CARS Again...

Planes, trains, and automobiles—err, well planes and automobiles anyway—have come to dominate post after post on Buffalo Bloggins lately. From photos of my jet setting during the Fall of 2006, to my opines on the auto industry, it’s safe to say oil-driven, mass-transit machinery has been the talk of my blog lately. So as not to disappoint, I’m going to rail on “Cash for Clunkers” (hereto C4C) some more.

In my February 2009 Car and Driver, a few more details emerged as to some of the more exotic cars we American taxpayers purchased, then only to get screwed by having a government-mandated sodium silicate solution dumped in the crankcases. Rather than just list the cars, you can see photos, MSRP when new, and the number junked through the program right on C&D's website.

I thought an ambitious little research project would be to find out what the current values of these cars would be today. Surely they’re worth more than the maximum $4500 tax credit the government offered. Finding values on Kelly Blue Book for some of these exotic makes is impossible because they don’t exist in KBB’s database.

I did find a 2005 Mazda RX8. Assuming average mileage of 40,000 and “good” condition, the car still returned a value far above $4500. And the thought of listening to that rotary engine scream as the sodium silicate shreds its crankcase is almost more than I can bear to think of.

I checked eBay Motors to see what a few of these exotics may list for. I found one example: a 2001 Aston Martin DB7 lists for over $40,000. Granted, the C4C casualty was a 1997.  Condition:  it had to be in running condition and owned by the tradee for at least one year. I don't think this one was driven by the likes of Agent 007. 

Here are a few examples of more “common” cars I found on KBB. These are private party values, assuming average mileage (considering these probably weren’t daily drivers), standard equipment, and good condition:
• 1990 Mercedes 500SL Roadster, 120,000 miles: $5,575
• 1991 BMW M3, 120,000 miles: $8,785
• 1993 Mazda RX7, 120,000 miles: $8,860
• 1992 GMC Typhoon, 120,000 miles: $9,425

I think my point is made: a lot of these cars—collector’s editions for sure—were worth more than the puny tax credit offered. Why anyone would subject them to the sodium silicate treatment is beyond me. Even in poor shape, many of these could have been restored and gone on for years to adorn collector’s salons, auto shows, and Independence Day parades. Will Americans one day look back regretfully on this mass automotive destruction known as “Cash for Clunkers?”  What if FDR in all his social programming had mandated a Cash-for-Model-Ts program?  Would will still have these historic antiques—a picture of American nostalgia, prosperity, and ingenuity—as tangible relics from the past?

You may find this blog, complete with photos, interesting.  It lists the 10 most exotic cars trashed thanks to Obama and his administration.  If you're an auto enthusiast, be warned:  you may need the box of tissues.

About the Photo:  I shot these exotic European automobiles at the Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada.  For a [not so] small fee, one of these can whisk you from McCarran Airport to the Hard Rockin' action.  Hopefully none of these were junked in favor of a Prius...

I'm at it Again...Maybe it's Time We Junk the Obama Administration?

Ranting about the government’s controversial “Cash for Clunkers” program is nothing new for me. However, in the December 2009 Car and Driver, columnist David E. Davis Jr. brought to light a few more reasons to hate the Obama administration’s attempt to run the auto industry. Read the full text here.

To give a short synopsis, Davis Jr. basically reiterated the sentiment I expressed months ago that seeing a perfectly good automobile destroyed can be downright painful to watch. It’s as if every car has some personality; it’s not just a heap of steel parts sitting on rubber. However, just like humans, personalities can have a dark side, and there are plenty of cars I wouldn’t mind doing the honors of destroying (such as my gratefully departed 1998 Subaru Outback).

In the developing Third World nations such as those in Asia and Africa, people haven’t been afforded the liberties and economic prosperity that we here in America have enjoyed since at least the 1950s. This post-war era saw automobiles become an attainable luxury and urban sprawl gave way to suburban commuting. Davis Jr. makes the case that instead of blowing up the engines in so-called “clunkers”, perhaps those automobiles could have been given to poorer nations to help them enjoy a piece of the prosperity pie.

Geez, handing out American wealth (at the cost of taxpayers, no less) to poor nations (many of which hate us) sounds like it would be right in line with Obama-esque socialistic values.

Car and Driver, in the January 2010 issue, made mention of some of the vehicles American taxpayers purchased:  Jaguars, various 2008 models, and a rare Buick GNX. C&D editors jest that Nancy Pelosi kept the GNX for herself.  She'd look great cruising around in that, perhaps in her thong.  Sorry.  Back on topic, here. You need only look as far as YouTube to see the famed video of a fine Swede being blown up along with plenty of other still-useful cars and trucks.

To see a place where these clunkers could have made a striking impact, one need not even look as far as Africa or Asia. About 90 miles south of Miami lies Cuba. I know we don’t have diplomatic relations with Castro’s communist regime, but Obama is even trying to fix that. Since the embargo began in the 1950s, Cubans have kept alive as daily drivers many of the cars that today we see only in antique/classic car shows. Romantic as these Dinosaurs of Detroit are, the showroom floor and occasional Independence Day parade is about all they belong in.

Much to the chagrin of classic car collectors, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety plowed a 2009 Chevy Malibu head on into a 1959 Chevy Bel Air. Watch the results for yourself. It’s gruesome, but proves the iron behemoths of the past didn’t exactly offer much occupant protection in the event of a crash.  Oh, but Cuba offers superior socialized healthcare to its citizens, right Michael Moore?  So when Cubans get maimed in a crash, at least they get free hospitalization!  Oh wait, Obama's trying to get us that, too.  (Ok, don't get me started on the healthcare thing). 

Safer, cleaner, more reliable cars could have been redistributed to poorer nations where they’d make far more reliable transportation than the relics that rule the roads. Or how about this? Keep the wealth at home; get the true clunkers—the unsafe, unreliable, smog-belching cars—off the road here in the good old US of A. But as Davis Jr. quipped in his column:

“Not until the government got involved was anyone stupid enough to pour sodium silicate into the engines of the trade-ins on used-car lots and render them utterly useless except as junk to be sold by the pound.” (emphasis added.)

I won’t even go into what user-car inventory could have done for local dealerships, the economy, and those needing a car but unable to afford brand new, even with taxpayer-funded credits.


A Clunker Worth Junking?

A Clunker of a Bailout...

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.