Cash for Clunkers

Apparently I'm ignorant of the special disposal regs, I presumed they were just being junked in the normal manner. I'm sorry if I had a knee-jerk reaction, it just seems like so much is broken and there are knee-jerk reactions to the attempts to fix things. Perhaps I'm sensitized to this from some work projects where I've been loudly criticized for unworkable or bad suggestions only to be apologized to later for my "good idea".



I'm sure I groaned 30 years ago about the emissions regs and the driveability issues (sheesh, remember those '82 GM's that wouldn't run when they were cold, until you took them back to the dealer and they broke the limiter caps off the idle mixture screws and adjusted them?), but I also remember 30 years ago in LA when it was overcast until noon when the smog burned off. It's a lot better there now, and those emissions controls don't really seem to have been such a big deal, in retrospect.



I was all :argue about wasted tax money and the welfare state 30 years ago, but age, responsibility, and a savings account has mellowed me.
 
setec astronomy- Eh...no worries. Heh heh, see why I avoid certain topics ;)



Yeah..far too much "gotta do something, and yesterday!" and far too little careful, critical thinking before any of that doing. Too bad the concept of "unintended consequences" has developed a, uhm...certain political stigma.



And I sure understand how you feel about off-the-cuff criticism being followed by faint praise and/or insincere apology. Got my share of that at the U.



Ditto for "the sky is falling" warnings (of all stripes). And for cars that only ran now-and-then due to mandated tech. Oh, and here we are again, revisiting mandated technology...we'll see how it plays out this time around.
 
Accumulator said:
And I sure understand how you feel about off-the-cuff criticism being followed by faint praise and/or insincere apology.
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No, it wasn't like that, usually the same guy who would rail up and down about doing something that he perceived to be more work than it was worth...and he usually would (honestly) admit later that it was a good idea that we did it...however he would forget all about that when we got to the next project and he started bitching.
 
With all those Explorers off the road I wonder what people's excuses will be when they suffer roll-overs :chuckle:



Maybe they'll buy little eco-boxes and cause less serious wrecks.



Setec Astronomy- Aww man, you just had to link to that CNN clip huh? :sadpace: Somebody shoulda stepped in and paid the $4500 for that Bi-turbo. (Oh-so-predictable response, huh?)
 
There's finding the silver lining, Accumulator! :p



Edit: Years ago one of those used to live somewhere near me and I would see it drive by all the time...BiTurbos seemed cool at the time, and I certainly watched it with some envy at the time...but I don't have damp eyes thinking about that one going to the crusher (sorry).
 
Setec Astronomy said:
...but I don't have damp eyes thinking about that [Bi-Turbo] going to the crusher (sorry).
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Well, given the low miles it woulda made a super parts car at the very least. Enthusiasts who like weird vehicles (gee...wonder who that might be :o ) will pay big bucks for stuff that's not available NOS any more.
 
Accumulator said:
Maybe they'll buy little eco-boxes and cause less serious wrecks.
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i've seen a few of the nissan cubes, and i actually like them better than all the other box shaped cars...

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BigAl3- Things like that, with their lower center-of-gravity, will probably be a lot safer for the Flip-the-Explorer crowd. And yeah, I gotta admit I like seeing all the cutsie boxes-on-wheels, especially when they're in colors that remind me of the '60s. Cubes, Souls...all kinda appealing as long as I don't have to drive one.
 
Accumulator said:
Well, given the low miles it woulda made a super parts car at the very least. Enthusiasts who like weird vehicles (gee...wonder who that might be :o ) will pay big bucks for stuff that's not available NOS any more.
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Let's call a spade a spade, that BiTurbo was a piece of crap! :p Wasn't that the only Maser that was coming here in '85? I think the Q-port was gone by then. So maybe in '85 when it was the only Maser and the Big 3 were still trying to get off of TBI, it was exciting...but it still wasn't a good car...and today? Hell, you can get a Camry that's faster than that thing.



Don't get me wrong, I have a reverence for old technology, but I'm sure there are a few more around. Not sure M3's, early 80's RX-7's, or 9C1's qualify as weird, either. And you stumped me...what the heck is NOS??
 
Accumulator said:
BigAl3- Things like that, with their lower center-of-gravity, will probably be a lot safer for the Flip-the-Explorer crowd. And yeah, I gotta admit I like seeing all the cutsie boxes-on-wheels, especially when they're in colors that remind me of the '60s. Cubes, Souls...all kinda appealing as long as I don't have to drive one.
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anything would be better than the explorer, and it's obvious too LOL...
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Let's call a spade a spade, that BiTurbo was a piece of crap! :p
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You're not the first to say it. As far as "exotics" go, that Maserati was a black-eye for them and NEVER had a good reputation. Good riddance.
 
mikenap said:
You're not the first to say it. As far as "exotics" go, that Maserati was a black-eye for them and NEVER had a good reputation. Good riddance.
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Aw...people say that about a lot of cares I like :p



