Out to 100K? Are you f**king kidding me? (not you, TM, just that whole idea in general) My Honda rolled over to 200K this summer, we're expecting at least another 50K out of it.

I'm with this guy. It's just a way to get people to trade in paid off cars and get them back into expensive auto loans.

Edit: I wonder what/if flat rate techs are getting paid to disable an engine.

My 1973 Chevy PU just went over 350,000 this last week. Still runs like a new truck.

I think that was his point. That we shouldn't be so quick to trade in cars because they are waving a new one in front of our faces.

We need to tighten our belts, pay off our cars and learn to live without what we want, not necessarily what we need.

It was painful to watch them euthanize that car. It is what it made me feel like. It was sad. Talk about waste.

It trickles down to dealerships in general who do service calls and repairs on vehicles and to the scrap men who make their living selling us parts we need as well.

I think the whole thing stinks!!

I'm driving my Caravan until it can't go anymore.

All I know is that this is keeping my Dad from losing his job.

I agree. My family used to use a 1992 Honda Civic with over 300,000 kilometres on it. We only stopped using it after it was totalled by an RV.

It seems plimates are the exception, then.

Most drivers get a new car every 5 or so years. That's why leases are offered and seen as a good thing.

Getting junky cars off the road is a great thing, and the benefit of spending less on gas and repairs for a clunker is often worth the cost of buying a new car. The only problem I had with the program was that it didn't go far enough to require the new car purchased be fuel-efficient.

There will be an effect on junkyards... but if the clunkers are all off the road, there won't be a market for those parts anyway.

Sounds like what happened with the mortages. Getting people lured into things they cannot afford.

Obviously, those who drive older cars don't want that payment OR that high interest rate if their credit is poor.

There will still be clunkers on the road. This is not going to get rid of all older less fuel efficient cars. It's just going to be harder to get the parts.

No one is getting "lured." There's plenty of information out there; do your homework.

If those who don't really benefit from the program aren't interested, they don't have to do it. Isn't it nice how you don't have to trade in your car?

There will still be clunkers... but as you said, it will be harder to replace the parts. Eventually, replacing the parts won't be worth it, and they'll get rid of the car and buy a new car... new, or new to them, doesn't matter. The original clunker will be off the road.

It's a good program for those on the cusp, who just were stupid and bought cars that drank gas. If it isn't good for you, don't do it. Easy fix.

It's also been immensely popular, I might add.

Sure wish we knew what was really going on with THIS program... so much for transparency...eh?

No one HAS to trade their cars in, clunker or not. I choose not to at all.

Well, I guess will see. I have done some "homework" on it and I still think it stinks.

And just like with the mortages, people will OOOH and Ahhhh and with rebates will possibly go a little higher on their payments or bite off something that they might not be able to afford.

I mourn the classic cars. We have friends in the car show circuit. To me, old doesn't necessarily mean junk.

Guess it will be wait and see.

Seems they don't like to buy american either! Although the Focus is at the top, most of the cars are foreign being bought.

From an Andrew Sullivan reader:

"Here is the Cash for Clunkers program that was in place during the Bush Administration. The bonus depreciation provisions put in place after 9/11 provided a 50% immediate tax deduction for the purchase of Large SUV’s. So when my boss purchased a $100,000 Range Rover he wrote off $50,000 on his taxes. Assuming a 35% federal tax bracket – this resulted in an immediate tax refund of $17,500 on the purchase of the Range Rover (even though the down payment may have been $10,000). $17,500 cash for the purchase of a 12 mpg Range Rover."

Except that 95 percent of the Honda Civics sold in this country are built in Indiana or Ontario, Canada, and all of the engines are made in the U.S. Toyota Corollas sold in the United States are assembled either California or Ontario, while nearly all the Camrys sold here are assembled at plants in Kentucky and Indiana. Only the Prius is built exclusively in Japan, according to the L.A. Times.

I won't ever trade my little red 4-cylinder S-10. We have so many memories together that I almost tear up at the thought of a new vehicle.

Everyone where I live keeps insisting I get a 4-wheel drive because of winter conditions and stuff. I keep insisting that at least here, it's more about the driver than the vehicle.

Can't argue with results!

I will run my baby until she dies. Then I will revive her and put on a couple thousand more. What happened to loving a car? A new car every 5 years?Sounds awfully adulterous to me.

I am with you and Chinook. I get a little emotional about my minivan. Maybe it is dumb. But I love the way it drives, I can cram my all my kids and their spouses in it and I have TWO built in car seats and storage under the floor.

I can haul pretty much anything as the seats fold INTO the floor and the middle ones come out.

It is a workhorse and a party wagon. It has everything I need, dual controls for heat/ac and rear controls for the peeps in the back.

My baby is gonna get a hitch and we are going to get a camper this spring. We can throw a coupla kayaks on the top with the luggage rack.

The mileage is sure to be sucky after all that piled on, but I don't care.

The thought of killing it kind of made me sick.

Thanks Freddie Mercury!!