Clunker: Saving the earth didn’t quite happen
The Oklahoman Editorial
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34
Published: November 9, 2009
The government’s Cash for Clunkers program was designed to boost auto sales and help save the environment, by replacing aging gas guzzlers with new, more fuel-efficient vehicles. So much for best-laid plans.
A portion of the more than 400 cars that G&R Auto Parts has taken in after the Cash for Clunkers program on Friday, Sept. 18, 2009, in Oklahoma City, Okla. Photo by Chris Landsberger
Multimedia
We already knew that, as expected, sales of new cars plummeted after Cash for Clunkers expired. Now an
Associated Press analysis of trade-ins shows that saving the planet wasn’t exactly a priority for consumers.
The most common Cash for Clunkers swaps involved customers who traded in old pickup trucks and drove off in trucks the same size. Ford 150 drivers, for example, were 17 times more likely to buy a new F150 than an economy car, AP reported. The difference in gas mileage? Perhaps 1 to 3 miles per gallon compared with the clunkers.
Likewise, owners of Chevy and Dodge pickups most often bought new
Silverado or
Ram trucks. The F150, Silverado and midsize
Ford Escape SUV were among the most popular vehicles bought with the government rebates, which ranged from $3,500 to $4,500 depending on what sort of clunker was traded in.
AP looked at 677,000 trade-ins processed as of mid-October and found that about one in seven got less than 20 mpg. "If we’re looking for an environmental story here, we’re going to be disappointed,” said a top executive at
Edmunds.com.
Another discovery: The government spent $562,500 in rebates for new vehicles that got the same or worse mileage as the trade-ins, which is the opposite of what the program was supposed to do. The government is looking into those reports. That’s good to know.
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The only thing this program had any hope of doing was to stimulate the car industry. Period. I think it succeeded at that, and gave the car manufacturers a much needed cash infusion. I hope they leverage that into building cars that people want and can afford.
But my brother in law gave over $32,000 for a 2009 4 door Dodge that I would not trade even up for. The Classified section's test drive of one really liked it.
He has already taken it in twice to have the rear main bearing seal replaced under warranty. I was leaving the City with a new 68 Dodge when the transmission quit. I guess some of us just aren't lucky or some are.
I worked for a construction company 3 years ago and drove a 1998 Dodge Ram 2500 cummins diesel. When I left there, it had 540,000 miles on it and was still going strong. Only one oil leak and one power steering pump other than regular wear and tear. It was a 5 speed manual and a great truck. I drove it about 1600 miles a week.
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I used to buy Ford 250 four wheel drive trucks which only got 6 mpg as did a 250 Chevy. All were junk by 40,000 miles and I sold them for under $1,000 each. Now my Tundra has 170,000 miles and with four wheel drive gets up to 18. It would probably get better if I didn't burn out every time I take off. It is hard to take off easy.
I haven't heard anyone say they didn't approve of the clunker program except some that said some good vehicles were destroyed they would have loved to own. And as a far right wing conservative I sure don't like our troops being in a fuelish religious war.
That's like going into an exclusive restaurant and whining about the price of butter. Do you righties know how foolish you look? Probably not.
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listening to you whine. By the way, my rhetoric is my own. In case you haven't noticed, the majority of the people in this country define themselves as conservatives. The smallest contingent define themselves as liberals like yourself. Good day.
Barack Obama
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