I worked for a car dealership during this program back in 2008 I think it was. We were forced to destroy a lot of nice stuff. Some of the guys I worked with would have tears in their eyes destroying stuff that they really wished they could’ve bought. The hardest part was watching classic cars get destroyed that a lot of guys had dreams of owning

@Me-eb3wv

Жыл бұрын

💔

@the_kombinator

11 ай бұрын

How strict were the rules? Pre 9-11 to just pre-COVID I was buying cars straight off the junkyard lot - as long as the paperwork wasn't processed, you could get a runner for twice the price of scrap. Got a nice 87 Civic for $800 with 80,000 KM on the odo in great shape that way.

@scottcol23

8 ай бұрын

@@the_kombinator Strict enough that you didn't want to risk a federal fraud instigation. You had to keep all the paperwork on the car or you didn't get the cash. Basically, making the car dealership lose the $4500 cash on each car they lost track of. but there were still slippery dealerships/scrapyards that shipped the cars overseas where the US title means little to them.

Cash for clunkers happened right when I was trying to buy my first car. It was absolutely terrible, couldn’t find anything cheap. Nothing good happened from it. Weird that a government program failed lol

@DunnDifferent

2 жыл бұрын

Congrats on the new tint law!!!

@lightning95sc

2 жыл бұрын

Cash for Clunkers forever eliminated cheap, useable cars.

@floydj.907

2 жыл бұрын

It's all about the money...

@MAGGOT_VOMIT

2 жыл бұрын

SMDH at all those '98 Jeep GC Niners that got destroyed. FUQ!! Due to lack of funds, I only could only save 2 more of 'em. :- (

@WCGwkf

2 жыл бұрын

@@lightning95sc not forever, there were essentially 2 or 3 decades of cars worth buying when this happened. Once we get back to that time past there will be enough used cars back. If they do the program again, then we're screwed.

Saddest part of this is the clunkers were actually the well-built cars that everyone is after now. Because the new cars are crap.

@xletzyy

Ай бұрын

Lol facts😂😂 I read multiple perfect condition VR4's where traded for hybrids😂

@davidrr8724

23 күн бұрын

​@@xletzyy Not only that, many 325's and even one M3 along with classic Mustangs, Mercedes, Audis and many other more were traded for Priuses and destroyed.

I remember when this was happening thinking, why would I get rid of a car that I own outright to get into 20k debt. And it was heart breaking seeing what was being destroyed.

@xletzyy

Ай бұрын

Exactly. They wanted to wipe anything remotely cheap or affordable to make you buy from the stealership. Makes sense dealer's where ALL FOR THIS. Lots of dealer's where losing money at this time cause people kept keeping their old civic, and they hated it. Which is sad cause I still own my old Honda and I can't even imagine getting rid of it. Even 10 years from now.

2009, many people out of work or seriously broke and Govt destroys the cheap car market. Typical short sighted BS.

@Been.Here.Since.2007

2 жыл бұрын

It was intentional. They had mega brains plotting it.

@ChevTecGroup

2 жыл бұрын

It was a buyout for the auto industry disguised under the lie of "helping the environment." Driving an old car is multiple times better for the environment than building a new car.

@beezertwelvewashingbeard8703

2 жыл бұрын

I bought a 1988 model year pickup in 2009 just before CFC launched. Still have it and drive it daily ever since. I like to think I may have saved at least one from the fate of CFC.

@MrGlock509

2 жыл бұрын

They knew what they were doing.

@petarmiletic997

2 жыл бұрын

What can I say. Leftism is cancer. Sad that people still fall for it

Finally, someone in the car community has the balls to call this shit out. EuroAsian Bob is my new hero.

@ChevTecGroup

2 жыл бұрын

Yes! We need to not forget this total F-up of legislation

@theanomalous1401

2 жыл бұрын

@EUROASIAN Bob 👈 #Legend

@Jamez84

2 жыл бұрын

Cash for clunkers didn't kill the car markets. Baby boomers did. They created that legislation. They kept wages low while allowing inflation to run rampant. They sold the American dream they were given to corporations. When baby boomers got their 1st cars they were brand new from the factory for low prices. They could work part time and be able to afford a brand new car. Ain't nobody getting a brand new 1st car these day's unless they are ridiculously wealthy

@explodeder

2 жыл бұрын

Between 2004 and 2007 there were 66.4 million cars sold in the US. Between 2008 and 2012 there were 47.8 million cars sold in the US. that’s about 18.5 million fewer cars than would have been sold had Wall Street not crashed the economy. Cash for clunkers was a drop in the bucket comparatively.

@DemonratsRevil

2 жыл бұрын

I bet the word democrat won’t be said tho.

Distant friends grandmother got rid of the old clunker in her backyard back then. The wrecking truck showed up and gladly gave her $100 for her “clunker”. The problem was that it was her husband’s old car and he had passed away many years before. It was a 1965 Dodge Street Wedge with original everything. There are many stories like this Chevelle’s, Camaro’s Mustangs. You name it if it was in someone’s backyard back then it probably sold for a whopping $100. So sad.

@eclewis1

3 ай бұрын

It had to be currently registered to qualify for Cash for Clunkers. It wasn't just any old junk car sitting around which qualified for the Cash for Clunkers subsidy.

@maximuswedgie5149

3 ай бұрын

@@eclewis1 she didn’t do cash for clunkers, a lot of people didn’t do that because it had to be 25 years old or newer. You just had to have a title just like a lot of people did and you called a metal yard/ tow truck and they would come pick it up. Give you 100 bucks and pocket 50 if it worked out that way. This annihilated the classic cars everywhere. It was scrap metal prices that went up. A lot of people did this back then. It was terrible for classic cars.

As Ronald Reagan once stated "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help." The 'cash for clunkers' program was one of the dumbest, most wasteful programs ever thought of by our ridiculously intelligent elected officials. As a car enthusiast, to watch the videos of people intentionally destroying perfectly good, drivable, vehicles was horribly painful. I remember crying over some of the videos. Just heartbreaking. I can't imagine the irreparable damage done to the automotive industry because of this stupidity. The loss of irreplaceable vehicles, recyclable parts, and perfectly good used vehicles was incredible. Thank you for presenting the insider perspective.

@michaelbenardo5695

2 жыл бұрын

This was not about the government trying to help, it was a concerted effort to get traditional American-made vehicles off the road and replaced with Japanese vehicles. And Saint Ronnie pushed through an amendment to the tax code that provides for employers to get paid, WITH OUR TAX DOLLARS, to move jobs and even entire facilities to Asia.

@jsquared1013

Жыл бұрын

@@michaelbenardo5695 it has nothing to do with that at all. Gov't trying to artificially create demand for new cars since GM and Chrysler were going bankrupt.

I remember this program vividly because so many 90s Hondas, Nissans, and Toyotas around me were just vanishing. Philly used to be full of AE86, RX7, Supras, 180s & 240s, and they all just started disappearing. Couldn't even find parts in yards anymore. Never add it up to this program until this video! Thanks for sharing!

