Posted on 09/21/2009 6:24:52 PM PDT by South40
The sapphire blue 2001 Nissan X-Terra was still in pretty fine shape - but, getting only 17 miles or so a gallon, it had Cash for Clunkers written all over it.
So in August, Dan Hoang and girlfriend Tara Bui gathered up all the paperwork required by Cash for Clunkers - registration, title, proof of insurance - and went to Volkswagen of Garden Grove to ditch the gas guzzler and replace it with a more environmentally friendly VW Jetta.
They wanted the clean diesel Jetta - which would have qualified for the maximum $4,500 credit - but alas, the dealer didnt have any. So they went with the regular model, got a $3,500 credit, and drove away content in the knowledge that the old Nissan would be destroyed, and that they had done their little part to make the planet a better place.
So imagine Hoang and Buis surprise when they breezed by the dealership days later, and saw its flashing sign advertising a pre-owned 2001 X-Terra for sale. Current price: $5,995.
(Excerpt) Read more at taxdollars.freedomblogging.com ...
Dealer probably didn’t get any gubmint money, so sold it instead.
It will get worse if the Government doesn’t pay up soon.
The dealership didn’t turn it in under the C4C program, plain old trade in.
Ha!
You don’t really believe the BO bureaucracy will catch THAT anytime soon do you?
Wow, who would think that a used car dealer would lie!
First verse of what I am sure is a very long song...
I never read anything about the statute mandating clunkers be destroyed. Nor discussion of that.
Normally unless a vehicle is given a salvage title it is resealable. Most used cars purchased as a trade-in go to auction and get resold somewhere else ... lots of times another state.
Just wait for the ‘CASH for Old Appliances’ bill and the ‘Cash for Old Spouses’ bill or some more government spending boondoggles.
That's exactly what happened...however...it's a Federal offense to do so. I believe the dealers are required to wait a specific period (100 days?) before they are able to even consider resale as an option. And then it's another mountain of paperwork.
Look for a HUGE class action suit against the Gubmint by dealerships across the nation. You know there are lawyers working on it now.
Auto Dealers and their employees are in Survivor mode. The Govt. took too long to re-imburse the Dealers......payback !
im glad there are dealers out there who won’t destroy perfectly working cars; it be such a waste
I’m glad to see that this dealer did the right thing by not taking government money for this car, choosing instead to resell it. If other car dealers committed fraud in signing up for the funds but reselling the cars, it wouldn’t bother me in the least. I see it as a crime to have perfectly functional cars destroyed by government mandate.
How about "Cash for old politicians"?

We at The Watchdog contacted VW of Garden Grove to clear this up. There seems to have been a misunderstanding.
They came in for the cash for clunkers, but we went out and looked at the car and decided its a pretty clean car, so we took the car on a trade-in, said Ken ODonnell of VW of Garden Grove. We decided were going to give them the $3,500 they would have gotten from the clunker program as the trade-in. Were not asking the government for any reimbursement.
Indeed, the feds confirm that the dealership did not seek money for the Nissan under the cash-for-clunkers program.
The dealers aren’t destroying the engines untill they are paid by the government.
After that they are sold by auction in bulk to wreckers.
The wreckers have 90 days to remove any parts they can or want and after the 90 days they have to be crushed.
I know one wrecker that bought 500 of them.
Now, that is a good one. Wonder if the citizens can turn them in for cash, real cash and not an IOU.
We would need something to keep them out of the pasture written into the bill or they might return to influence someone else.
I read the entire article. The couple was lied to. They wanted the car off the road, probably becasue they are emvironmentalists. Had they wanted the vehicle to be resold and kept on the highways they could have done that themselves and gotten more than the $3500.
I find it hard to believe a government-backed and taxpayer funded boondoggle would have ANY room for fraud, waste and abuse in it!
*SNORT*
:-)
But what about the planet????/s
Who wudda thought?
...and the sh!t just keeps on comin'.
“I never read anything about the statute mandating clunkers be destroyed. Nor discussion of that.’
The only blurb that I heard in the news is that all cklunkers
were to have something poured down the carburetor, in order to permanently seize the engine.
All sounds stupid to me, but what else do you expect in the Obamination.
I never heard that or read it.
I would think insurance companies would not be too happy.
I think the newspaper reporter is reading that into them "for the sake of the story." If they were such greenies they wouldn't have had such a gas hog in the first place.
