next year.

Cash for Clunker means higher prices for most car shoppers
By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNNMoney.com senior writer
On Thursday August 27, 2009, 5:20 am EDT

If you were one of the nearly 700,000 people who were able to cash in on the Cash for Clunkers program, congratulations, you probably got a good deal. On the other hand, if you bought a car without a clunker in the last month, you've overpaid.

Prices for cars during the Clunkers program went up for everyone, but buyers using the program on average got a $3000 benefit that others did not.

And if you absolutely have to buy a vehicle in the next two months, you'll most likely pay more.

It's a simple matter of supply and demand. The wildly successful Cash for Clunkers program has thrown things out of whack. For the next couple of months, usually peak car buying season, inventories will be low and car shoppers should expect higher prices and fewer choices, experts say.

The Clunker program came too late, said Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of the auto Web site Edmunds.com.

Had the program launched in February, when inventories were high and sales were at record lows, Cash for Clunkers could have helped fill a massive sales drop-off.

"They messed around with it for for so long the car industry was in an uptick, anyway," he said.

Already rising sales got kicked up too much, too fast, he said. Factories couldn't turn out cars fast enough to refill inventories that were emptied out so quickly.

This means dealers will now be faced with a drought of new models to sell, followed by a flood.

So if want a new car at a good price, hang on and spend the next two months picking out a good warm jacket.

Factories have already started churning out new cars to refill drained inventories. Look for prices to plummet in November and December after dealer showrooms have filled up ahead of what is traditionally the slack season for car sales.

While it seems that fewer shoppers want to buy cars now that the program is over, according to Edmunds.com, the drop in customers has been greatly outmatched by the drop in inventories.

Even before the program ended on Monday night, prices on popular models were being forced up.

Average dealer profits on the Ford Escape increased from about $1,200 before the start of the Clunkers program to more than $1,700 during the program, according to data from Edmunds.com. Dealer profits on the Toyota Corolla went from less than $400 to about $830. Average profits on minivans more than doubled from average of about $700 to almost $1,500.

For those with a qualifying Clunker to trade in, the program's benefits more than made up for the price jump. On average, Clunker owners got about $3,000 more for their trade-in vehicles than they would have otherwise.

"The Clunker owner did really well," said Anwyl. "Everyone else just paid more."

Prices will stay high for the next couple of months, Anwyl predicted.

Only those who are shopping for vehicles that didn't qualify for the Clunker's program, like big SUVs and luxury cars, may still be able to find some deals out there over the next few weeks, said Jesse Toprak, an analyst with the auto pricing Web site TrueCar.com.

"You're going to see some big SUVs discounted 20% to 30% off sticker price," he said.

As for the rest, patient shoppers will be rewarded. Big incentives and steep discounts will arrive in November and December, Anwyl said.

[cron]

Now I just need to wait and see if my second prediction comes true - lots of repos early next year.

considering how tight credit has become, i'm not sure this one will come true.

Plus factories will be churning out a lot of cars and the deals should be back by November/December. Just a short term price hike due to low inventory.

An interesting question is if these factories will be churning out too many cars and better deals show up after the flood.

[kas]

The bonus is that many of those crushed clunkers could have been sold and relicensed, which would have generate revenue for states and local government bodies.

After Clunkers tax rush, states come down hard
Car buyback program gave quick boost to finances, but usually not enough

Struggling states and towns got a dose of badly needed money this summer from a Cash for Clunkers program that poured hundreds of millions of dollars of tax revenue into their budgets.

Now, like the auto industry, recession-ravaged governments are seeing revenue fall off as car buyers take a breather from the frenzied sales of July and August. That means less money for schools, roads, public safety and other projects that get much of their funding from sales tax collections.

And while officials welcomed the shot in the arm, the extra clunkers money won't come close to filling the gaping holes in their budgets or do much to solve the worst revenue downturn in decades.

"It is chump change," said David Zin, an economist with the Michigan state senate's fiscal agency.

State and city officials say their budget problems are too severe for one government program to fix.

"Fifty-thousand is not to be sneezed at," Dean Rich, finance director of O'Fallon, Ill., said of the city's expected tax gain from its 16 car dealerships. But it's not enough to prevent a job freeze and cuts to capital projects for the town of 29,000 people.

"It's not the windfall that is going to fix the $1 million shortage we have this year," he said.