Setec Astronomy said:
Let's call a spade a spade, that BiTurbo was a piece of crap! :p Wasn't that the only Maser that was coming here in '85? I think the Q-port was gone by then. So maybe in '85 when it was the only Maser and the Big 3 were still trying to get off of TBI, it was exciting...but it still wasn't a good car...and today?
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Heh heh, what can I say...("gee mom, can I keep it, it needs a good home.."). The Bi-Turbo still had the same Italian materials and build-quality that was, uhm...a "feature" (scare-quotes kinda intentional) on various exotics (both real and supposed), same kinda thing with, uhm.. '85 Jags too for that matter ;)



Hell, you can get a Camry that's faster than that thing.
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Hey, a new Camry V6 is faster than a whole lotta "fast cars"! Including some of my toys :o

Don't get me wrong, I have a reverence for old technology... Not sure M3's, early 80's RX-7's, or 9C1's qualify as weird, either.
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Heh heh, thanks for granting some of my accumulated toys their due :D Oh, BTW, I've moved on from 9C1s to Crown Vics; the Caprices are all getting a bit long in the tooth and nice ones aren't as, uhm...invisible as they used to be.



Bet they're clunkering a lot of 9C1 Caprices these days too.



 
Accumulator said:
Oh, BTW, I've moved on from 9C1s to Crown Vics; the Caprices are all getting a bit long in the tooth and nice ones aren't as, uhm...invisible as they used to be.



Bet they're clunkering a lot of 9C1 Caprices these days too.
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I guess I wasn't thinking about how long it's been since they made a Caprice, plus I never liked the Shamu ones. I could never do a Crown Vic...I'd be looking for a newer 9C1 Impala.



Hey, thanks for starting this thread, nothing like :argue things out a bit to get some perspective.
 
Well I'm still in the midst of a cash for clunkers clusterf*ck. The wheel bearing on my 04 Ram with 95k miles went out 2 days before the guidelines came out and it needed another 1800 in repairs. My old truck 95 Ram was still being used to run parts and snow plow the farm so I said what the heck, I'll trade them both in!

The dealer had to go into the next state to find the 2500 Ram with the equipment I needed as it is my work truck and needs to be able to plow, plus I want Laramie with all the upgrades as I spend all day in my truck driving to job sites.



The dealership couldn't even get a dealer code to log onto the clunkers site from friday until tuesday. The clunkers site required 11 web pages per car filled out, and the site kept crashing erasing everything. The had 5 people doing nothing but trying to enter the information and mine finally got entered in a week after it started. But by then they had changed the eligibility requirements TWICE and my 300k 95 Ram no longer qualified as there is a limit of 7% of the funds can be used for work trucks. As the dealer had already modified my new truck, spray in liner, access cover, snow plow subframe etc they dropped the price 1k below invoice and tossed 1250 toward my old one to try and make up for the government mess.



So the dealership lost money, I'm 80 a month more than I wanted to be because the government shouldn't even be allowed to run a lemonade stand let alone anything else.



So I started whining like a democrat to the senators and congressmen and have had one call back and it working on it.



I viewed it as the only tax cut I'll see for a long time with Obama Bin Biden having quadrupled the deficit in 6 months, more than all past president's combined. And with double digit inflation coming in 12-18 months from Obama printing monopoly money and destroying the dollar there is no point saving money as it becomes worthless.



Of course if the democrats get their global warming tax passed we'll be in a full fledged depression as all manufacturing will be gone to china and everyone will be paying 4200 a year in extra costs. All based on a hoax, Human caused global warming is as real as the tooth fairy. All human activity creates .017% of CO2 when water vapor is taken into effect, and CO2 levels didn't rise until 800 and 1200 years AFTER the previous warming periods.



Realistically we all lost our freedom and became slaves to the government in 1913 when the passed the federal reserve act and income taxes. A private entity now controls our entire economy and money supply. Americans now work into August to pay their tax "bill". 2/3 of your efforts go to the government, that is slavery or indentured servitude at a minimum.
 
Latest on this topic- yesterday's local paper had a big write-up about how our local dealers are miffed...seems they're not getting their $ form the govt. quickly enough and as a result they have big cashflow problems. "It's a disaster", "it's an absolute catastrophe", and "it's an administrative nightmare" were among the comments. Also, one guy was complaining that the rules about (what to do with) the clunkers keep changing and aren't easily complied with.



Sheesh, I thought the dealers were supposed to be all happy about increased sales. Not sure if I consider this a case of looking a gift horse in the mouth or not :think:



Sounds like a typical govt.-adminstered SNAFU to me, I'd think one oughta just expect it to come with the territory.



Setec Astronomy said:
I guess I wasn't thinking about how long it's been since they made a Caprice, plus I never liked the Shamu ones. I could never do a Crown Vic...I'd be looking for a newer 9C1 Impala..
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For the intended application, a FWD Impala wouldn't be suitable (for a whole lotta reasons). The cars I do in this vein are, uhm...specifically purpose-built ;)and there are a lotta considerations that trump most of the usual "is it a desirable car" factors.
 
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