The Cash for Clunkers’ eligible vehicles list is now available from the US government. To qualify for the rebate a car has to be rated at 18 miles a gallon or less on fueleconomy.gov, the Web site of the E.P.A. The purpose of the program is to help people get rid of their old cars (preferably older gas guzzlers) for new cars (preferably one with better gas mileage) with a trade in credit of up to $4,500. As a bonus, tt is supposed to help jump start the auto industry and improve the overall economy. The plan is being advertised all over television and all of the domestic car companies are clobbering the screens with such ads. So I told my uncle about this program because he has wanted a new car for the longest time. Naturally, he knows about the program already froma ll of the bombardment on TV, but nevertheless he’s really excited about trading in his new ride. I am pretty sure he’s eligble for the full trade in credit. Maybe he should get a Lamborghini or a Porsche. I think he’s still deciding.

He provides us a picture of his car. Hope you like it. I am going to take the picture down to the dealership tomorrow and ask them if this qualify.

Uncle plans to trade in cash for clunkers

I don’t believe any amount of gas is going to get this car going to the dealership. Do you suppose that the plan calls for the car dealership to come and tow the piece of junk there to be crushed into compact metal? I wonder how Edmund.com is going to evaluate how much gas milleage of this car going to be? I checked through their list, but I couldn’t find any reference of it there.

I have another uncle who wishes to replace his vehicle. He has been using his car for the past twenty years. It’s a really old car, but the gas milleage on this car is practically zero. So I tell him that the government is only going to give him money for trading in cars that are using more fuels for ones that are using less fuels. If his car is using less fuel, then the government doesn’t care how old it is. It doesn’t sound like it’s a fair deal he said?

I went online and found that the bill is supposed to be a $4 billion dollar item. This is a lot of money being given away for upgrading in cars. Why don’t they allow people to upgrade their old cars my uncle asks. I don’t know.

Secondly, he didn’t buy his car in the US. The car was purchased somewhere in Malaysia and then retrofited for his need. After years of being on the road, it needs some serious work, but he’s still using wonderfully. See picture. And then what if the car is not in America anymore? He had his shipped to Vietnam.

Fuel Efficient car for cash for clunker

According to an article on New York Times, apparently these questions were never addressed by the legislators when they passed the bill. Shame on them.

Any thoughts?