Like most governments, O'Fallon suffered during the recession as people facing job losses, reduced pay, lost homes and general unease over the economy snapped their wallets shut. That means big drops in sales tax, which makes up around half of many state budgets. Sales of cars and trucks, big-ticket items with high price tags, are a big component of sales tax collections.

Cash for Clunkers held some promise — customers bought nearly 700,000 new vehicles during late July and August, taking advantage of rebates of up to $4,500 on new cars in return for trading in their older vehicles. The program ended up tripling the size of its original $1 billion price tag due to its broad popularity. For government budget offices, that represented some rare good news.

The auto forecaster Edmunds.com estimated that the average clunker sales price was $26,321, meaning roughly $18 billion worth of new vehicles were sold under the program. Multiplied by the average combined state and local sales tax of 7.5 percent, the total tax bill amounts to a loose estimate of $1.36 billion.

But here's some perspective — the budget shortfall of Michigan alone, the symbolic heartland of the U.S. auto industry, amounts to $2.8 billion. And it pales in comparison to the $240 billion that states collected in total general sales taxes in 2008.

"That's more than a drop in the bucket ... but not much more for state budgets," said Robert Ward, director of fiscal studies for the Rockefeller Institute of Government in New York.

The taxes brought in by clunkers offered a summer shot of adrenaline for most states. The funds — often earmarked for school aid, highway repairs and law enforcement — came at a time when they were struggling with big shortfalls.

Kentucky reported that clunkers' taxes propped up its Road Fund, which supports the state's network of roadways. Motor vehicle usage taxes grew 11.4 percent to $36 million in August, helping keep the fund flat for the month. The state estimates it can now afford to see receipts fall more than 4 percent for the rest of fiscal year and still meet its budget forecasts.

Legislative estimates in Michigan show the state may have taken in $39 million from Cash for Clunkers. About a third of that money is devoted to education.

Massachusetts reported that motor vehicle sales tax revenue rose nearly 36 percent in August from a year earlier, higher than the state's monthly target. That gain, combined with a rise in the overall sales tax that month, pushed vehicle tax collections above the monthly goal.

The extra money may be a help, but state budget officials say it's minor compared with their huge problems.

Kentucky officials have warned that until unemployment improves — about 11 percent of state residents are now jobless — tax revenues will remain in the doldrums.

In Michigan, where the state sales tax is the major source of aid for schools, lawmakers proposed cutting $218 per pupil from the aid the state government gives to local school districts. That's despite the clunkers money and extra vehicle sales tax revenue from laid-off auto workers who got vouchers for new cars as part of their severance. Sales tax collections are still down 9 percent.

Auto sales nationally fell 41 percent from August to September, a drop caused largely by people who would have normally waited a few months to buy a new vehicle rushing in to take advantage of the federal program's big rebates.

That hangover showed up in Massachusetts' sales tax collections last month, which were 5 percent below forecasts. That worries Robert Bliss, a spokesman for the state revenue department.

"Has the pool been drained as a result of this program for the next couple of months? That is the question," he said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33266927/ns/business-autos

This post has been edited by kas: 10-11-09, 6:42pm

[kas]

When I heard this story earlier, all I could think about is the infame crazy lady that either live in a rusty moblie home or a fallen down farm house with a few dozen felines. Well at least those dogs under the porch can be use to hunt 'coons and boars.

Do we need a doggy tax break?

Animal care can be outrageously expensive. I've probably spent enough money on my cat's ailing kidneys to buy a small car.

Should the government be helping out? One Republican congressman thinks so, and has introduced a bill that allows pet owners to deduct the cost of animal care from their taxes.

The bill would let you deduct as much as $3,500 a year, according to NPR.

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan said he's heard that economic hard times are causing some people to give up their pets.

"When you think about the relationship between people and pets and the humane way that it helps people think, it seemed to me to be a good idea," McCotter said in a video about the bill, according to NPR.

Some pet owners are thrilled at the idea. But it seems to me that if you choose to have a pet, you should be able to pay for it.

Julie DelCour, a columnist at Tulsa World, summed up the issue nicely: "We have a $11 trillion national debt; and 46 million people without health insurance," she writes. "With those realities, Congress can ill afford to pass out tax deductions like Milk Bones. This novelty bill will die in committee and McCotter's 15 minutes of pandering to us animal owners will end."

http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/topstock...-tax-break.aspx

[kas]

From Change You Can Believe In to Screw-ups You Can be Assured Of. Wonder if all those dealer principals got reimbursed by the Feds.

