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Couple shocked to find their ‘clunker’ is for sale
Orange County Register ^ | September 21, 2009 | Teri Sforza

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 didn’t 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 Bui’s 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 ...


TOPICS: Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: clunkers; suv
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So there's corruption in C4C? Whodathunkit?
1 posted on 09/21/2009 6:24:53 PM PDT by South40
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To: South40

Dealer probably didn’t get any gubmint money, so sold it instead.


2 posted on 09/21/2009 6:26:22 PM PDT by Professional Engineer (Amendment 0: Congress shall make no law.)
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To: South40

It will get worse if the Government doesn’t pay up soon.


3 posted on 09/21/2009 6:27:47 PM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
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To: South40
Shocked! Shocked, I tell you! I'm sure it's never happened before in a government program.


4 posted on 09/21/2009 6:28:20 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: South40
That is the way it's been done for nearly 100 yrs. They got their deal somebody else got their headache.
5 posted on 09/21/2009 6:29:07 PM PDT by BallyBill (Serial Hit-N-Run poster)
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To: South40

The dealership didn’t turn it in under the C4C program, plain old trade in.


6 posted on 09/21/2009 6:29:19 PM PDT by SouthTexas
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To: Professional Engineer

Ha!
You don’t really believe the BO bureaucracy will catch THAT anytime soon do you?


7 posted on 09/21/2009 6:29:32 PM PDT by G Larry ( Obamacare=Dying in Line!)
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To: South40

Wow, who would think that a used car dealer would lie!


8 posted on 09/21/2009 6:30:13 PM PDT by keats5 (Not all of us are hypnotized.)
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To: South40

First verse of what I am sure is a very long song...


9 posted on 09/21/2009 6:31:00 PM PDT by TexasNative2000 (I may not be John Galt or Jim Thompson, but I AM THE MOB!)
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To: Professional Engineer

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.


10 posted on 09/21/2009 6:31:52 PM PDT by K-oneTexas (I'm not a judge and there ain't enough of me to be a jury. (Zell Miller, A National Party No More))
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To: Professional Engineer
Dealer probably didn’t get any gubmint money, so sold it instead.

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.

11 posted on 09/21/2009 6:32:09 PM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts (An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.)
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To: South40

Auto Dealers and their employees are in Survivor mode. The Govt. took too long to re-imburse the Dealers......payback !


12 posted on 09/21/2009 6:32:41 PM PDT by 4Speed
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To: South40

im glad there are dealers out there who won’t destroy perfectly working cars; it be such a waste


13 posted on 09/21/2009 6:36:20 PM PDT by 4rcane
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To: South40

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.


14 posted on 09/21/2009 6:36:55 PM PDT by Zhang Fei (Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always)
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To: K-oneTexas
Just wait for the ‘CASH for Old Appliances’ bill and the ‘Cash for Old Spouses’ bill or some more government spending boondoggles.

How about "Cash for old politicians"?


15 posted on 09/21/2009 6:37:25 PM PDT by South40 (Islam has a long tradition of tolerance, ~Hussein Obama, June 4, 2009, Cairo, Egypt)
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To: South40
Read the entire article:

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 it’s a pretty clean car, so we took the car on a trade-in,” said Ken O’Donnell of VW of Garden Grove. “We decided we’re going to give them the $3,500 they would have gotten from the clunker program as the trade-in. We’re 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.

16 posted on 09/21/2009 6:37:28 PM PDT by justlurking (The only remedy for a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.)
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To: South40

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.


17 posted on 09/21/2009 6:37:52 PM PDT by dalereed
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To: South40

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.


18 posted on 09/21/2009 6:40:19 PM PDT by K-oneTexas (I'm not a judge and there ain't enough of me to be a jury. (Zell Miller, A National Party No More))
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To: justlurking

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.


19 posted on 09/21/2009 6:41:36 PM PDT by South40 (Islam has a long tradition of tolerance, ~Hussein Obama, June 4, 2009, Cairo, Egypt)
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To: South40

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*


20 posted on 09/21/2009 6:44:10 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

:-)


21 posted on 09/21/2009 6:44:45 PM PDT by South40 (Islam has a long tradition of tolerance, ~Hussein Obama, June 4, 2009, Cairo, Egypt)
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To: South40

But what about the planet????/s


22 posted on 09/21/2009 6:45:54 PM PDT by Dallas59
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To: Nachum

Who wudda thought?


23 posted on 09/21/2009 6:47:41 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar (A mob of one.)
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To: South40
Hope...change...yada yada yada...

...and the sh!t just keeps on comin'.

24 posted on 09/21/2009 6:49:04 PM PDT by LaybackLenny (Sarah Palin can see the left's heads explode from her house!)
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To: K-oneTexas

“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.


25 posted on 09/21/2009 6:51:50 PM PDT by AlexW (Now in the Philippines . Happy not to be back in the USA for now.)
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To: AlexW

I never heard that or read it.