@ChevTecGroup

2 жыл бұрын

The effects are still going on to this day. Total F-you to the people that couldn't afford a new car

@XzanderVillo

2 жыл бұрын

Literally feel sick thinking about that.

@60Jascar

2 жыл бұрын

It was really bad for 90s cars in general. I needed a set of used Ford Explorer wheels while this program was going on. They were just the standard 15" wheels they put on like a million of those trucks, but it took me a month to buy some. I'd go to a junkyard, see a literal pile of Explorers, but they couldn't even sell me four wheels from that pile.

@explodeder

2 жыл бұрын

Most of those cars didn’t qualify. They had to get less than 18mpg combined, so they didn’t disappear because of the program. They disappeared because they were getting old and rusted out, like every other car where salt is used regularly.

@ChevTecGroup

2 жыл бұрын

@@explodeder in the first round, the only MPG qualifier was that your new car get better MPG than your "clunker." I believe 18mpg was the automatic qualifier. But this also killed the used truck and SUV market

Yeah man that was a shame redlining perfectly good cars and blowing the motors

@volvo09

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, who would do that shit!!! 😜

@standyourground9973

2 жыл бұрын

What’s it got stunttttmann??

@Uncle05Sam

2 жыл бұрын

Think of all those fresh pizza toppings though...

@TylerWadleigh

2 жыл бұрын

Now what kind of MONSTER would ever do that

@GarageMafia

2 жыл бұрын

How dare you!

I wish people would just wake up and see everybody is just screwing us around every corner we need to stop letting this happen

@deadbodybaby1

Ай бұрын

We don’t even need new cars every year dude. It’s worse for emissions and for the planet in general to be producing so much nonsense that nobody needs, keeping our older shit running would be better for the planet than to keep wasting time money and resources on new shit people don’t need on a yearly basis. Even every 5 years or every 2.5 years would make a difference. The consumerism is out of hand

The 2008-2010 Honda Civic is the official Cash 4 Clunkers car. I see so damn many of them every day. Everybody was being pushed to get small “fuel efficient” cars, and that was what they settled on

@nicholasfield6127

2 жыл бұрын

I believe I read once that the car most people bought on the cash for clunkers program was the Ford Escape.

@veryfunclub

2 жыл бұрын

@@nicholasfield6127 I hadn’t thought about those turds being that popular, but it certainly would explain why there are so many

@RR-ln6vs

Жыл бұрын

They’re actually one of the most reliable Hondas ever made

@jensgronning4436

Ай бұрын

Actually the most purchased car was the Toyota Prius.

The Cash for Clunkers program was the DUMBEST Auto program ever introduced. Discarding so many good used cars will never benefit society or the economy, history has proven that!

@SoloRenegade

2 жыл бұрын

hurts the environment too

@tommak6516

2 жыл бұрын

When they say 'Clunkers' were they referring to the cars or the people?

@michaelbenardo5695

2 жыл бұрын

Al Gore did this, as he is a nerd of the highest order.

@thesisypheanjournal1271

2 жыл бұрын

It wasn't dumb. It was brilliant. The whole idea was to price private transportation out of the reach of low income people so that they'd either be forced to "go green" by using public transport or -- best case scenario for the politicians -- lose their jobs and end up dependent on government handouts. Welcome to the Vote Farm, peasants!

@SoloRenegade

2 жыл бұрын

@@thesisypheanjournal1271 and now they want to force people to buy $60k EV despite lacking sufficient grid energy to charge that many EVs.

I would like to point out as a side note, something like 40% of the loans taken out on the Cash for Clunkers program to get those new cars, were subprime loans to begin with, and ended up in repossession. A lot of people bought new cars that they could not actually afford.

@allegorx58

2 жыл бұрын

he literally said that

@euroasianbob9268

2 жыл бұрын

I just assumed that. I never saw any figures. That’s sad.

@chubbysumo2230

2 жыл бұрын

@@euroasianbob9268 im sure you would have noticed, just 2 years after the CARS program, the new car market tanked because the number of reposessions on those loans were 4 times higher than national averages at the time, to the point that 40 to 50% of those loans went backwards, and lenders were stuffing auctions with used cars that were ill maintained. the other funny part, is that the program was designed to boost the sales of US automakers, and it really didn't, instead toyota and honda really took most of the business.

@dpwellman

2 жыл бұрын

@@chubbysumo2230 Well. . . except that at least as far as manufacturing goes, they're about as American a car company as anyone. Ultimately it was not about the car companies at all. . . it was about the unions.

@HerculesRockefellerESQ

2 жыл бұрын

I remember saying something along those lines when this program came out. People aren't driving old pieces of shit because they can afford new vehicles most of the time. They are driving old pieces of shit because they can afford old pieces of shit. I remember telling a guy work was it will be interesting to see what the repossession rates of vehicles is 3, 6, 9, 12 months after delivery on the entirety of vehicles purchased under this program. Are these figures available anywhere to the public does anybody know?

When I hear older people talking about how things are much more expensive than back in their day, I think of stunts like these that they participated in. Then they get mad at young business owners like myself for raising our prices.

@chiplangowski3298

3 ай бұрын

Except whether you are required to raise prices due to inflation, or businesses 15 years ago participated in C4C, it all starts with bad government policy. That is the problem.

I was in middle school wondering why a middle class family couldn't afford a good car without a loan or going broke all year. But after hearing about that program via a popular radio show host it made a lot of sense

"Forcing poor people to buy new cars and go into debt." That was the plan the whole time. The government can't make money off of the used car market or people who pay for everything with cash.

@ChevTecGroup

2 жыл бұрын

Same as today. Buttigeg and Psaki saying to buy a new electric car cuz gas prices are high. Idiotic

@JeffHendricks

2 жыл бұрын

@@ChevTecGroup Same scheme, different day.

@jonclark1288

2 жыл бұрын

Pretty sure the gov't didn't hold a gun to anyone's head and FORCE them to buy anything. If someone bought a car they can't afford, that's their own fault and dumb choice

@JeffHendricks

2 жыл бұрын

@@jonclark1288 You missed the point... when they devastated the used car market, the people who needed cheap used cars were stuck. A lot of people _didn't_ have a choice but to go into debt to replace their cars.

@stephentroyer3831

2 жыл бұрын

@@jonclark1288 right. It did have big effects, but no one was Forced to bring in their cars and Forced to get into debt. My parents had two cars that would have qualified, but they knew better than to take on debt rather than keep their cars going.

Driving past dealerships and seeing great old pickups and cars sitting in the dealer lot but unable to be bought made me seriously angry I hated cash for clunkers worst thing to happen to the American car market

I started auto transport right after this. I hauled thousands of repos out of springfield mo to Kansas City over the first couple years. And that was working with 2-3 repo lots. Almost ALL cash for clunkers and it was so sad. A lot of them only made 2-3 payments, hardly any kept insurance, couldn’t do basic maintenance, etc.

