Weekly Written Analysis 5
The Cars for Clunkers Program
By
Amy Waid
Popular Culture
Professor Elizabeth Miceli
August 2, 2009
Weekly Written Analysis 5
The Cars for Clunkers Program
I was watching the television over the weekend trying to get an idea on what to use for my weekly analysis when I saw a commercial for the CARS program through the federal government. I was interested in this as I had been looking to purchase a new car for the family and really couldn’t get a great trade-in value for my old car. I decided to look up the program online and learn more about how the federal government was trying to boost the new car industry here in the United States.
The program is essentially government money, between $3500 to $4500 dollars, to trade your old non-efficient vehicle in for a new, more environmentally friendly model. In this process, it would also serve to boost the economy and help the auto industry out of the self-made slump that they are in. The program will run through November 2009 or as long as the funds last but on top of this, you also get the value of how much your car would cost in a scrap yard. As I read, I discovered that when you trade your car in, one of the conditions of the program is that your old car is sent to be used as scrap metal. I found that stipulation to be quite interesting because I don’t consider my car to be in the condition to be crushed. It has a few rough spots but nothing I would consider worth scrapping it for.
I wonder what the government is going to do with all of the scrap metal it gets from the cars it gets through these programs. I also wonder if using these funds in such a way will really give the automakers the bailout they are looking for. I’m fairly certain that it is only a surface bandaid on what is a problem that runs far deeper, knowing that most of the people around me couldn’t afford to go and trade their cars in anyway because of being laid off from the same jobs that build the cars they are trying to promote. Even so, I’m sure in governments’ noble quest, they think that this well jump start what is already a desperate economy and who knows, maybe it will help. They just may have the key to fix what may prove to be unfixable, especially from the stand point of someone that is desperately struggling to stay one step ahead.
With that, I decided not to trade my old vehicle in for a shiny, eco-friendly model. I know it seems strange that I wouldn’t take advantage of this “free money” from the government since it is out there to be used and having a car that gets better gas mileage than mine would help my economic standing in the long run, but I can’t. I feel that in the long term, not having another payment added to the budget would make me better off. That would be better for my economy, anyway.
References
U.S. Department of Transportation, (2009, July 31). Car allowance rebate system.
Retrieved August 2, 2009, from CARS.gov Web site: http://www.cars.gov/files/Cars-home.pdf