I would think insurance companies would not be too happy.


26 posted on 09/21/2009 6:53:08 PM PDT by K-oneTexas (I'm not a judge and there ain't enough of me to be a jury. (Zell Miller, A National Party No More))
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To: South40
They wanted the car off the road, probably becasue they are emvironmentalists.

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.

27 posted on 09/21/2009 6:53:14 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Love me, love my cat.)
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To: 4rcane
im glad there are dealers out there who won’t destroy perfectly working cars; it be such a waste

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.

28 posted on 09/21/2009 6:53:56 PM PDT by Sooth2222 ("Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of congress. But I repeat myself." M.Twain)
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To: South40

(i.e. they saw what the dealer was asking and felt monstrously cheated)


29 posted on 09/21/2009 6:54:45 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Love me, love my cat.)
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To: South40

Stupid liberals.


30 posted on 09/21/2009 6:55:25 PM PDT by SampleMan (Socialism enslaves you & kills your soul.)
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To: South40

fraud aside, the real travesty here is this couple traded in a perfectly good Nissan Xterra for a VW Jetta.


31 posted on 09/21/2009 6:56:02 PM PDT by model B (attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference -- Sir Winston Churchill)
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To: South40

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.


32 posted on 09/21/2009 6:57:28 PM PDT by SampleMan (Socialism enslaves you & kills your soul.)
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To: 4rcane

im glad there are dealers out there who won’t 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.


33 posted on 09/21/2009 6:57:33 PM PDT by bushwon ("If you think healthcare is expensive now, just wait till it is free! "~ PJ O'Rourke)
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To: South40

>>>>.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)


34 posted on 09/21/2009 7:01:22 PM PDT by all_mighty_dollar
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To: Professional Engineer
Dealer probably didn’t get any gubmint money, so sold it instead.

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.

35 posted on 09/21/2009 7:01:22 PM PDT by TheBattman (Pray for our country...)
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To: South40
I read the entire article. The couple was lied to. They wanted the car off the road, probably becasue they are emvironmentalists.

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.

36 posted on 09/21/2009 7:01:42 PM PDT by elli1
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To: TheBattman

Heck no, I expect to see a lot more of it.


37 posted on 09/21/2009 7:03:18 PM PDT by Professional Engineer (Amendment 0: Congress shall make no law.)
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To: South40

It never would have even occured to me to trade in a “clunker” worth more than the government offer.


38 posted on 09/21/2009 7:03:35 PM PDT by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide (Give Them Liberty Or Give Them Death! - IT'S ISLAM, STUPID! - Islam Delenda Est! - Rumble thee forth)
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To: South40

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.


39 posted on 09/21/2009 7:05:54 PM PDT by TheBattman (Pray for our country...)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts
Look for a HUGE class action suit against the Gubmint by dealerships across the nation. You know there are lawyers working on it now.

Unless they are GM or Chrysler dealerships...

40 posted on 09/21/2009 7:06:30 PM PDT by TheBattman (Pray for our country...)
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To: elli1
I don't think greenies drive Xterras in the first place.

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.

41 posted on 09/21/2009 7:08:21 PM PDT by South40 (Islam has a long tradition of tolerance, ~Hussein Obama, June 4, 2009, Cairo, Egypt)
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To: South40
What amazes me everyday is that there are still people that actually WANT the government to run more and more things.
42 posted on 09/21/2009 7:08:25 PM PDT by spodefly (This is my tag line. There are many like it, but this one is mine.)
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To: bushwon
On a related note, Neil Cavuto reported that Sept. Sales are stagnant.

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.

43 posted on 09/21/2009 7:09:45 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Love me, love my cat.)
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To: South40

“[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.


44 posted on 09/21/2009 7:10:51 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Love me, love my cat.)
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To: South40

No - please don’t tell me used car dealers aren’t pure as the driven snow...


45 posted on 09/21/2009 7:13:26 PM PDT by GOPJ (When I hear "New York Times"-fair or unfair-what I hear is "New York Times Whore House"...)
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To: AlexW

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.


46 posted on 09/21/2009 7:14:38 PM PDT by bullfeather (illegitimate non carborundum)
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To: bullfeather

“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.


47 posted on 09/21/2009 7:20:00 PM PDT by AlexW (Now in the Philippines . Happy not to be back in the USA for now.)
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To: South40

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.


48 posted on 09/21/2009 7:26:24 PM PDT by dangerdoc
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To: UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide
It never would have even occured to me to trade in a “clunker” worth more than the government offer.

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?

49 posted on 09/21/2009 7:27:52 PM PDT by Charles Martel (NRA Lifetime Member since 1984; TSRA rookie)
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To: South40
How about "Cash for old politicians"?

Call it "Cash for Wankers".

Or "Cash for Lunkheads". Either works for me.

50 posted on 09/21/2009 7:28:27 PM PDT by Defiant (Hey socialists-- We're right, we fight, get used to it.)
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