I had a friend who worked at a Buick dealership during this time and an older lady in her 70s came in with a garage kept, triple black 28,000 mile 1993 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. Her late husband usually drove it and she said it was too big for her and the $3500 they were offering would make a nice down payment. My friend pulled her aside before the went inside and explained to her exactly what they had to do to the cars once they were purchased under the program, needless to say she was appalled. He ended up personally buying it from her for $6000 and sold her a Buick LaCrosse. He still has the Caddy today an it still looks brand new with only 82,000 miles now.

This is what happens when government tries to “help”.

@B86432

2 жыл бұрын

democrats not government just like the current car industry & gas market no different happens every single time in the mid 70s to early 80s same deal with jimmy carter

@EagleXYZLibertarianForChrist

2 жыл бұрын

​@@B86432 No, government is the problem. If you think democrats are the problem then your efforts have been successfully distracted to focus on the dog and pony show. Republicans are very much apart of the problem as well. Look at the lockdowns. 49/50 states locked down. You call that freedom via your republican party? The power is the problem. The presidency is now an administrative state and your not going to have any hope of success if you keep your efforts on the democrats. Are they corrupt? Yes, but they are far from the only ones corrupt. Work to remove government power from ruling over you.

@kakd1870

2 жыл бұрын

this is what happens when out of touch rich people in government tries to help..

@EagleXYZLibertarianForChrist

2 жыл бұрын

@@kakd1870 They are not even trying to help. They are using government to become rich & richer under the guise of helping. Why do you think nancy pelosi objected to banning politicians from participating in the stock market where they have the ability to manipulate stocks via government law? They support insider trading. Which is another way they get us to participate in their games and then they stack the cards where our stocks fail and theirs succeed. Its wealth redistribution.

@mattwolf7698

2 жыл бұрын

@@B86432 Gas prices are up all over the globe, there's also a chip shortage.

As a car guy, that cash for clunkers run never looked good to me. At the time I was a porter at a Lincoln/Mercury dealership. During this time we had folks bringing in all sorts of cars with V8 engines and such to be trashed and they were leaving in brand new 4 cylinder hybrid vehicles. At the time we sold Mercury Milan and Mercury Mariner which also came in hybrid. The rule was that you'd get more money incentives if you traded a more fuel inefficient car for a more fuel efficient car, so trading in a Corvette for a Milan Hybrid for example would yield you the highest incentive. We parked the clunker cars in a special place along the fence in the back of the lot and when it was time, the technicians on staff would drain all the oil out and fill the engine with a seizing fluid I guess the government provided and then run them until they seized up to assure that no one uses the engines ever again. That was a sad day... watching as they started every vehicle one by one and we waited until they all stopped on their own shortly after. We didn't get many exciting cars, I mean... who really wants a 2009 Lincoln or Mercury? Especially what was being offered as a fuel efficient alternative to whatever they already had at the time. But one car we did get that was my favorite was a 1999ish Cadillac STS. Had the Northstar engine in it, I know a lot of people hate on them, but it was still a pretty powerful engine with some decent torque. I ripped it around in the parking lot one last time before lining it up against the death fence. And yeah... because of that terrible era... the used car market is fucked right now.

@stevenpage8847

2 жыл бұрын

I recently purchased an 05 grand marquis. 34k miles. Some good ones r still out there.

@man_on_wheelz

2 жыл бұрын

@@stevenpage8847 I always loved the Panther body cars. I really wanted a Town Car, loved driving them at work and because I'm a boujee bastard I prefer the Town Car over the Grand Marquis. Tried to get one a few years ago but with the low miles it had on it and great condition, my credit wouldn't let me finance it, instead I had to settle for my MKS Ecoboost which... I ain't mad at all lol just a bit more complex mechanically and a little less reliable than a Town Car.

@goosenotmaverick1156

2 жыл бұрын

I worked in parts myself during this time and I agree. Quite sad, we got shipped the sizing fluid (some sort of liquid silicate mixture) and the accompanying instructions. Drain to minimal smmount, add like 1oz of the fluid, start, run at 2krpm and increase throttle to hold it there until it no longer ran. Disgusting experience and memory for me

@goosenotmaverick1156

2 жыл бұрын

Also noteworthy, markets like the xj keep cherokee market were slaughtered by this program.

@stevenpage8847

2 жыл бұрын

@@goosenotmaverick1156 I do pdr and was actually glad to see those clunkers go. So tired of fixing old tauruses.

The dealer i worked for saw the writting on the wall. And refused to take part in this. We just tried absorb it to make it look like we gave them 3500 for the trade which wasn't that hard. There where some dealers that got on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars that the government would not pay.

A LOT of my favorite cars were destroyed. I LOVE the mid-90s ford pickups. They are worth more now than the would be, because this government program caused a lot of them to be destroyed.

@Joelwee1028

2 жыл бұрын

The mid-‘90s Ford trucks are my favorite body style.

I remember this, I was 21 in 2009 and my mom was begging me to send in my "clunker" a 1984 Toyota 4x4 shortbed pick up, glad I never did it, that truck lasted another decade until my cousin rolled it. Now I'm daily driving another "clunker" according to her, a 1986 Toyota 2wd ext cab long bed, same cousin does not get to drive it.

@retro_88yota

2 жыл бұрын

Definitely save the 80s Toyota trucks. I use to have a 86 xtracab long bed now I have a SASed 88 pickup that probably should have been scrapped, but they are getting harder and harder to find so I try to save them.

@froggmann01

2 жыл бұрын

Sounds familiar, when CFC was going on people were trying to convince me to get rid of my 93 Bronco. Never did and I still have it. Scary thing is it's now worth more than I paid for it back in 1999.

@ThatOneGuyWithTheEye

2 жыл бұрын

People that don't actually know anything about cars and what's good or not honestly p*** me off. 90% of people out their old and young associate newer with better in a standard scale and it is just so dumbed down.

@ThatOneGuyWithTheEye

2 жыл бұрын

@@froggmann01 same I still have my 89 bronco 2 and it's worth well over 1000% what I payed for it and have put into it over the years

@deejayyy1681

2 жыл бұрын

Worth a ton more than CFC offered now too 😆

My buddy was running a car crusher when cash for clunkers was going on. We're truck guys in a rural area. He crushed SOOOOOOOOO many running driving square body Chevy trucks. He said they would drive in , cross the scale, he would get in and drive them right into the crusher. Crushed all kinds of now collectable cars.

@p71owner53

2 жыл бұрын

Wow that’s sad

@77yogurt

2 жыл бұрын

Holy fuckin FUCK that turns my stomach.

@younkinjames8571

2 жыл бұрын

I blame the guys that took them in...im not even a Chevy guy, but cmon! Sq body chevy's are awesome...