Recyclers are facing a crush of ‘Clunkers’
They ask six-month deadline be extended to fully part out the cars

Trade-ins from the Cash for Clunkers program are piling up and auto recyclers are seeking more time to meet the deadline for disposing of all those vehicles.

At some places, Ford Explorers, Chevy Blazers, Chrysler Town & Country minivans and other popular clunkers are parked bumper to bumper on several acres, many marked "C4C" on their windows, waiting to be drained of fluids, stripped of valuable parts and eventually flattened for scrap.

"I've got a parking lot of almost 4,000 vehicles right now," said Harry Haluptzok, chief executive of John's Auto Parts in Blaine, Minn., near Minneapolis. His business typically dismantles 100 vehicles per week, but the workload has now more than doubled, and Haluptzok hired 10 more workers to keep up with all the extra vehicles.

Under the program, the cars are required to be crushed or shredded within six months of the date the vehicle is transferred from the dealership. Recyclers say the deadline, even a few months away, will be hard as they try to remove spare parts such as transmissions, front and rear axles, starters and alternators.

"True recycling is using something to its fullest potential and then recycling it over again by making it into steel and sending it out to become another engine or transmission or car," said Jeff Cantor, an auto recycler in Candia, N.H. "We're breaking that circle here by crushing good quality parts. We can't process them quick enough in six months."

Consumers bought nearly 700,000 new vehicles in late July and August through the program, taking advantage of rebates of up to $4,500 on new cars in return for trading in their older vehicles. Congress tripled the size of its original $1 billion price tag because of the program's popularity.

Used engines from the vehicles were required to be destroyed to promote improved fuel efficiency.

The American Recyclers Association, a trade group representing auto recyclers, said the six-month deadline to crush the vehicles was developed in line with the initial $1 billion program, but never took into account the additional vehicles sold when the program was expanded. The association met with the Transportation Department in late September seeking an additional six months to recycle the cars.

"We do have a lot of facilities that have two or three times the number of vehicles they could ever have imagined getting. They're trying to process these in addition to their regular business," said Michael Wilson, the trade group's executive director.

Transportation Department spokeswoman Sasha Johnson said the department was aware of the request and noted that under the regulations, "most trade-ins through the CARS program do not need to be crushed until at least early next year."

In metropolitan Los Angeles, Aadlen Bros. Auto Wrecking in Sun Valley brought in about 6,000 vehicles through the Clunkers program since early September. "At times, we were having to stack cars on top of cars — it got unruly there for a little bit," auto recycle Nathan Adlen said.

Most of the vehicles on their 26-acre lot go into a self-service yard, letting customers find the used parts they need for their vehicles. A car typically stays there for a month, but many vehicles have gone to the crusher earlier than normal because of the influx.

In Minnesota, Haluptzok expected to receive more than 1,000 cars through the program but saw his load grow to nearly 5,000. Each vehicle needs to be drained of oil, antifreeze and other fluids and then properly recycled.

"If it's about recycling, the thing to do is to give us another six months and let us do them the correct way each time," he said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33470165/ns/business-autos

[WingsOverVA]

Should probably start a new topic for this (to see how good of deals our members can come up with):

Little known addition to the economic stimulus package: cash for Golf carts!

Included in the stimulus bill was a section apparantly for richer folks who don't have any "clunkers" in their garages but may have some aging golf carts. Through the end of 2009 the Federal Gov't will reimburse you two-thirds for the cost of a new golf cart. If the cart you buy also happens to be an alternative fuel cart (ie: electric or propane) you can also qualify for federal and state credits that when added to the stimulus payment can cover the purchase cost 100%.

We have a used car sales lot nearby that also sells specialty golf carts of all fuel types. They have custom designs that look like small cars, Rolls Royces, dune buggys, baseballs, etc. I was joking with my wife that if we could qualify for the 100% we should get one of the cool looking ones for driving around our private lake developement. Since it's all private property even the kids could use it. How cool would that be to drive around in a mini Hummer to go visit the neighbors or to go to the lake's beach area during the summer, especially if the US taxpayers are picking up the bill, all in the name of stimulating the economy, of course...

[kas]

http://www.bargainshare.com/index.php?show...57&hl=cart#

Golf cart? I looked at the IRS web site and IMHO, might be wise to run this by a CPA.

