Cash For Clunkers Program 2009 | Over Before You Know It?

If you can afford it in the first place

Does this qualify as "drivable?" (Photo: blog.glodb.com)

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the idea of the Cash For Clunkers Program 2009. However, I simply don’t see it being sufficient to help many of the consumers that have been holding on to older, less fuel efficient vehicles. There’s typically a reason they hold on to their old cars, people: they can’t afford new ones. If you think $3,500 (only some receive the federal maximum of $4,500)  is enough to make expensive new fuel efficient cars affordable, you haven’t been car shopping lately. A payday loan or cash advance may help with a down payment, but what can you do about the monthly payments?

Nevertheless, Americans still appear eager to buy cars they can’t afford. Good work, Cash For Clunkers program 2009!

A clunker of a program

Brent Snavely reports for the Detroit Free Press that Cash for Clunkers has increased the overall excitement about car buying, if the crowds in showrooms are any indication. Sure, there are questions about how long this ride will last and whether the program is too complicated for its own good. Plus, it’s uncertain so far just how many new car sales have come from the Cash for Clunkers program 2009.

One of the things we know from the 136-page outline of the plan is that the program will last until November 1 or until the $1 billion Congress allotted the Cash for Clunkers program 2009 disappears. There are also very specific regulations for dealers in terms of how they must disable the engines of old vehicles, but the dealers are still hopeful that the program’s overall impact will be to boost sagging sales. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "Cash For Clunkers Program 2009 | Over Before You Know It?"