Posted on 08/25/2010 6:35:14 PM PDT by Neoavatara
Everyone with a brain knew what would happen. Unfortunately, those controlling Washington, D.C. these days are of questionable intelligence.
What am I talking about? Obama's 'brilliant' Cash-for-Clunkers program.
(Excerpt) Read more at neoavatara.com ...
Repos’ are booming.....
My daughter wants to buy her first car (pre-owned) and is discouraged by the prices.
If it weren’t for clunkers I’d have no car at all.
I personally found it ironic that my wealthiest relatives were the ones who were able to take advantage of the program.
Just another wildly successful government run program. Coming soon to healthcare.
LIBERALS don’t THINK!
“Why?
Well, couple points from Edmunds. “So many economic factors affect automobile sales and prices. It’s believed that the program delayed purchases prior to the program and also pulled sales forward while in place,” said Joe Spina, a senior analyst for Edmunds. “The program also eliminated inventory of older vehicles that were traded and then scrapped.”
Well, duh. The answer is simple: supply and demand. The Federal government, through this program, did increase short term sales of new cars. Whether anyone bought cars that otherwise would not have is questionable, but at least is debatable. What isn’t debatable is that all of those cars scrapped…are now off the market. And thus, the market of used cars has obviously shrunk…thus decreasing supply and increasing demand.
So why should we care? Well, if you are rich or well off, you probably don’t care, in your shiny new car. But there is a large swath of the population that never buys a new car; it is estimated that almost half of the U.S. adult population only buys used cars. And stating the obvious, most of these people are in the lower middle to poor classes.”
They FEEL!
They FELT poor people should have NEW cars whether they could afford them or not. If you couldn’t - tough luck! Used cars were scraped and off the market.
I went looking for a used car myself this weekend and my wife and I were utterly taken aback by the prices so I concur with your daughter’s dilemma.
Tell her to wait, with all the “clunker” customers defaulting on auto loans, there should be a glut of one owner used vehicles pretty soon.
The shortage of used cars pushes the prices UP!
It’s simple supply and demand.
Used car parts are UP in price because there is less of them. This program has disrputed the normal ebb and flow of supply and demand.
Another poster is right. When car defaults start happening, they’ll be more used cars on the market again. It will take time. Just look at the housing market. It is a buyers paradise out there. The same will happen again with cars.
I have also heard from many parents who wanted a used car for their family or their teens/young adults. Not many used cars to choose from and the prices are very high. Just a thought
Don't believe for a moment that raising prices is an unintended consequence, this is all preplanned and orchestrated.
If you”Pay”people to trade in their”formerly owned”cars(before they intended),you are fabricating a “market”that is premature.When you(The Government)go a step further(destroy/trade-ins)you have REALLY mucked about with a market!Not only have people traded in their existing vehicles(before they intended to do so),you have “artificially”induced a “New Car”market.To make things worse,you(The Government)order that ALL the trade-ins be destroyed thereby creating a shortage of “USED CARS”!!Is there ANYTHING that GOVERNMENT can’t SCREW UP?????????????
However, I would be careful in buying a car that has been repoed.. Unless you have a lot of money to make a load of repairs..
If the economy didn’t look so bleak, we’d get rid of my ‘94 clunker. Instead, HD has been welding and wrenching on it.
FREE electric cars are coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Who knew? I own a car that is worth more than when I bought it. Must be a sign of the apocalypse.
The bus or the train to the collective factory or farm or camp otherwise the serfs will not show up.
My marxist/dim/wacko/luddite neighbor has taken to riding a bicycle everywhere. That old guy looks so silly in the helmet and pads.
There are no “Decent” low priced used cars on the market right now.
Obama took tens of thousands of them out of the market, and his economic failures are forcing people to keep cars they would have otherwise traded.
This hurts the working poor the most, and hits them right in the wallet. They can’t afford $700 Payments on a VOLT.
Maybe this is all a nefarious plot to get poor people to stop polluting the earth, and walk to work?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.