[WingsOverVA]

WSJ Link

OCTOBER 17, 2009.Cash for Clubbers
Congress's fabulous golf cart stimulus.

We thought cash for clunkers was the ultimate waste of taxpayer money, but as usual we were too optimistic. Thanks to the federal tax credit to buy high-mileage cars that was part of President Obama's stimulus plan, Uncle Sam is now paying Americans to buy that great necessity of modern life, the golf cart.

The federal credit provides from $4,200 to $5,500 for the purchase of an electric vehicle, and when it is combined with similar incentive plans in many states the tax credits can pay for nearly the entire cost of a golf cart. Even in states that don't have their own tax rebate plans, the federal credit is generous enough to pay for half or even two-thirds of the average sticker price of a cart, which is typically in the range of $8,000 to $10,000. "The purchase of some models could be absolutely free," Roger Gaddis of Ada Electric Cars in Oklahoma said earlier this year. "Is that about the coolest thing you've ever heard?"

The golf-cart boom has followed an IRS ruling that golf carts qualify for the electric-car credit as long as they are also road worthy. These qualifying golf carts are essentially the same as normal golf carts save for adding some safety features, such as side and rearview mirrors and three-point seat belts. They typically can go 15 to 25 miles per hour.

In South Carolina, sales of these carts have been soaring as dealerships alert customers to Uncle Sam's giveaway. "The Golf Cart Man" in the Villages of Lady Lake, Florida is running a banner online ad that declares: "GET A FREE GOLF CART. Or make $2,000 doing absolutely nothing!"

Golf Cart Man is referring to his offer in which you can buy the cart for $8,000, get a $5,300 tax credit off your 2009 income tax, lease it back for $100 a month for 27 months, at which point Golf Cart Man will buy back the cart for $2,000. "This means you own a free Golf Cart or made $2,000 cash doing absolutely nothing!!!" You can't blame a guy for exploiting loopholes that Congress offers.

The IRS has also ruled that there's no limit to how many electric cars an individual can buy, so some enterprising profiteers are stocking up on multiple carts while the federal credit lasts, in order to resell them at a profit later. We should note that some states, such as Oklahoma, have caught on to the giveaway and are debating whether to cancel or limit their state credits. But in Congress they're still on the driving range.

This golf-cart fiasco perfectly illustrates tax policy in the age of Obama, when politicians dole out credits and loopholes for everything from plug-in cars to fuel efficient appliances, home insulation and vitamins. Democrats then insist that to pay for these absurdities they have no choice but to raise tax rates on other things—like work and investment—that aren't politically in vogue.

[n99nyrwg]

WSJ Link

OCTOBER 17, 2009.Cash for Clubbers
Congress's fabulous golf cart stimulus.
You can't blame a guy for exploiting loopholes that Congress offers.

Yes you can. This was obviously created for creating a cleaner environment and at the same time help out the auto companies. I can definitely blame this guy for doing his part in ruining the good intentions of the program.

[kas]

$72,000 per job and now $24,000 per car, those DOD purchased of $500 hammers back in the good old days, now seem like a bargain. IMHO, hope Ron 'Ghettobrain' and his bunch enjoy the taxpayers handouts while they can.

Cash for Clunkers cost $24,000 per car
Edmunds.com says only 125,000 vehicle sales were a result of the government's program.

The U.S. government is calling its Cash for Clunkers program a big success, with nearly 690,000 vehicles sold in July and August. But a report by automotive Web site Edmunds.com says the program actually cost taxpayers $24,000 per car sold.

Only 125,000, or 18%, of the sales were incremental, according to Edmunds.com -- the remaining 82% of sales would have happened regardless of the program.

The $24,000 is the price for the sales of vehicles that were a direct result of the program, Edmunds.com said.

The clunkers program gave car buyers rebates of up to $4,500 if they traded in less-fuel-efficient vehicles for new vehicles that met certain fuel-economy requirements. The government set aside $3 billion for those rebates.

Edmunds.com looked at the sales trend for luxury vehicles and other models not included in program, and it applied the historic sales volumes of those vehicles and those in the program and estimated what the sales figures would have been without the program. The analysts then divided the $3 billion by their 125,000-vehicle number to get an average of $24,000 per vehicle.

The average transaction price for a new vehicle in August was only $26,915, minus an average cash rebate of $1,667.

