Cash for clunkers

"Ratonu13-Proud Daewoo owner, apparently" (cristianadamro)
09/26/2015 at 01:37 • Filed to: None

I stumbled upon this on facebook and I was wondering what did the program consist of since I’m not from the US. Did they pay you the full value and then scrap the car or did they give you a fixed sum?

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

DISCUSSION (13)

skinnyrook > Ratonu13-Proud Daewoo owner, apparently
09/26/2015 at 02:59

It was a fixed sum, $3500-$4500, depending on the vehicle, and it could only be used towards the purchase of a new vehicle. There was an 18 mpg limit on the cars too, and you had to buy something more fuel efficient.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Ratonu13-Proud Daewoo owner, apparently
09/26/2015 at 03:11

Vee Ate Injun > Ratonu13-Proud Daewoo owner, apparently
09/26/2015 at 03:49

Fixed price, either $3,500 or $4,500, depending on what you were ‘clunking’ and what shiny new car you were replacing it with. The info:

http://jalopnik.com/5285833/a-guid…

The worst part was the fact that they literally had to kill the car you turned in by draining the fluids and running the engine with a chemical that would melt/seize all the internal components.

Which is why it was so difficult to see rare/exotic cars being “clunked”:

http://jalopnik.com/5365954/ten-mo…

promoted by the color red > Ratonu13-Proud Daewoo owner, apparently
09/26/2015 at 04:00

It was established that the Aston Martin DB7 was a dealership employee mis-key (one helluva mistake, if you ask me), making me wonder how many more of these cars were really what they said they were. It’s possible that the E30 M3 was a lowly 325e about ready for death.

Ratonu13-Proud Daewoo owner, apparently > Vee Ate Injun
09/26/2015 at 05:18

well, yeah, that’s bad, but since they were exotics and ended up there shouldn’t we asume that they were in such a poor condition they had almost no value? I mean, if I had an old Aston lying around and if I sold it I could get 10 grand I would most likely have taken that route

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Ratonu13-Proud Daewoo owner, apparently
09/26/2015 at 07:57

Yes. Though there were a few theoretically “collectible” cars turned in, the vast majority of cars were worth way, way less than the trade-in amount the program gave. Most of the exotics were more along the lines of your uncle’s Maserati Biturbo that never ran right and might go for $1800 on Craigslist to the right idiot enthusiast.

Tohru > Ratonu13-Proud Daewoo owner, apparently
09/26/2015 at 08:39

The rarest and yet least desirable car that got clunkered? 1985 Maserati Biturbo. Reportedly, it would only run for 5-10 minutes at a time before shutting off.

Tohru > Vee Ate Injun
09/26/2015 at 08:42

We killed all the vehicles that got clunkered at the local Chevy dealership - I was working at a salvage yard at the time.

Longest survivor: 1992 K1500 extended cab. Ran for 5 minutes with the chemical in the crankcase. After it died, it would spin over but wouldn’t start.

Shortest survivor: 1999 Windstar. Ran for less than 20 seconds with the chemical in it. Seized solid.

Biggest shame: two Jeep TJ Wranglers.

Sam > Tohru
09/26/2015 at 09:51

You MURDERER.

Vee Ate Injun > Tohru
09/26/2015 at 13:39

I’m sure you were only doing your job.

#carmurderer

#thatswhattheNazissaid

(Just kidding, I'm sure most were junk)

Tohru > Vee Ate Injun
09/26/2015 at 13:56

The Jeeps weren’t junk. We sold everything off them. One went to the crusher as a motor bolted to a frame. The other had the body tub left because it was too rusty.

Vee Ate Injun > Tohru
09/26/2015 at 15:41

Ah, glad to know components were salvaged. It appeared as they were crushing complete cars with perfectly good components.

So no one ever tried to “save” a car from death and drive it away? (I realize that was probably against the law)

Tohru > Vee Ate Injun
09/26/2015 at 18:50

I don’t know about elsewhere, I can only speak for Wisconsin.

Here, when a car got clunkered, it went to an auto recycling yard/salvage yard like the one I worked at. If a car comes into inventory at a yard, the title MUST be sent in to the state and it is branded as a junk title. So, even if you put a different motor in it, the VIN is still bad.

I did hear about a couple techs that bought cars that were going to be clunkered for the amount they were going to get from the government, but as far as I know in WI once the paperwork was started on a clunker there was no saving it.