Cash For Clunkers: RCR Stories

Another point you missed was the hundreds of people who were assured by their dealerships that their cars were eligible for the program only to receive a call from the dealer saying due to misinterpreted rules and regulations that their car wasn't eligible, so they either needed to come up with the amount of the rebate or bring their new car back. When asked if they could get their old car back? Oh, sorry, we destroyed it, either come up with the money or we take your only method of transportation. Those that lost their new cars? Had a hell of a time finding something to drive due to the shortage of used cars.

Stacey David actually did a small segment on “cash for clunkers”. He hit the nail on the head by explaining that this “program” wiped out cheap transportation for people while simultaneously putting them into debt.

My 1985 Chevy Chevette survived this automotive chicanery. It's 35 years old and I drive it every single day. Cold starts in the morning...below freezing...she starts right up. Cash for clunkers was an evil undertaking motivated by pure greed.

Who ever scrapped their supra must be absolutely hating themselves now. they missed the opportunity to have a triple digit some 100k bank account balance

i worked for toyota during the cash for clunkers days and i remember seizing the engine on a aurora that had 34k miles and the cleanest exterior i ever seen. i also remember thinking how annoying it was that my shit box celebrity didnt qualify for the program so i was forced to destroy cars that would easily out beat mine in reliability

Selling Geo Metro $20k. No low ballers, I know what I got.

Cash for clunkers: "Millions of voice suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced..." The program eliminated affordable transportation at a time when people needed it most, at the start of the great recession. Only good part that came of it was watching the slimy car salesmen suffer in the aftermath as car sales suddenly slowed to almost zero.

Cash for clunkers worked the way they wanted. They gave you some cash so you could go out to buy a clunker instead of holding onto that reliable "gas guzzler".

Absolutely hated Cash for Clunkers, it allowed GM to continue making shit cars among other problems mentioned here.

I'll never forget how much I cried at the Nissan dealership (I was around 9) when my dad traded in his 89 Foxbody for an Altima, under the Cash for clunkers program. Update: Altima is still going strong after 12 years; it's been the most reliable car he's ever owned.

"The intentions were good" No, they weren't. They knew exactly what game they were playing. While CLAIMING it was for good reasons, eliminating saleable used cars was EXACTLY the goal. The whole thing was a sham...nobody driving an actual deathtrap could afford a new car even with the discounts.

Cash for clunkers is basically why I had such a hard time finding a good used car before college

in other words, the genocide of perfectly good cars.

Press F for all the wonderful cars lost to this horrendous program Edit: Big BIG F for those Supras.

Something that wasn't mentioned- Presumably, a lot of the older cars were easier to work on (less dealer-locked equipment, computers, etc.), while most (if not all) of the new cars would now REQUIRE owners to visit dealers for a majority of repairs. I hear complaints about this all the time.

Could you imagine being the sad sack that trades in a trans am for a Corolla? Life sucks some times smh

Cash for clunkers is the main reason why a MK1 Golf GTI costs 30 grand nowadays...

Cash for clunkers putting us all into new car debt, and decimating the used car market

This is also a reason we have a younger generation that is less enthusiastic about cars. Nobody is going to car shows that are eco friendly.

I hated this program so much. I was 16 at the time when it happened. I remember parking lots full of perfectly good used cars that were going to be destroyed. I was so angry knowing that all of the nice cars would be destroyed in a matter of days. Think of all the great 90s cars that were destroyed!