@gearjammergamer8560

2 жыл бұрын

@@77yogurt Yea him too but it was all legality stuff with the vehicles having to be destroyed. I needed a door for a truck and he called me once and was like fuck it bring me a shitty door and grab this good one off this truck. So we took my door and put it on the truck that had to be crushed. No cash changed hands but it was a whole truck he crushed

@BobbyGeneric145

2 жыл бұрын

Squarebodies are big money now.

One of the ironies of the whole debacle was that people were trading in for small cheap compact cars. So the big three (the ones the government was bailing out) barely even benefited from those new car sales.

I can only imagine the amount of foxbody mustangs , caprice classics, lids , crown Victorias, and other reliable cheap economical fun that was destroyed 😡

I worked at a dealership during this period. He’s 100% right - there were too many “nice” vehicles being destroyed. One of our government’s greatest failures.

@startreking

2 жыл бұрын

Thank the big 4 they are big enough to tell the government what to do. They clearly did well with their lobbying.

@Sublime-

2 жыл бұрын

Government is nothing but great failures.

@MichaelJames-lz7ni

2 жыл бұрын

….Says a guy whose business-model steals money from people faster than the IRS.

@Sublime-

2 жыл бұрын

@@MichaelJames-lz7ni ignorant as hell comment

@purposly

2 жыл бұрын

It's not a failure, it did exactly what they wanted. Stop thinking the government is looking out for you, they want you to be miserable and in debt.

I was also in the position of needing a cheap and reliable used vehicle in this era. Watching all of the fantastic early-to-mid 90's Hondas get destroyed was nothing short of a travesty. Literally thousands of some of the best cars Honda ever made were tossed in the shredder, to be replaced with expensive junk and loads of debt.

@PavelVarga24

2 жыл бұрын

Sad

The same happened (and is still happening) in France. Incentives to buy newer cars were huge ( like 10k then, today 5k if you buy electric) so people didn't bother to sell their cars that were obviously worth less than 10k. A lot of people threw away inherited very low miles (like 10-30k) grandparents cars, 205 GTIs, Honda CRX, Preludes, any big Japanese coupe (300zx, Celica, Legend, Svx, ...), BMW E36, ...

The best thing that came this program was that it got rid of the vast majority of the Obama bumper stickers.

Imagine all the late 70's cars that were crushed over the years just because California wouldn't let the owner re-engine it with modern running gear.

@subtleusername5475

2 жыл бұрын

the fact that you think that means the people that got rich successfully brainwashed you. it was obviously only about getting people into debt with new cars.

@bendeleted9155

2 жыл бұрын

@@subtleusername5475 you don't even understand what I said, obviously. It's interrelated but independent from cash for clunkers. It's standard operating procedure in California to make it just about impossible to smog a car from the late '70s, like a Firebird with an Olds 401 with a smog pump and air-injected exhaust manifolds, not to mention all those vacuum hoses and check valves. Even the air cleaner has to be correct. Then, if it passes the tailpipe sniffer, it's a total dog.

@dpwellman

2 жыл бұрын

I'd. . rather not.

@Mr.wilson949

2 жыл бұрын

@@bendeleted9155 Good statement,only thing u missed was an Oldsmobile had a 403. Chevy made a 402 in the early 70s. If i recall correctly.

@bendeleted9155

2 жыл бұрын

@@Mr.wilson949 yes, thanks. Meant 403.

It’ll be interesting to see how they top that in the next couple years with the push for Crossovers and EVs.

@euroasianbob9268

2 жыл бұрын

Brace yourself.

@diggingattycho7908

2 жыл бұрын

I've been trying to tell people who say the future is electric. With the higher demand for electricity, you need power plants. Guess what they are not doing, in fact they are doing the opposite. I hope these guys who talk about the electric future love rationing. Heaven help the guy who can only charge his car on the 31st.

@theanomalous1401

2 жыл бұрын

Look at the prices at the pump and what was done to domestic production of petroleum. There is the answer to your question.

@maldenfoster

2 жыл бұрын

@@diggingattycho7908 just saying Texas didn’t even have enough electricity in reserve to handle a bad winter storm (electric heaters in most all houses) during the bad snow storm of 21 all of Texas was experiencing rolling blackouts just due to that uptick in demand. Now imagine everyone in Texas needs to charge their ev to travel the 45 min it takes to get to work every day

@JoJoJoker

2 жыл бұрын

When they could just convert gas cars to run on hemp biodiesel or do electric engine swaps. None of this is about a logical solution.

Same happened in France, more or less around the same time. I was GM in a fast food restaurant. I was often working the drive thru (yes, i was not sitting in my office). So you had the regular customer, in an area with low/mid income, with old cars coming. That program show up, and you see them in brand new late model car and everything, probably burried into debts. It killed the used car market. Lots of people where trying to get out lease but could not after year. it was a carnage. a couple friend working in dealership found a loophole and where able to save some very nice car from the schredder. stupidest program ever. shit load of tax payer money wasted for the profit of private car manufacturers, burrying people in debt, and killing a mark for people that want low price cars. no wonder some cars that where commons end at insane price now

There should have been a second phase where people with older cars could trade their true clunkers for all the 10 year old cars. I traded in a 10 year old Marquis when I purchased during that event. But the dealer was allowed to sell it because it could sell for more than $5K. I still see it on the road 13 years later.

@scottcol23

8 ай бұрын

Thats not how it worked.... The point was to get cars with less than 18mpg efficiency off the road. Has nothing to do with the resale value. once the govt purchased the car for up to $4500, it was theirs and there were zero exceptions. EDIT:What they did was puchase the car for $4500 with their own $$ and re sell it/

As a low income, disabled person, cash for clunkers was a classist and abelist program that hurt people like myself. My credit wasn't good, so I didn't qualify for a new car or even a lease. The buy here/pay here lots were the only people willing to work with me and cash for clunklers took away the option of having many decent vehicles available.

I was a Technician at a Toyota Dealership in Maine during this "cash for clunkers" thing was going on. Long story short, this one particular day I was told to go out to a car, with a gallon of a very specific fluid that I had to dump into the engine, then start the engine and Rev the engine of the Rev limiter until the engine seized up. This one car absolutely KILLED me to do, it actually took me about 15 minutes of standing by this car one beautiful summer day before I got built up enough strenght to do what I had to do by the Federal Government. This was a 1997 Chevy Camaro, 6 speed(manual), red, T-tops with only 71,000 miles. It was a beautiful car, and as a Technician it absolutely killed me to kill this car, but I had to. Also there was another car I had to kill that same day, and it was a pretty cool Cadillac STS, low miles, one owner etc...Man, that time really hurt to be a Technician at a dealership Side not, by doing what the Government wanted us to do, by reving it these engines until they seized actually could cause the a massive engine fire, and did cause massive fires across the Nation. I believe it got to a point where some dealership did these engine seizes one day a week, and would call a local fire department to come by with a fire engine on standby, just incase a fire broke out(which again, happened often). It could take 10-15minutes for some of thes engines to fail, creating a lot of heat causing the engine bay to catch fire

I graduated in 2008. I entered society in the midst of a brutal housing market. I couldn't find a job. And they took all the cheap cars away. It took me nearly a decade to get to where I should've been back then.