I am, too. About half of the energy a vehicle ever consumes is used in it's manufacture before it even turns a wheel. Destroying perfectly usable cars is a waste of money or a waste of environmental resources depending on how you might want to look at it. BTW car sales are down big following the expiration of the C4C program so it failed from every perspective.
(i.e. they saw what the dealer was asking and felt monstrously cheated)
Stupid liberals.
fraud aside, the real travesty here is this couple traded in a perfectly good Nissan Xterra for a VW Jetta.
I wonder how many stupid liberals traded in their $6000 car at the dealer for the C4C $3500 only to have the dealer rip up the paperwork after they left. After all, C4C is for the dealer right?
A Liberal and his money are soon parted.
im glad there are dealers out there who wont destroy perfectly working cars; it be such a waste
I agree—such a tragic waste to destroy cars, esp. in this economy.
A friend of mine declined the program on a trade-in because she determined that tho her car qualified, it was worth more than the $4000 she would get. I wonder how many other folks would have gotten a higher trade-in NOT going thru government.
Once again, when the government is involved, efficiency is lost. Lower trade-ins and destroyed cars
On a related note, Neil Cavuto reported that Sept. Sales are stagnant.
>>>>.they could have done that themselves and gotten more than the $3500<<<<<<
— Looked on craigslist and found this in Northern Cal — I think it means liberals and money are quickly parted!
2001 Nissan Xterra SE 4x4 SUV - $8991 (sunnyvale)
Is there a problem with that? What else is the dealer suppose to do if they got shafted by the Feds? Gotta recoup their cash. IN this case, maybe at a hefty profit.
I don't think greenies drive Xterras in the first place. What they wanted was for taxpayers to subsidize the purchase of their new car. Had they really wanted the vehicle off the road, they would have/ could have destroyed it themselves.
Obviously, they have the option of buying the Xterra back from the dealer & just parking it. That is, if they're really serious enviros.
Heck no, I expect to see a lot more of it.
It never would have even occured to me to trade in a “clunker” worth more than the government offer.
This is definitely the prime example of some of the stupid idiots that participated in the C4C scam...
KBB lists that vehicle at between $5000 and 6100 depending on trim level and condition. So unless it was totally trashed with a bajillion miles, then it was likely worth at least $4K in trade at most dealerships, and maybe more.
They got $3500 for it, and probably no discount on the car they bought...
Lots of good vehicles were turned in for the C4C cash - many that were worth more than the $3500 or $4500 the government was giving.
Unless they are GM or Chrysler dealerships...
Apparently it is you who needs to read the entire article.
[They]...drove away content in the knowledge that the old Nissan would be destroyed, and that they had done their little part to make the planet a better place.
They sound like greenies to me.
Obviously, they have the option of buying the Xterra back from the dealer & just parking it. That is, if they're really serious enviros.
That sentence (and the idea that they were paid $3,500 for their vehicle but then are going to buy it back for $5,995) is, frankly, ridiculous.
I wonder if the sales staffs are all clunkered out. I haven't even seem them around many lots, when earlier this year it didn't take much nosing around to bring a sales droid out.
“[They]...drove away content in the knowledge that the old Nissan would be destroyed, and that they had done their little part to make the planet a better place. “
I say that’s probably a little white lie of the news reporter. It sounds like one.
No - please don’t tell me used car dealers aren’t pure as the driven snow...
C4C requires the oil be drained from the engine, and 2 quarts of sodium silicate(liquid glass) poured into the crankcase. The engine is run for about 2 minutes. All wear surfaces (bearings, rings) will seize up. A tag is attached saying the engine is destroyed.
“C4C requires the oil be drained from the engine, and 2 quarts of sodium silicate(liquid glass) poured into the crankcase.”
Yes, that is what I heard.. Thanks for the confirmation.
As long as the didn’t take the feds money, the dealership did nothing wrong. They both worked out a deal that they were satisfied with.
Taking away the couples smug belief that crushing thier old car would save the world, priceless.
According to Edmunds, trade-in value of a 2001 XTerra is just a few dollars under $3500. I wonder if the VW dealer played along with the "clunker" nonsense and had this couple fill out the related forms, just to make the sale?
Call it "Cash for Wankers".
Or "Cash for Lunkheads". Either works for me.
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