Tag Archives: Cash for Clunkers

C4C Destroys Demolition Derbies

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From the Daily Show, more unfortunate consequences of the Cash for Clunkers Program.

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Save the Clunkers!

More from Time Magazine:

There’s at least one group of people who are happy Cash for Clunkers is over: demolition-derby drivers. Participants in these events, in which drivers smash into one another until there’s only one engine left running, don’t enjoy the sight of old cars going out of commission without making a pit stop at the county fairground. “Obama is an anti-demo-derby guy,” says Tory Schutte, head of the Demolition Derby Drivers Association. “He’s targeting the cars we’ve been using.”

How many Bricks have to die for a mistake?

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The government released a listing of all cars traded in for the Cash for Clunkers program. I had admonished the Big Money for claiming the 240 was a Clunker. Turns out they were almost correct. According to Cars.gov, one particular model of one particular year has been deemed to have a fuel economy rating of 18 mpg. Huh? I’ve got to investigate…

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Vote for My T-Shirt

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cashclunkers_van_185x185After spending the morning finalizing my design for a “Save the Clunkers” t-shirt, it turns out the C4C program will end Monday. Let’s hope the government’s servers can handle the last-minute rush from people who were on the fence about trading in their old Mercury Marauders for Honda Fits.

Please give me a vote of “6” at the 6 dollar t-shirts site. If I get enough votes you’ll be able to buy the shirt for… $6.

Vote now!

The Big Money Doesn’t Know Clunkers

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bigmoney_volvo240

Slate’s finance site “The Big Money” launched in fall of 2008, while I was working at Condé Nast’s competing finance site Portfolio.com. Just because I got laid off in a round of firings at Halloween doesn’t mean I harbor any ill-will towards “The Big Money”. Two separate sites with two different agendas. OK.

Now that my disclaimer is out of the way, WTF is up with “The Big Money”?! They’ve posted a photo album of cars they claim will be junked in C4C. Both the intro and first slide feature a Volvo 240. Sorry, but our precious bricks get better than 18MPG and aren’t eligible for C4C. While Matt DeBord’s copy is cute, it’s obvious he didn’t do his research. They had to pull the BMW 325, diesel Mercedes and Mazda Miata (!) slides after a commenter pointed out they have better fuel economy than the program calls for.

Matt, please visit cars.gov. It’s a horrible site, I know, but somewhere beneath the UI you’ll find eligibility requirements and a list of vehicles.  Dry the tears from your eyes, stand up and rejoice! Four of the ten cars you’ve mourned as dead will still be here to drive another day.

Save the Clunkers T-Shirts

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cashclunkers_van_small

Some of the commenters on a Jalopnik “Cash for Clunkers” thread (C4C) were hoping for “Save the Clunkers” T-Shirts, so I put together a couple of quick images. They would be a 2-color silk screen, one black, one white. If anyone wants to produce these, contact me at boucher002 at yahoo dot com.

UPDATE: I posted a cleaned-up design of the van illustration to sixdollarshirts.com . Vote now!

cashclunkers_wagon

That’s No Clunker? That’s My Tank!

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The Truth About Cars ran a sky-is-falling-on-old-bricks post but I think the fear of losing RWD Volvos is misguided. They don’t qualify for the CAT program, as they get average gas mileage.

This video documents the death of an Olds Aurora, which qualified because of the V8 engine. Oil is drained, then a solution of water and silica sand is poured in. The car is turned on and run until the engine seizes. Not for the squeemish.

UPDATE: Prolonged death of a FWD Volvo.