Cash For Clunkers What do you think?

[TheDisturbedOne 1]

That's crazy! Is he a doctor or a lawyer? Those are really the only professions that I can see that can earn enough money to pay for all that at the age of 26. I know I won't be able to do that. I'll have college bills out of my ears.

[k_nitin_r 8]

Hi!The cash for clunkers program may be for the environment more than for the economy. The government only pays if the new car is more fuel efficient than the old one, so if you?re planning to trade in a sedan to buy an SUV, the offer doesn?t hold good. Getting people to convert from an old SUV or minivan to a sedan is probably what they hope to achieve through the program. Most people do not have much faith in the program because people are using this as an opportunity to trade-in the family?s second car, which is ageing and isn?t really used much except as a spare car so by having another new car in the family that doesn?t break down, you?ve just added another car onto the roads. Perhaps this isn?t the case, but that?s what the paper is reporting.Many of the cars that are supposed to end up at the salvage yards are missing though. They?re being smuggled into African and Asian countries where they?ll be refurbished as sold as second hand cars. This is exactly the kind of thing that the government should have a check on because having an old fuel guzzler off the streets was one part of their goal, but having it back on the roads in another part of the world would counter the benefits. Having an old can scrapped for parts won?t help much either because most people wouldn?t have second hand spares put into their cars, especially not those that they use to commute everyday. Crushing old cars does seem like it?s going a little toward the extreme. Perhaps they ought to simply give the cars new engines or perhaps even electric/hybrid engines to get them back on the streets. It beats having to melt it, re-process it, and have the car built all over again ? all of that needs more energy, far more of a burden than we can afford with the current pollution levels.I'm not all for selling off an old car that runs perfectly well, but it's the ones that emit smoke and lose their efficiency that ought to be traded in for something that doesn't put much fuel to waste.

[anwiii 17]

exactly! i agree 100%. i also believe all states should ave the same standards as california for cars. those cars that on't pass those standards should be the ones that are able to get help. setting the standard and getting help getting around the standards balances out and not such a one sided giveaway.

I'm not all for selling off an old car that runs perfectly well, but it's the ones that emit smoke and lose their efficiency that ought to be traded in for something that doesn't put much fuel to waste.

[rpgsearcherz 5]

That's crazy! Is he a doctor or a lawyer? Those are really the only professions that I can see that can earn enough money to pay for all that at the age of 26.
I know I won't be able to do that. I'll have college bills out of my ears.

Neither. He spent no money on stuff - the only things he bought were a set of drums and stuff like that needed for his band.

Starting at 17, working and earning say 15k a year (a little over 1k a month) or so it's easy.

By 20 that's 45k. By 23 that's 90k. By 26 that's 135k.

Living at home with 0 expenses for food/living/etc. is great.

Estimate $65-70k for a house, and then $25k for a new car, and you've still got money left over.

This is why I don't understand why so many people want to move out of home at 18-19. They put *themselves* into debt.

(BTW, doctors would still be in debt at that point due to school costs. If you started college at 18 you wouldn't even get out of medical school until 26-27, and at that point - unless you were previously rich - you would be 200k+ in debt)