CARS (No not the movie)
 

CASH FOR CLUNKERS

[COLOR=#333333][FONT=Arial]The Story
The Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) commonly known as "Cash for Clunkers" bill was signed into law June 24, 2009. The bill authorizes a billion dollars in government funding to provide vouchers worth $3500-$4500 when you trade in an eligible vehicle and buy a new one. Information on how the vouchers will be processed and other important details will be available from the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration later in July. The NHTSA is charged by Congress with developing and overseeing the CARS program. Until that time it will not be possible for a dealer to sell a vehicle under this program.


Official Government Website: cars.gov See if your car qualifies: fueleconomy.gov

Re: CARS (No not the movie)
 

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/sbs.htm
I was enjoying comparing my 02 ford explorer to a prius. Apparantly my SUV is not too good for this earth.

Re: CARS (No not the movie)
 

My brother will likely use an old pickup we have to get a new car within the next year. Looks like he would be able to get $4500 for the pickup worth around $800. Not a bad deal.

Re: CARS (No not the movie)
 

Better not wait to long, the C.A.R.S. Deal only runs through Nov 1 or when the funds are exhausted, which ever comes first.

Re: CARS (No not the movie)
 

Yet another waste of taxpayer dollars.

Re: CARS (No not the movie)
 

Agreed.

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It causes more damage to the earth to make a new vehicle rather than keep an older or existing car maintained and running good.

Re: CARS (No not the movie)
 

x2

Re: CARS (No not the movie)
 

I find it ironic that you chose a Prius for a comparison of what has more environmental impact.
http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/edito...asp?NewsID=188

Re: CARS (No not the movie)
 

Great article CVD! People are too blind to look past the gas mileage numbers (they aren't even that great) and see the true environmental impact.

Re: CARS (No not the movie)
 

So does anyone know what happens when Hybrid vechicles exceed their warranty? A close friend of mine, a DSM err... Evo fanatic/mechanic, brought up a good point. Do buyers know what they are getting when they buy a Hybrid, when the car has mechanical/electrical failures, they are the worst things to fix. It's a whole new ball game. Imagine the local yards with Hybrids sitting there. Hrm...

Re: CARS (No not the movie)
 

People are going to be in a world of hurt when their hybrids need new $5k batteries within only a few years after the warranty expires.

Re: CARS (No not the movie)
 

I haven't head of many hybrid owners having problems (Insights anyways). My brother has a 2000 Honda Insight and considers it one of his best purchases he has ever made. He bought it 3-4 years ago when gas prices were around $2.00 a gallon. He drives 100 miles or so a day and figured the car would save him $3,500 per year conservitively (at $2.00 a gallon) compared to the 2g dsm he was driving at the time. He got the car with 80k on it for around $8,500 and it now has 180k on it. The only repair he has done to the car is replace the front brake pads which he did a few months ago. No issues with the batteries or the electric motor at all. The batterys are still in good shape and have no charging issues. The car has more than paid for itself the last few years alone not even considering he got $3,500 for hail damage last summer. He could still probably get over $5,000 for it as it sits right now with the hail damage.

Re: CARS (No not the movie)
 

Unlikely, look at my other post. I don't think batteries cost 5k anyhow.

Re: CARS (No not the movie)
 

I also forgot to mention that even with 180k on the clock and no maintenance being done, my brothers Honda Insight still gets around 58mpg.

Re: CARS (No not the movie)
 

Meh, my old Geo Metro got a combined city/hwy 52mpg on only two out of three cylinders :lol:

Re: CARS (No not the movie)
 

Dont break the lcd display on a Prius, that is a very expensive part (if I remember correctly over $3000-7000 from a toyota dealer where one of our fleet driver's kids hit it with a hot wheel toy car).

Re: CARS (No not the movie)
 

get an old crx or some econobox from the 80's if you are looking for king kong gas milage. Lighter and usually more efficient anyway than newer cars.

Re: CARS (No not the movie)
 

^^^ typically the older (what you call "more efficient") cars are more unreilable and therefor not a great canidate for someone who has to travel a distance. If you don't travel far, why get a hi mpg car then??? I am sure we have made plenty of better efficiency changes since the 80s (carb vs fuel injected).

Last time i looked for batteries on car-part.com, they were $300. My insight (described by slowbubblecar) has definitly been my best purchase ever. My concern initially was like all of yours, the batteries. I am over 180k on a 2000 model and no issues. Not to mention that was the first model year and the first hybrid in the US (toyota beat them to non-US market by 1 year I believe).

I bought an import, I cant say that I would trust the domestic hybrids. Honda and Toyota know what is going on as they have done this for a while.

Re: CARS (No not the movie)
 

Oh and I am looking at trading in one of my trucks for this (88 F150) but last I heard it has not been finalized. May buy a new insight ;)