Do You Love Your Fuel Efficient Clunker?

[SVOboy]

For those of us that bought fuel efficient vehicles in the first place, it can sting a little bit to know that the people who made bad vehicle choices in the past are getting $4,500 dollars for a new car while we get nothing.Well, worry not. This may be of little consolation, but you can [...]Related posts:

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[Vwbeamer]

sigh.......It stings knowing I have ineffecient clunker that doesn't qualify because it's too old.

My other car doesn't qualify because it's too effecient...but I wouldn't let it go any ways.

[robbiewt]

What really sucks is that my parent's old mini-van is 1 mpg too high to qualify(according to the EPA).

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Vwbeamer

It stings knowing I have ineffecient clunker that doesn't qualify because it's too old.

But in that case, it's not a clunker, it's a classic car!

[cfg83]

SVOboy -

I don't mind. If the great swammy, the Stupendous Yappy, had forecasted this 1 year ago, it would have been neat to fork out some bucks and park a clunker in the driveway, only to cash it in a year later.

Lacking that foreknowledge, I don't think I could live with a car that would make me gnash my teeth every time I thought of the MPG. It just doesn't make sense for me as a commuter in Los Angeles.

CarloSW2

[Frank Lee]

All the junk I have laying around and no clunkers that qualify.

[Christ]

I'm sure I could find something, but I don't have anything that qualifies that's been registered for a year and insured.

Besides, by the time I got done buying, titling, registering, and insuring another unused vehicle for a year, that $4500 would be more like $3500, best case scenario.

[Frank Lee]

Yeah, when I first got wind of the program I visited the local dealerships to see if there was anything good for $4500 off. I went away not very impressed. Guess I'll stick with clunkers.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Yeah, when I first got wind of the program I visited the local dealerships to see if there was anything good for $4500 off. I went away not very impressed. Guess I'll stick with clunkers.

Fact is, I've never paid much more than $500 to buy a car/truck and put it on the road.

Saddest part about that is, I've usually either completely trashed them, and got half of my money back at the junkyard, or sold them for more than I paid for them.

Imagine the number of $100 and $200 vehicles I've passed up over the years, and double the price of every one... that's my "potential income" on an ideal lifetime scenario. LOL

Until people started really concerning themselves with fuel economy, there were very few times that I'd have to bid against someone else to get the car that I wanted. Those times, I'd usually let it go, because there would always be another one, probably in better condition than what the dealer has, and the owner is only selling the car to pay for gas or insurance on his/her SUV thingy.

Point: With as many times as I've gotten a year's use out of < $500, and considering the abuse I used to put vehicles through, still getting ~25-30MPG in almost every vehicle I've owned, (barring several larger models), it still just wouldn't be worthwhile to buy a new vehicle, even if it was $4500 off.

[bgd73]

Originally Posted by Christ

Fact is, I've never paid much more than $500 to buy a car/truck and put it on the road.

Saddest part about that is, I've usually either completely trashed them, and got half of my money back at the junkyard, or sold them for more than I paid for them.

Imagine the number of $100 and $200 vehicles I've passed up over the years, and double the price of every one... that's my "potential income" on an ideal lifetime scenario. LOL

Until people started really concerning themselves with fuel economy, there were very few times that I'd have to bid against someone else to get the car that I wanted. Those times, I'd usually let it go, because there would always be another one, probably in better condition than what the dealer has, and the owner is only selling the car to pay for gas or insurance on his/her SUV thingy.

Point: With as many times as I've gotten a year's use out of < $500, and considering the abuse I used to put vehicles through, still getting ~25-30MPG in almost every vehicle I've owned, (barring several larger models), it still just wouldn't be worthwhile to buy a new vehicle, even if it was $4500 off.

Imagine if marketing got a handle on people like us? I wonder how many hundreds of millions of drivers would revolt worldwide. I spent a fair amount just once...and lost it all in split seconds. It is a sick game, especially as a mechanic trained with discipline. It doesn;t take long to gewt the fat slales out of the way and cologne, and aurora of greatness... I too go for facts, my next one just may be out of a field rotting away...
This year , without a garage, I purchased tools that deem cars impossible...possible.
My $500 goes for several years and the value is a serious gain. I lost just once....and that time my chevelle got stolen.
Education is the millionare...the rest are going to have to lose.