All right, when I first heard about that "cash for clunkers" programme, I thought to myself "Hey, thats not too bad, help some people get some more fuel efficiant cars, and they can sell the old ones for cheap to people who can't afford a car note every month. Then, I found out that they're not allowed to resale or put any of the traded-in cars back on the road, that they have to junk 'em. So, I thought to myself...well, thats still not so bad - it'll put some used parts out there for others who still drive some of these models, to help keep them running...once again perhaps helping some of us who can't afford a car note. Then I learned the truth...they are required to DESTROY the cars. They can't use one single part off of them. The whole car, often perfectly serviceable, has to be destroyed. First - the must destroy the engine, which I've seen several videos now, of dealers draining the oil from engines, and having someone start it and hold the pedal to the floor, revving and revving with no lubrication until the engine blows or locks up. Then whats left gets crushed and ground up. They are REQUIRED to destroy the engine, and then destroy the car. Who the hell is this helping? I just saw them destroy some really nice cars - dodge ram pickups, oldsmobiles, a couple of heavy duty F-series ford trucks. These could be good work vehicles for someone who can't afford a new car. So many of these vehicles may have had another 10, 20, or even 100 thousand miles of life left in them. You hear the dealer's workers laughing with pleasure every time they blow up some engine, like its a fun game. This makes me sick. There is something so very fundamentally wrong about destroying something that can still be useful to someone. How terribly terribly wasteful! I wish I had never looked it up, now. The whole thing is daft, besides. My old 1976 beater dodge station wagon only gets about 19 miles per gallon, but I have no car note, and my insurance on it is only about $27 a month. It costs me less per mile to operate than it would cost me to operate a hybrid Prius by far. yes, the Prius would get many more miles out of a gallon of gasoline, but I'd be paying a few hundred a month in a car note, plus several times more per month in insurance, plus whatever gas it would use. So, basically, this is our tax dollars paying people to take their paid-for cars with cheap insurance and then go to a dealer and go into tens of thousands of dollars in debt, then be stuck with a car note for 3-5 years, higher insurance premiums, etc. From a personal standpoint, how is it a good thing to do something that causes your expenses to go up to do the same thing? So wasteful! So sad to see these cars being destroyed. Some of them sat there for five or six minutes banging away, with no oil, before they finally blew...those engines, they still wanted to run. It was like they were saying "Hey, I'm still useful! What in god's name are you doing?!" I don't get truly angry at things usually. I'm not an angry person, usually, but for some reason, this, to me, makes me livid. Angry as in "want to hit people" angry.

Every car I own has a V-8 engine. Thats five cars. 1961 Plymouth Fury 318A, 1976 Dodge Aspen wagon 318, 1982 Cadillac hearse 368, 1984 Chevy Camaro 305, and 1987 Plymouth Gran Fury 318 Police special. And I can guarantee you it costs me less per month to maintain and operate all of them COMBINED than it would cost you per month to operate one 2009 honda accord, with its car payment, etc. My insurance for ALL FIVE cars AND my motorcycle is less than $100/month. I'll also put this one to you. I've hand tuned and hand tweaked every one of those engines, and I'll take any one of them right now and lets take your new Lexus, and lets give them the sniffer test. I bet I'm putting out the same or less pollutants you are. There's a difference - I get to set every last detail - fuel/air ratio, ignition timing, etc, by hand, myself, to what I feel is best. And if its not right, I can fix it right here, in the driveway, with a couple wrenches and a screwdriver. If your Toyota sniffles, you're going to have to take it to the dealer, just so that they can push some button to make that little light turn off and charge you a few hundred bucks for it!

This whole thing is not really about the environment...I'm sure it pollutes a lot to MAKE new cars, and those batteries are just chock full of nasty chemicals, and we all know batteries stop working after a while, usually sooner than we'd like...so, where are they all going to go to? A landfill?

Do you want to help the economy? Keep driving your old beater! Its PAID FOR! And, while you are at it, learn basic maintainance. Learn to change your own oil, check your fluids, keep air in your tires. Change those spark plugs and wires. Its not hard at all! Get the Haynes repair manual from your local auto parts store, and a cheap $50 starter tool kit, and you can save so much money. Don't buy a new car you don't really need...don't go into debt! Save that money and stay out of debt! keep it in your pocket, to spend on things you really do need, and things you can have fun with. Thats more stimulating to your personal economy than owing a monthly note on a $25,000 car when the ten year old rig you had worked just fine. Or, if you must get a new car...sell/donate/anything that old one to someone who needs it, help someone out. Don't let those butchers destroy it. It will only hurt everyone in the end.