I considered turning my car in for this, but the fact they destroyed them 👉🏻 I could not do it. It absolutely broke my heart hearing stories of people pouring liquid glass into engines to “kill” perfectly good vehicles. I had a friend in the industry literally crying after a day of killing cars . . . and I could not turn my car in. It really messed up the car industry for years afterwards . . . kids these days don’t even know . . .

“Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” - Ronald Reagan

@Swiftceo

2 жыл бұрын

Ironic knowing Reagan

@8PMFORMULA

2 жыл бұрын

Ronald Reagan the known racist. The guy who claimed tax cuts for the rich will lead to trickle down benefits.

@8PMFORMULA

2 жыл бұрын

@charlie goodwin he screwed the working people and middle class with his trickle down economics. White people didn't care because racism is the most valuable thing to them. They are fine with screwing themselves over if they think they are also screwing over minorities worse.

@theanomalous1401

2 жыл бұрын

@@8PMFORMULA VinWiki is supposed to be an automotive channel. There are plenty of political channels on KZread where you can discuss baseless ideological talking points and myths. Many of us come here to get away from the constant echo chamber of political discourse that is tearing us apart at the seams.

@theanomalous1401

2 жыл бұрын

Ain't it funny@charlie goodwin how it's the middle-class voters that gives them the power but, it's the special interest $$$ that requires the quid pro quo. Which ends up hurting the voters in the end ( | ) ❗🤔

As a young kid growing up in Brooklyn New York, I vividly remember seeing a variety of 70’s-90’s cars on the streets. Back when ‘09 hit i remember my mom talking about how the national debt was rising and I saw all the cars I grew up with disappear. I never fully understood the reason why they disappeared as suddenly as they did but this video brought the truth to light. Thank you for this amazing content!

You have no idea how badly the Cash for Clunkers screwed over some of my friends in the Smog Check business. By 2009 I had been out of the retail auto repair business a few years and into the fleet repair side of things. But I still had friends in retail repair, a couple of them doing smog inspections as a part of their business. There is little money in the actual smog inspection itself. By the time you figure in the lease on the smog machine, licensing, and other costs, a shop pretty much breaks even on a simple smog inspection. Its also a nice courtesy for regular customers that come to your shop for other repairs. The real money in the smog check business was earned by repairing the cars that failed a smog check. California sweetened that pot by offering financial assistance toward repairs for those who couldn't afford the repairs to bring their cars into compliance. Most of the time the car simply hadn't been taken care of. After the repairs were made, with the financial help from California, the customer had a good running car that got good gas mileage. And they had no car payments. Along comes Cash for Clunkers. Now when a car failed smog, instead of offering financial assistance toward repairs, Cash for Clunkers would buy the car. This sucked all the profits from smog inspection stations and put the customers in debt. This was lose lose for both. One of my friends got out of the smog inspection business during Cash for Clunkers; there was no money in it anymore. Our town went from 7 shops that did smog inspections down to 3. The scariest words you will ever hear "We are the government and we are here to help"

I have a buddy who worked at a Cash for Clunkers turn in center, and he told stories of cars coming in with nearly full tanks of gas, which would just go to waste otherwise. He would siphon the gas out of the tanks, and so he didn't have to pay for gas throughout the whole program's life. The best story about it that he told was the owner of the lot (a shady character) found my buddy siphoning the gas out of the tanks one day and asked him what he was doing. My buddy explains, and the owner of the lot pauses for a moment and then says, 'That's genius".

I worked in automotive salvage at one of the largest salvage yards in MN. I honestly was sad at seeing what was being scrapped. The majority were one owner, under 130,000 mile, well taken care of vehicles. Some of examples I had seen was a 1997 Tahoe with 65,000 actual miles, 88 AMC Eagle (last year) with 30,000 miles. I remember every single car had brand new matching set of four tires. All this program did was take the nice cars that were going to be traded in, hurried the owners to sell, and ruined the market. That program just ruined everything across the board. Unfortunately I see it happening again. It would be a great time to squirrel away some cash and make offers matching the rebate to save some nice cars.

@larrythompson8630

2 жыл бұрын

If it happens again, I will be buying.

@MrTruckerf

2 жыл бұрын

If it happens again, I will be thrilled! Four of my 5 licensed vehicles are trash. They all run, but they have paper thin frames from salt cancer. They vary from '91 to '99. They were too good back in '09, but they are suitable now. The problem is, the program will never be repeated so they will be going to the junk yard in the next year or two.

@larrythompson8630

2 жыл бұрын

@@MrTruckerf so for you, you think it will be good? You realize the money is made, taken from us? But with Biden ruining the country, repaying his bribes… a few billion back home is nothing I guess.

@seththomas9105

3 ай бұрын

88 Eagle. 30K miles. (Sobbing and crying in the corner)

Still breaks my heart, saddest part is the used parts shortage its created for those generations of vehicles...

I think the second worst part of the "cash for clunkers" scam was that the government didn't require it that you buy an car from an American car company. I remember seeing people trading in perfectly running American cars and trading them for imported econo-boxes.

@scottcol23

8 ай бұрын

yeah because some of those manufacturers were offering to match the $4500. I know Chrysler eventually did that too.

“Competition does much more effective job than government at protecting consumers.” - Thomas Sowell

Its strange how people say C4C was over a decade ago and "only" took some small single digit of the used car market. I remember seeing entire airport runways overflowing with good cars.

@volvo09

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, there is a spreadsheet out there with total numbers on it. Lots of cars, and lots of parts removed from the market. The people taking advantage of this program were often looking for an excuse to get a new car, so you got some real nice cars with clean interiors "clunkerd". I was only 26 at the time, and it was heartbreaking to me then, just looking at some of the clean cars, most traded in for cheap junk that is ready for the scrapyard now.

@Sizukun1

2 жыл бұрын

@@volvo09 I think every car youtuber has mentioned it several times; there were people trading in perfectly good $30+ cars including astons, range rovers, porches, anything just to get a new car. They were trading in $30k cars to be demolished to get a $3500 rebate. That was the hilarity of it all.

@explodeder

2 жыл бұрын

@@Sizukun1 You might find anecdotal evidence of that, but dealers did not have to clunker them. If someone came in with a car worth more than the clunker price, then they could just buy it outright. They’d be stupid not to and that happened more often than not because they knew they could get a good price from the seller.

@sanangelo7926

2 жыл бұрын

The people that say its was nothing are the same people that think Biden is the best ever.

@cesariojpn

2 жыл бұрын

@@Sizukun1 If you look at the lists, not too many people were junking Porsches and Bentleys. Yeah, you had Corvettes and the occasional oddball enthusiast car (GMC Syclone, Maserati Biturbo, etc) but the vast majority of junked cars were the gas guzzling SUVs like Explorers and Tahoes.

