Often times when I look at a car, I see more than just a heap of metal, glass, and plastic parts—all sitting on four pieces of rubber. I see each unique auto as having just a little bit of personality. And just like humans, personality can be a good thing or a bad thing. For instance, there are many cars that I’d love to see put under the crusher, while there are others that have a quirky, friendly sort of demeanor.
Maybe my personification of automobiles has to do with the styling. It’s as if the headlights— they form the eyeballs—while the grill and emblem form the nose and mouth. Some cars, such as my 2009 Subaru Legacy, have an aggressive persona. My former 1994 Honda Civic had a complacent demeanor with its soft, sloping, tiny headlamps and gaping air dam.
Enough rambling here. What am I getting at? By personifying automobiles, I think that is what made it difficult for me to watch a perfectly good first-generation (1998 – 2005) Volvo S80 get destroyed thanks to the Cash for Clunkers (CARS) program. YouTube is ripe with videos of government-mandated clunkers being disabled.
I blogged about this program and my mixed feelings about it a few months back when it was in its infancy. The way this one got pushed through and approved so fast demonstrates a scary amount of Congressional support for Mr. O’s socialistic policies. The model for CARS came from various European programs similar in nature.
What’s disturbing about CARS is that it requires vehicles traded in and replaced with government funding to be disabled. Uncle Sam’s disablement prescription? Drain the crankcase and add a sodium silicate solution. Then run the engine till it seizes. After the oil was replaced, it took the Volvo S80 I observed about four minutes of tortured screaming from the engine before it belched up its final puff of smoke. In comparison, a Jeep Grand Cherokee made it about 10 seconds.
While social equality may be one of Obama’s goals with CARS, used vehicles are all some lower-earning citizens can afford. No matter how cheap it is, no matter how much money government throws to buyers—a brand new Kia or Hyundai (among the cheapest new cars) may still be out of reach for some people. But a 10-year old Volvo with 100,000 miles on it may be just what that same person can afford. (Volvos, lauded for their safety record and luxurious appointments, don’t hold resale value well). Congrats Obama, by reducing the inventory of used cars on the market, you’ve only hurt the very people you’ve sought to help. Or how about as automakers quit stocking parts for discontinued models? A whole treasure trove of parts is being destroyed, as CARS salvages are disqualified from being parted out.
But dealers are capitalizing on this opportunity to move inventory, as their heavy marketing efforts attest. And citizens are snapping up this first-time opportunity so quickly that the one-billion dollar allocation had to be tripled just a few days after CARS hit the road. Thanks, Obama. My generation is going to be paying back the three billion you’ve used to subsidize the auto industry.
While any make—foreign or domestic—is included in CARS, let’s face it: Patriotic brand connections with American made cars are definitely going to drive people to GM, Chrysler, and Ford dealers. This means potential increased sales for Government Motors. No matter how you look at it, CARS is just another round of automotive bailouts. And a lousy one at that.
What’s the true definition of a clunker? It’s the 15-year old car you hear coming up the street long before you see it. Blue smoke wheezing out the tailpipe, every stroke of the oil-soaked motor is a strained one. A clunker is a car that constantly costs its owner money. By that definition, I think President Obama is one clunker that needs to be traded in before he costs taxpayers any more money and does any more harm to the auto industry.
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