By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

What a waste…

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Predictably, the CARS program is turning out to be the bane of certain grassroots charities. You know those ones who offer to take your junk car off your hands in exchange for a tax write-off? They then re-sell those clunkers at auction, either to new life or to the scrapper–either way, the car doesn’t go to waste. And as any non-rocket-scientist can probably figure out, donations to these kinds of charities are way, way down since Cash for Clunkers began its reign, as eager consumers sign their cars over to be destroyed in exchange for a down payment on more financial slavery, instead of sending them off to a good cause and a new life.  The Texas-based Cars For Kids program, which supports at-risk high-schoolers, is one of the casualties whose operators have been taking a heap of calls “from people backing out of donations” in favor of the dealership. Similar fate for the American Children’s Society, which rehabilitates and sells junk cars to raise money kids battling cancer. Sad, but strangely typical, isn’t it? Check out the AP News clip below, and the ACS piece here.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

New York Times writer Norman Mayersohn defends the Buick Roadmaster as one “of the cars we’d hate to see go, ones that may never be featured in museums but could one day give rise to wistful memories.” See his other selections after the jump, and if you’re so inclined, read the full article at The New York Times

Continue reading "The New York Times Speaks Up in Favor of a Few Clunkers" »

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

All over the car blogging community, there hasn’t been a topic quite like the Cash For Clunkers program that was extended this past week. There have been heavy debates as to the merit of this program, and why anyone will trade a perfectly good vehicle, only to have it destroyed. Well, it’s time to put this all into perspective, as I am going to take the unpopular side of explaining why this program has become somewhat successful, and why everyone who is against it should just calm down.

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "The Cash For Clunkers Program from the Average Consumer's Point of View" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Wouldn’t it be cool if this ’85 Toronado could say this someday? Once the Cash For Clunkers nightmare is over, I’d like to print bumper stickers bearing the phrase and distribute them to every cool old heap still on the road. Sure, it’s true that right now the program is mostly just turning a bunch of Ford Explorers into metal cubes–but with trade-ins piling into the tens of thousands, you’ve got to know that plenty of rare old junk is surely being lost as well. And yes, Oldsmobile’s fugly front-wheel-drive weirdmobile might today be considered just an automotive freak of nature, hardly deserving of historical note and certainly not worth plucking off the scrap heap. But I’m betting that someday we’re going to be sorry that we crushed them all. I sure hope this one finds a good home.

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

We have located and read the sickening instructions being handed down by the government to be used by car dealers to kill the motors of “Cash for Clunkers” trade-ins. This whole thing is getting creepier by the second and this document smacks of every weird science fiction novel we have ever read.

Check out the verbatium text of the document after the jump. Ready a trash can or puke bucket as this will make you sick.

Continue reading "Unearthed: The Government Instructions on Killing "Clunker" Engines" »

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Interesting choice… Shows how much they value their history and heritage.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Six of the top ten clunkers being traded in are Explorers, with the 1998 model year at the top of the trash heap. These vehicles get poor mpg and have a low resale value (not to mention the whole roll over stigma). And yeah, they sold a ton of them in the 90s. So what’s the most popular car to be purchased through the Cash For Clunkers program? The Ford Focus. More at Jalopnik

By David Clarke

highspeedhijinks

Last month I alerted you that the dealership I work for was beginning to take in “Clunkers” for trade. Well, up until yesterday those cars were waiting out back  with their fate yet to be determined. Now, their engines are being destroyed by a lethal injection of sodium wilicate or “liquid glass,” a chemical that expands and turns into hardened glass when heat is applied. So far out of the ten vehicles we’ve regretfully destroyed, the engines which have lasted the longest have been a Vortec 350 and a Jeep 4.0 liter. I’m not surprised that both of these exceptional engines withstood five and a half minutes at 2,000 rpm before succumbing to friction and seizing. The worst engine was in a Kia Sedona—it lasted just a minute and a half.  I can’t bear to video these mechanical “homicides,” but there are those that have. Don’t watch if you’re squeamish.

By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

While the Cash for Clunkers program hasn’t been well-received by members of CarDomain, it’s proven incredibly popular with, like, everyone else. Yesterday, we got news the program might run out of money in September, but apparently reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated. This morning the House voted to pump another two billion bucks into Clunkers, which insures we’ll be seeing even more sad pictures of doomed vehicles than we originally thought. Details over at MSNBC.com.