Great to hear this from the inside. You absolutely confirmed my take of CFC as well. It was nothing but a gift to both the auto companies and the environmental lobby. It was incredibly short sighted. Those in power knew that, but didn't care. Government intrusion into the market never works out in our favor. Not even allowing the cars to be parted out was just insane.

@Howema

2 жыл бұрын

anyone with half a braincell would have at least just invalidated the VINs so the cars could never be registered or driven legally, leaving them to be either parted out, or if driven at all in a very limited capacity.

@bannedbycommieyoutube5time920

2 жыл бұрын

@@Howema They knew they would do that but that 100% wasn’t their intention. that would allow for parts that let other, older cars to stay on the road longer. The environmental lunatics and UAW can’t have that.

@Toyotamikewa

2 жыл бұрын

I loved the local pick n pull at the time and I seen a lot of CFC cars roll into the regular lot to be parted. The engines were trashed but the manual transmissions, and everything else, were fine

@FoxMacLeod2501

2 жыл бұрын

The environmental lobby loved it, because it made money, and was worse for the environment. Which the lobby does not actually care about, because the environment is not money. It kills me how everything that might be good, at the outset, is co-opted and turned against the people who do all the actual work in this country.

@Aspra

2 жыл бұрын

What else did you expect it was? It was to help the nose diving automotive industry in the US. That is it. Get people buying new cars, that get better gas mileage. How was this a secret?

This deserves some investigative reporting. Even if they sent so much overseas, you know that there must be US landfills dedicated to this 'program' still leaking fluids into the soil.

Cash for clunkers destroyed so many good cars. It was a gift to car dealers.

@u-shanks4915

2 жыл бұрын

Parasites with overpriced vehicles

@michaelbenardo5695

2 жыл бұрын

Only to JAPANESE car dealers.

@KingStepside

2 жыл бұрын

My uncle cashed in his perfectly running 82 Ford Bronco now he regrets it when he found out for what their selling for.

@michaelbenardo5695

2 жыл бұрын

@@KingStepside Why in the world did he do it? They only gave $1,000.00 - $1,500.00 He could have sold it for more than that if it was in nice condition. What did he replace it with, a Datsun or Toyota?

@KingStepside

2 жыл бұрын

@@michaelbenardo5695 Lol he was trying to make up for a down payment on a new Tacoma the Bronco was a shit box had dents the interior was beat up but it was running smooth and fine.

100% Agree! Government bailouts always seem to screw the people! Luckily I was able to talk some of my customers out that scam and some thought I was trying to scam them into keeping their good older car that just needed a little work here or there. The naysayers didn't factor that when you're a good and honest mechanic ya never run out of work just time!

@crissd8283

2 жыл бұрын

Look at that $1,400 check you got from Biden. Inflation is at 7.5%. If it cost you 40k a year to live that inflation beings your cost of living up to 43k. So it will cost you an extra 3k a year every year but you got an extra 1.4k for one year. That is a short term gain but long term loss. All government programs do this exact same thing.

@bubba99009

2 жыл бұрын

@@crissd8283 I didn't even get any checks because they all had income caps. I just get to pay for them twice... first time to send out the checks and second time in massive inflation.

@johnwi7179

2 жыл бұрын

a fantastic mechanic, mr auto in hudson is keeping my 04 Jaguar XJR with 230k miles up and running. CFC was an american travisty

@1982MCI

2 жыл бұрын

@@bubba99009 don’t feel bad Bubba, I didn’t get any checks either and I’m a disabled Desert Storm Vet

@__-cy9mv

2 жыл бұрын

@@crissd8283 Noticed no one corrected you on the $1400 check...it was a trump tard check, not Biden...did you already forget a moronic psychopath "ran" the country (into the ground) for 4 years?

Being from Michigan, I remember this very differently. Millions were out of work across the Midwest. The auto plants - the steel mills - car parts makers - the restaurants that serviced those factories. RV manufacturers were ghost towns. The trucking company where I worked, etc. I had older vehicles and noone FORCED me to turn them in. I kept them. AND the program didn't FORCE anyone to buy a new car. This is a hindsight perspective. The C4C program precipitated the fastest recovery from a recession in our history. Millions, including me, went back to work within months of being laid off. The United States recovery during this time was unmatched in world. People seem to miss this when lamenting over what hypothetical opportunities they're missing out on.

Well this is a side of it I never saw/heard of, and I'm sure most people didn't. I bought a new minivan on July 4th, 2009. Usually, July 4th is a BIG car sell day/weekend....but for whatever reason, I pretty much had Folsom Dodge in Folsom, California all to myself. Arrived on the lot about 4 pm, and by 7:30 pm, I was driving home in my 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan SE that I paid UNDER $20k for. No trade in, so it wasn't a direct Cash for Clunkers deal...but that program definitely had an impact. Still have no idea why I was all alone at this dealer on a typical BIG selling day (July 4th, 2009 was a Saturday, btw). Anyways...great story Bob...well to listen to, not for your business.

He's 100% right, I had to watch a 1st gen lightning with 80,000 miles get destroyed. I begged to buy it but they had to blow the engine and scrap it.

@zonac14

2 жыл бұрын

That’s fuckin sad dude

@__-cy9mv

2 жыл бұрын

Haha excited about a pos lightning. Cool story bro.

@deejayyy1681

2 жыл бұрын

Would be worth a mint now too

@jcallen21

2 жыл бұрын

Loved those trucks

@michaelbenardo5695

2 жыл бұрын

Sad. Now, traditional American engines are expensive and scarce.

Hey Ed! Thanks for letting me share another one of my crazy car stories I have accumulated over 30 years in business! You channel is awesome! I am honored to be featured on it. I’m curious to hear others thoughts on the CFC debacle, I mean program.

@nukenuked5749

2 жыл бұрын

love hearing your storys mate

@4doersrc758

2 жыл бұрын

I work in the steel industry and was told at work that April scrap prices are going through the roof…

@theanomalous1401

2 жыл бұрын

Sir! Consider yourself a part of the @VinWiki family and the "Big Chair" is yours, anytime!

@Jamez84

2 жыл бұрын

I don't think c4c caused the issues in the car market as much as baby boomer politicians have. In the 60s a kid could work a summer job and buy a brand new car. Not anymore, why? Because the baby boomers allowed inflation to run rampant, kept wages as low as possible, and sold out the American dream to corporations. Baby boomers legalized bribes in the form of "campaign donations" allowing corporations to run America based on those donations. These same politicians then socialized corporate losses in the form of bailouts so when a car company is dying because it sells a vastly overpriced car that's built like trash tax payers are the ones paying to rescue these companies. Rather than allowing True capitalism to run its course which would of reduced the prices of cars and kept these companies competing with each other.

@johnh2349

2 жыл бұрын

Hey Bob. I’d still be farming if NAFTA was never enacted. Destroyed my career and dreams.

Long ago, when I was a kid in the early 2000s, I heard some legend about how in America you can buy a used car for $500 (or less) and this car, with proper maintenance and care of course, will serve you for years and years and in the future may become a collector’s item Then came cash for clunkers and turned the story I heard as a kid into a distant memory...