"This analysis is valuable for two reasons," Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl said in a press release. "First, it can form the basis for a complete assessment of the program's impact and costs. Second -- and more important -- it can help us to understand the true state of auto sales and the economy. For example, October sales are up, but without Cash for Clunkers, sales would have been even better. This suggests that the industry's recovery is gaining momentum."

The government was not pleased with Edmunds.com's analysis.

"It is unfortunate that Edmunds.com has had nothing but negative things to say about a wildly successful program that sold nearly 250,000 cars in its first four days alone," Bill Adams, spokesman for the Department of Transportation, told CNNMoney.com. "There can be no doubt that (the clunkers program) drummed up more business for car dealers at a time when they needed help the most."

The economy grew at a 3.5% pace in the third quarter, thanks to a jump in auto sales as a result of the clunkers program. Auto sales contributed 1.7 percentage points to the GDP, the government said in a report this morning.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Inves...;_blg=1,1341914

[kas]

Back when this boondoogle was running, not all received a handout. So those who purchased when supply got low paid more. If things were normal, these buyers could have signed a contract at a $500 to $1000 saving.

As I stated the other day, screw-ups you can expect.

[kas]

IMHO, Alfred Sloan is rolling in his grave. Someone with decent welding skills and an arc welder could have turn the back half of a few trucks into trailers. This will rank up there with the infamed W.I.N., Whip Inflation Now, joke.

Clunker deals: old Ford pickups for new ones
AP: Gas mileage only slightly better for many of the purchased vehicles

The most common deals under the government's $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program, aimed at putting more fuel-efficient cars on the road, replaced old Ford or Chevrolet pickups with new ones that got only marginally better gas mileage, according to an analysis of new federal data by The Associated Press.

The single most common swap — which occurred more than 8,200 times — involved Ford F150 pickup owners who took advantage of a government rebate to trade their old trucks for new Ford F150s. They were 17 times more likely to buy a new F150 than, say, a Toyota Prius. The fuel economy for the new trucks ranged from 15 mpg to 17 mpg based on engine size and other factors, an improvement of just 1 mpg to 3 mpg over the clunkers.

Owners of thousands more large old Chevrolet and Dodge pickups bought new Silverado and Ram trucks, also with only barely improved mileage in the middle teens, according to AP's analysis of sales of $15.2 billion worth of vehicles at nearly 19,000 car dealerships in every state. Those deals helped the Ford F150 and Chevy Silverado — along with Ford's Escape midsize SUV — climb into the Top 10 most-popular vehicles purchased with the government rebates. The most common truck-for-truck and truck-for-SUV deals totaled at least $911 million.

In scores of deals, the government reported spending a total of $562,500 in rebates for new cars and trucks that got worse or the same mileage as the trade-ins — in apparent violation of the program's requirements. The government said it is investigating those reports and said in some cases they were probably entered incorrectly by dealers or based on outdated fuel economy figures.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is still reviewing the reports, and any dealers that submitted invalid trade-ins will be directed to return the government rebate, spokesman Eric Bolton said Wednesday.

The new data, obtained by the AP under the Freedom of Information Act, include details of 677,081 clunker trade-ins processed by the government through Oct. 16. More than 95,000 of the new vehicles purchased under the program — or about one in seven — got less than 20 mpg, according to the data.

The new figures, requested four months ago by the AP, represent the first substantial outside accounting of the clunkers program, lauded by the White House and the Transportation Department for improving fuel economy, stimulating sales and taking the dirtiest vehicles off the road. The data show the average fuel economy was 15.8 mpg for the old vehicles and 24.9 for the new ones. But plenty of consumers bought relatively low-mileage trucks and SUVs with the help of government checks.

"If we're looking for the environmental story here, we're going to be disappointed," said Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive at Edmunds.com, an analyst firm. "It might have started out from the perspective of improving the environment, but it got detoured as a way to stimulate the economy."

Popular high-mileage commuter cars including the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Toyota Camry and Ford Focus also were among the Top 10 most popular new vehicles bought under the four-week program, with 105,280 of those models sold for a total of about $2 billion.

Bolton, the NHTSA spokesman, said Wednesday the program "proved to be a win for the economy and the environment" because it helped financially struggling dealerships and auto manufacturers and because, under the program's rules, clunkers necessarily were replaced with vehicles that got better mileage.

