Cash for Clunkers have engines destroyed - why is that?

Cars that are traded in as part of the Cash for Clunkers program have their engines destroyed. Why is that? Not all of the trade-ins are junk cars. Some poor working stiff who cannot afford a new car can surely make use of some of these engines.

www.time.com...

In order to receive federal reimbursement for the subsidy consumers get for trading in their cars, dealers must first destroy the engine. One common method is to drain the car's oil and flood the engine with sodium silicate, or liquid glass. Dealers then turn the car on and rev the engine to let the solution harden. In just a few minutes, the car becomes inoperable.

Interesting as I thought it was the other way around, that they were selling the engines to China or something and destroying the body.

reply to post by ExPostFacto


I think the bodies/chassis are what is being sent overseas. Makes no sense at all.

I've seen some of these "clunkers". Used pickup trucks - a must for tradesmen. Minivans- handy for growing families.

Obama is shoving his "green dream" down our throats once again.

They are destroying the engine, and stripping anything of value from the car. I see this as a total waste of money.
One other thing. It seems to me that in order to get this "Government money" you should have to buy American made vehicles. Nothing against import, but with the shambles our car industry is in wouldn't that help them repay their debts?

Oh wait, the government doesn't want them to pay it back!
This is another form of the coming socialist agenda that seems to be accelerating daily.

reply to post by jsobecky


If you destroy the engines in time you effectively destroy any possibility for anyone to find cheap parts or cars for that matter. After a short while car part manufacturer's to will stop making replacement parts because there are no engines for them....Get the idea now?

The point for the clunkers program is to get the older/CHEAPER cars off the road. So that no one can go to a junk or scrap yard and get away with fixing it themselves, for a far less price than they would pay a dealer. A dealer mind you that pays more in TAXES.......
It has nothing to do with helping us or the enviorment in any way. But it does have everything to do with getting them a way to make people have to go and buy a new model; that cost's much more in taxes let alone fixing it. They will get TAXES at the sale with registration and fixing it too now. (i.e :with fixing it they can tax the dealer, tax the part and tax you..get the idea more MONEY) The piddly amount they are paying people to trade them in is nothing compared to how much they are going to make back in taxes.

As a fan of "clunkers", I find this very disturbing. For one thing, I have vowed to never buy a car with a computer in it again. Strictly the classics for me. In fact, my current project is a 69 Beetle Rat Rod. The good thing is on things like old VWs there are plenty of after market manufacturers who are making new replacement parts.

I am still bothered by the fact that these cars are being destroyed like this. If the car is good, with the exception of maybe an engine that can't meet emissions standards (such as my 93 mazda which gets 34 MPG but can't meet an emissions test ), just leave the engine less chasis in a junk yard for someone to retrofit with an electric engine or something. This whole thing is wasteful.

Besides, the metal should be sent to a US scrap dealer, not China.

I was eating breakfast yesterday and on CNN they said that the cars cant be in working order which is crazy. I think they could do something good with these so called clunkers. The ones they have advertised as clunkers at the local dealerships are NOT clunkers IMO! They look great on the outside but the inside IDK. I think its just a scam of sorts to get you to buy one of their cars.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


Agreed. The main idea here is to get people to trade in old cars for new cars and get them back in debt. After all being in debt is the American way!!

The benefit to the environment from this program is just not true.

Critics Say 'Clunkers' Program Isn't Very Green

"The estimates vary, but somewhere between 3 and, say, 12 tons of CO2 are produced for every car you make," says William Chameides, dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University.

Chameides calculates that if you trade in an 18 mpg clunker for a 22 mpg new car (22 miles per gallon is the minimum mileage allowed for a new car under the program), it would take five and a half years of typical driving to offset the new car's carbon footprint. With trucks, it might take eight or nine years, he says.

www.npr.org...

If you want to reduce your carbon footprint, buy a used car. This is not to say that the environment wouldn't benefit getting the real "clunkers" off the road. Problem is people who drive real "clunkers" don't have the credit and can't afford a new car even with a $4500 government incentive.

reply to post by mhc_70


I very much agree with this post. I always go to the cash only used car dealers for my runabouts. There is no reason to buy a new car these days, especially when they cost so f%*&@ much. Someone needs to start putting out simple clean easy to use cars with no accessories for dirt cheap. The cars I had like that in the past were:

* Any of my VWs
* Plymouth Colt
* Isuzu Pickup.

interesting. All of them were made overseas (the plymouth colt was actually a mitsubishi product for the model year I had)

I agree also, why spend all that money, and perhaps give the dealer a perfectly good car to destroy the engine and send to wherever, when one can get a good car/truck at bargain prices these days. Last year I bought a 1990 Chevy G-20 van that has been rust proofed, and has a rebuilt short block for $700. the lady sold it to me because "it uses too much gas, and steers all over the road." A tune up and ignition upgrade gave me 35-37 mpg, and an idler arm and tie rod end took care of the steering problem. I am getting ready to custom build the van, my new business is doing quite well, and I need to spend some money. For less that $10,000 I can do the job complete with paint and new engine/trans, tires/wheels, and new interior. Show me a new car/truck that I can get for less, and still have a full sized van with a strong V-8 engine?

This is a crazy plan, for one thing, the economy is in the crap hole, and the expense is really out there. I heard another 2B dollars is going into the plan, to keep it going. Meanwhile we lose several million good used cars that poor people could have bought, and not only that, the scrap yards will suffer too, because two or three generations of cars will be gone forever. Reminds me of a time about 20 years ago, I was on a car hunt, and was at a scrap yard in southern Indiana. I stood and watched a man with a forklift set a cherry body complete '36 Ford 3 window Coupe, all there on a crusher, and smash it flat. I had offered him a thousand dollars, and he said he could not sell it, because there was no title! I tried to tell him about a builder's title, and a sheriff's title, but he refused to listen. For $20,000 or so invested, this car could have been a show piece. Through the years we have had several Congressmen who tried to get rid of all the "Clunkers." Well, they are not getting mine, and I am not buying their junk!