One thing that made absolutely no sense about this program was the fact that, in order for your old car to be eligible, it had to be in drivable condition. Like, seriously, why does it matter whether the car is drivable or not, if they're just going to end up crushing it anyway?

It was the same in the UK. Cars that did 1000 miles a year, often mint condition classics were scrapped in favour of a new car that has probably also now been scrapped having done hardly any miles. How that is good for the environment is a mystery to me. A vindictive waste, and not "green" at all. We did manage to strip spares from some low mileage scrappage scheme survivors that ended up in a breaker yard I had to good relationship but ones that were actually even recycled for spares were only a tiny fraction.

@LS430VIP

2 жыл бұрын

Our UK Scrappage Scheme in 2009 was actually worse than Cash For Clunkers - there was no requirement that the old car be inefficient or the new one efficient, only that the old one was 10yr+ old. This meant you could take in your efficient 1L hatchback and get a flat £2000 off a new 2L Mondeo with worse fuel consumption, no questions asked.

@archygrey9093

2 жыл бұрын

Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle In that order

@michaelbenardo5695

2 жыл бұрын

You guys had that too? Let me guess, most new cars on the road now are Japanese cars, right?

Cash for clunkers was an idiotic program. Your assessment is spot on.

I agree completely! It was so depressing to try and find parts my car I was trying to nurse along..no parts. And most of the cars in the yard were newer and in better condition than my car but I couldn’t get parts from them because they were due to be destroyed. It removed the wrong cars from the roads.

I remember seeing clean clean 84 Monte Carlo, super solid fleetwood broughams. 2 door caprices. OBS Silverados. Clean mustangs. Think of all those v8s gone

I remember a scrapper here that stopped taking the cars. He couldnt do it, scrapping rare and high demand cars. Mint condition stuff.

@kensmechanicalaffair

2 жыл бұрын

So people are stupid then?

@shanelaflora5394

2 жыл бұрын

This still put me in a bad mood

I still have nightmares thinking about all of the interesting 4x4's that died because of that program.

@scabbythecrownvic

9 ай бұрын

Hey, I understand the pain man. A decent amount of older Vic’s/panthers died all for this stupidity.

@seththomas9105

3 ай бұрын

@@scabbythecrownvic Right with ya brother, lots of body on frame GM cars got killed by this stupid program.

From what I've heard there were many specific engines and transmissions that were nearly impossible to kill. The Slant 6 was apparently quite notorious for this.

@MrTruckerf

2 жыл бұрын

Drain the oil and floor it. No motor will last long. Scrap in seconds.

The program was well thought out and functioned as intended. Very often the stated goal of a program is different than its actual goal. The government did not want reliable cars that cant be shut down remotely on the road given what they are planning for us.

I know LOTS of people who visited cash for clunker cars to be crushed lots and pulled small parts off to fix their cars. The dealer near us who took the most trades in the area just parked the cars out in a giant, unsecured lot that people would go during the night to get parts. I think the dealer looked the other way on this because they never did anything about the people pulling parts.

@kylecube15

2 жыл бұрын

At least some good came out of that shit of a program

@kensmechanicalaffair

2 жыл бұрын

Nice.

Coming Soon - Cash for Clunkers 2: EV Boogaloo

@MrTruckerf

2 жыл бұрын

I am ready.

@skraminc

Жыл бұрын

Its starting to happen! Build Back Better implemented a 7,500 dollar tax credit and auto makers increases their EV prices 7500 bucks this week. Phase one started

I was so disgusted with this program, so many good cars went to waste! It’s much better for the environment to keep an already manufactured car in service longer vs. manufacturing another…

What a lot of people don't understand is how good wrecking yards are for the environment. Totally usable, good parts, OEM quality, already manufactured. Instead of the trash heap, they can be used to repair a vehicle that needs it.

I remembered car dealers telling me what a nightmare it was and how it took years for them to get paid, if they got paid at all. But everyone I've talked to said they would never do it again

"I'm from the government and I'm here to help" Yep, any time that general concept spawns a piece of legislation, you know it's going to make things worse. Best thing the government can do is to do nothing.

@roberthaldeman5312

2 жыл бұрын

That is what I thought of also. Thank God the Government never anything stupid after cash for Clunkers. Lol 😆

@RothBeyondTheGrave

2 жыл бұрын

That last sentence is one fine sentence, Sir.

@bige9830

2 жыл бұрын

When Reagan said that he meant getting out of the life of corporations. He didn't give it damn about us.

@michaelbenardo5695

2 жыл бұрын

President Obama did a good thing by banning insurance companies from refusing to insure people who are not in 100% perfect health, so what you are saying is not true.

@ViewpointUnique

2 жыл бұрын

@@michaelbenardo5695 Bahahahahahahaha yeah ok.

My parents with 5 kids needed to buy a used vehicle that could hold at least 7 people and we couldn’t find one, because every lot had a long a bunch of them going to clash for clunkers. My mom cried about it.

I saw a few of these slurry seizures, and the amount of smoke and pollution that that caused was shocking.

Car prices aren't crazy from CFC. 2.5 years ago wholesale price on beaters was $1500. Those same cars today are $6000.

@abigalanderson7494

2 жыл бұрын

Cfc is one of the manny problems that caused used car prices to jump

Cash for Clunkers put me out of business with my wrecker company. Every week I had 30 contracts personally, then down to 5 a week. Then the other wrecker companies lost their work. All the used car companies went out of business. 3 years or so later, all those new cars were defaulting on their loans, but their was nobody in the wrecker business any longer, so the banks has to pay more if their wanted their collateral back.

Worked at a Dodge/Jeep/Buick/GMC dealership during this, a lot of what we got in was junk, however still good usable cars. The process for dealerships sucked too, we had to sit on them for what seemed like a long time before we would get the approval for destruction. Had a whole gated yard behind the building filled with "clunkers". I really only remember one car that was worthy of destruction, some super rusted/clapped out 90s caravan. I will say some cars didn't go down without putting up a fight. We had a 90s Mercedes run for close to 30 minutes with the engine killer mixture in it. We would take beats on how long cars could last before the engine locked up. Also would swipe the badges off stuff before they went to the crusher.

I traded a pretty clean 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix (just a base model, but a CLEAN one) to cash for clunkers. very unique car and no one else had one on the road that I had seen that clean. Taken from an older woman who couldn't drive anymore and sold to a 16 y/o for 1200 dollars. I loved that car from 16 - 21. I took it down one last dusty road and cried driving it to the dealership for it's last cruise.

The picture of the FJ80 Land Cruiser with clunker written on it says it all…

@ashp5406

2 жыл бұрын

I know right..

Yeah I've been saying cash for clunkers was the biggest car genocide ever for years

This is a huge reason why cars you used to see all the time seemed to vanish. Cars you might want to find from back in the day, are rare, because so many were destroyed. It absolutely sucks.