Chris Moss of Smithtown, N.Y., traded in his 1992 white Ford F150 pickup — "it had 5 million miles on it and needed $50,000 in repairs, if you know what I mean" — for a new Chevrolet Malibu hybrid for his wife. When he drove his old truck to the dealership's back lot with the rest of the clunkers, "90 percent of what you saw were old 150s and Explorers," he said. Moss posted a video on YouTube of his old truck's final day, called "Rust In Peace."

The $3 billion program, known officially as the Car Allowance Rebate System, ran from July 27 to Aug. 25 and generally required that new vehicles get better mileage — at least 22 mpg for cars and either 15 mpg or 18 mpg for trucks depending on class — and that trade-ins get no more than 18 mpg.

The trade-ins were required to be destroyed in exchange for either $3,500 or $4,500 rebates.

"The value that the customer got for a lot of these vehicles was just a gift, no question," said Scott Pundt, sales vice president for the Dorschel Group of Rochester, N.Y., the No. 4 dealership in the U.S. with 592 vehicles sold under the program. "We were appraising 220,000-mile vehicles that were really rough, and they were getting $3,500 or $4,500 for them."

Four out of five old cars turned in there exceeded 100,000 miles.

Some deals raise eyebrows:

In at least 145 cases, mostly involving trucks, the government reported consumers traded old vehicles that got better than or the same mileage as the new vehicle they purchased. The government said it was continuing to investigate. A driver in Negaunee, Mich., traded a 1987 Suburban that got 18 mpg for $3,500 toward a new Silverado pickup that got only 15 mpg. An Indianapolis driver traded a 1985 Mercedes 190 that got 27 mpg for $3,500 toward a new Volkswagen Rabbit that got only 24 mpg. "It's possible some quirky deal slipped through the cracks," Anwyl said.
In at least 15 deals in nine states, owners of large pickups cashed in old trucks for between $3,500 and $4,500 toward new Hummer H3 SUVs that got only 16 mpg.
A driver in Arlington, Va., traded a 1999 Ford Explorer with 15 mpg in July for $3,500 toward a new $28,000 Jeep Commander that weighs about 4,700 pounds and gets 16 mpg.
In at least 32 deals, drivers traded older vehicles for new large trucks — including versions of Toyota Tundras, GMC Sierras, Chevrolet Silverados, Dodge Rams and Ford F150 pickups — that got only 14 mpg.
A driver in West, Texas, earned $4,500 in July in exchange for a 1989 Chevrolet Suburban SUV that got 14 mpg and bought a 2009 Suburban that weighed 5,900 pounds and got 16 mpg. Across Texas, seven of the 10 most common transactions involved drivers trading old pickups for new ones.
Car-crazy California led clunker sales with more than 76,000 trade-ins, followed by Texas with roughly 43,000 and New York with nearly 37,000. In California, the Honda Civic was the No. 1 new car and no pickups ranked higher than 18th. In New York, the Hyundai Elantra was No. 1.

The clunkers program was very good for Longo Toyota of El Monte, Calif., just east of Los Angeles, which sold more than twice as many vehicles under the program as any other dealership in the country, worth more than $30 million. That sole dealership was responsible for 1,432 sales worth nearly $6 million in clunkers rebates, mostly from its sales of 323 Toyota Camrys, 277 Corollas and 171 Priuses.

"We knew it was just a matter of when, not if, we were going to get paid, so we kept our foot on the gas," Longo president Tom Rudnai said Wednesday.

The next-best dealership was Price-Simms Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., with 672 sales of vehicles worth about $16.1 million, mostly from its sales of 213 Priuses and 134 Camrys.

Pundt said his dealership in Rochester advertised aggressively to consumers and operated three shifts of employees to submit claims. "We had people in here through the middle of the night, working 2 a.m. until 7 a.m.," he said. "The computer was so slow."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33623351/ns/business-autos

[carloscai]

Nothing getting better. Just look at Masachusetts you would see your future.

[kas]

For the Barney Fife in you.

CT&T City2
South Korean company CT&T has been producing short-trip or "neighborhood" electric vehicles for a while now, and has even committed to producing the things here in the States. Its latest model is the City2, which was on display in a variety of trims and colors. The wackiest one had to be the version geared toward law enforcement — apparently headed to a mall parking lot near you. Technically, it's a "low-speed" EV, but the City2 looks a lot like a glorified golf cart to us. It can reach speeds of up to 35 mph and has a range of up to 68 miles with a lithium-polymer battery, though. So it's a fast and furious golf cart, we guess. The question remains: Is the City2 more or less intimidating than a Segway?