I remember when this was going on. At the time my car was totaled in a car accident and I remember seeing all the cars at the dealership my car was towed to after the accident, waiting for the insurance adjuster. The driver and I where talking about it and we both could not believe the cars sitting there waiting to, in my opinion, killed; perfectly good cars too. Neither of us thought it was a good idea, for one we had a feeling going to tank the use car market and send the prices up. That would make it difficult for a first time car buyer or someone on a budget to get a vehicle. Also, we where wondering what was going to happen when all these cars start to get turned in, was the market going to be flooded and now your trade is worthless?

I love hearing this story from the inside. RCR did a video on the damage cash for clunkers that was good as well, but this gives inside details that one couldn't.

I was 12 when CFC was a thing Even when we got rid of an old non-running 98 Malibu around the CFC days, we only got ~150 for the thing, so as far as I'm concerned that whole program just smelled of bad ideas from the get-go

@SicSemperBeats

2 жыл бұрын

i mean it was a non running shitbox, what did you expect

@jacobpoucher

2 жыл бұрын

What do you expect with the president then. Just like now but now is worse

@angelgjr1999

2 жыл бұрын

@@jacobpoucher Yeah like how every republican president crashes the economy, and a democrat has to spend trillions to fix it? Remember bush? Then Obama “fixed”. Trump crashed the economy with his horrible handling of COVID and trade wars. Now Biden is signing blank checks every other month.

@jacobpoucher

2 жыл бұрын

@@angelgjr1999 lol get real

Some dealerships were so proud of that program to when it was going on I remember seeing a dealership in New Orleans the had a bunch of dumpsters out front with cars sticking out with cash clunkers written all them. Not knowing the impact it was going to bring.

This is a very in depth version of what I have heard since this disaster started. Thanks

I worked at a Ford dealer while this was happening. There were cars that would run for an hour at wot with this chemical dumped in the gas before they finally blew up. Good clean vehicles destroyed. In California they did the same thing with big trucks, some of the cleanest historical trucks were cut up and destroyed.

Cash 4 Clunkers explains today’s absence of so many cars from the 1970-1990s. @1:56 that poor Mercedes makes me sad.

@MrTruckerf

2 жыл бұрын

Here in the Midwest, rust and improper maintenance are why you don't see many old vehicles.

Wow this history is shocking. It's like as a nation we just totally shot our future out the airlock both materially and financially, and with such a catchy slogan. I remember the commercials for this, they sound sinister now. Mind blowing, amazingly terrifying tragic story. Thank you for sharing this in this detail, and in this way. The knowledge just punched right through to my brain. Mind blown, the world-view of my world around me just got brutally re - adjusted. Thanks again, I love this channel.

I used the C4C program to unload a 1997 Expedition with 110K miles, a bad rear axle, piston slap that it had from the factory (Ford wouldn't fix it) and a spark plug that was so badly rusted (and broken off) that the head had to come off to remove it. The car had to run, so I drove it to the dealer with the COP off that cylinder and it popping all the way there. My wife followed with a fire extinguisher. Got 3K toward a new Honda Odyssey, which was more than the Expy was worth in that condition. And yeah, that was the last new Ford I'll ever buy.

I remembered that deal. My dad had an 85 Toyota Cressida with the trans going out on it bad. He traded it in and gotten that 3500 on the Tacoma he still drives today. Worked out for some but yes always trade off.

@kmena05

2 жыл бұрын

that Cressida would be be worth the same as that Tacoma today.

@richlikeg3722

2 жыл бұрын

@@kmena05 possibly based on the condition. The roof paint was mostly rust and it smoked like a chiminy. AC was also out and being here in the heat of Texas, any car with no AC had very little to no residual value.

Made it 4:00 before I became too aggravated with our government for the day. And it's only 10a.... To be fair it isn't his fault. The bucket of patience and understanding with this government has been full for quite some time now. It doesn't take but a drop to be added to overflow.

@Clintondmb

2 жыл бұрын

It’s even worse now man. 😞

@laurashier5291

2 жыл бұрын

9 hours later. Just wait til Monday

@MrTheHillfolk

2 жыл бұрын

RIP Marvin Heemeyer, a true American hero.

@GreenBlueWalkthrough

2 жыл бұрын

You know Obama is out of office and so is his admin... which the Goverment is fine and has been for the past 200 years.

@charliesschroedinger

2 жыл бұрын

@@GreenBlueWalkthrough you went "tits-left" from where my comment is... But I hear your opinion

We were all convinced this was a good thing, it was something that no one ever suggested be done and we thought it was a good idea. Looking back years later this was NOT a good idea…. wow…. we were all dumb. I remember one news segment where a guy traded in a Pantera, an actual “De Tomaso Pantera” for cash for clunkers. The guy said no one would give him $5k for it, they all only wanted to pay around three and a half. So in it went to be destroyed. Sad.

I drive a car from 1979 still and I would never drive a single new-age shitbox just because the government wants me to. Those things are mechanically inept, cost more in repairs and built to distract. If you're getting something to get you from point a to point b, make sure it runs well, is easy to repair for yourself without ever really needing to grab a professional mechanic and is built simply within the interior via analog. Analog controls don't go bad if one display marker dies, but digital controls will on any newer car and may also brick the entire system.

"I'm from the government and I'm here to help" If that sentence doesn't put the fear of God in you, nothing will.

@clarkgable1055

2 жыл бұрын

Please .. Regan was a trash president.

@adamgraham6265

2 жыл бұрын

@@clarkgable1055 trash economic theory but damn the man could talk!

@saladsalad9991

2 жыл бұрын

@@adamgraham6265 Well, he was an actor....

@adamgraham6265

2 жыл бұрын

@@saladsalad9991 there have been other actors in government who haven't been as eloquent as he has. However Arnold Schwarzenegger is also a great example of an amazing speaker

@lelouchvibritannia1788

2 жыл бұрын

Very sad for USA

I appreciate that vinwiki does not get political in their posts. I think this was a thoughtful approach to explain the supply/demand situation that this program created. Personally I remember this program well and thought it was poorly thought out. I’m happy to see this channel bringing it to light to its viewers in an honest, nonpartisan approach imo

@hamerplayer1229

2 жыл бұрын

FJB

"Too many policies, programs and institutions are judged by what they are supposed to do, rather than by what they actually do and the consequences of their actions." - Thomas Sowell

I remember this like it was yesterday. I know one of the dealers near me had a formerly empty lot full of cars marked for scrap. Months later I saw several of the classic models back out on the road. So some type of fraud was going on at some dealers.

John Stossel did a fantastic video on this a while back. This is just a good example of when the government gets involved they fuck it up.

@theanomalous1401

2 жыл бұрын

Stacy David did one as well. Both were eye-openers and revealed the folly of government intervention.

@alexander1902

2 жыл бұрын

Which would've recorded more attention if he wasn't a used tampon.

@Mr.Rogers91

2 жыл бұрын

@@alexander1902 care to elaborate a little