Deseret News | Many Utahns swapped gas-hog clunkers for newer, shinier, gas-guzzling trucks

Reader comments
Many Utahns swapped gas-hog clunkers for newer, shinier, gas-guzzling trucks

Honda in America | 1:14 a.m. Nov. 8, 2009

My Honda was made in Marysville Ohio...so who says Honda is not American made...maybe even more so than the Ford made in Mexico

Just sayin' | 4:44 a.m. Nov. 8, 2009

"Figuring a reliable average was impossible because of apparently bad government data. Its database, for example, said that 15 turned-in clunkers in Utah had more than 1 million miles each, which is doubtful, and another 31 had fewer than 10,000 miles."

How do we know that those figures turned in weren't just some wise-cracking car salesmen? Are they necessarily "bad government data?"

Don't be so paranoid, or quick to judge.

Buy American | 5:12 a.m. Nov. 8, 2009

Although I understand that Toyota and others make cars in America, the profits still go overseas. Americans want jobs, and yet buy foreign cars. If you think that the foreign cars are in fact better, ask mechanics. I know quite a few, and they do not think that foreign cars are better. Several say Fords are currently the best made. I own a Chevrolet Blazer, and happened to ride in a Toyota Rav 4 recently. The Toyota felt cheap, although I assume the mechanics of the vehicle are ok. Moreover, look at the older cars on the road. It seems to me that they are mostly American made. Please buy American products when you can. How else will you have work in the long-term? P.S. I'd also encourage you to price parts for when that foreign car does break. OUCH! My buddy's Acura had an alternator go bad. I could buy a dozen Chevy alternators for the price of his one.

Comments continue below

liberal larry | 6:34 a.m. Nov. 8, 2009

This article is very poorly written. How can you do an evaluation on the effectiveness of replacing clunkers without mentioning pollution levels? Newer cars emit much less pollution than older cars, so even if newer cars get the same mileage as the clunkers, we are all better off with cleaner air.

Craig | 8:03 a.m. Nov. 8, 2009

Lee Davidson you are misguided. Destroying a usable vehicle and manufacturing a new one to replace it does not help the environment. The amount of energy used to produce the new car far exceeds the energy savings.
Do you thing cars grow on trees? Intentionally destroying usable resources is not good stewardship.

Freedom or not? | 9:09 a.m. Nov. 8, 2009

Why the whining about the choices people made in buying or selling cars or trucks?

They obeyed the requirements of the program.

You just don't like the fact that some people chose to buy a useful pick up truck they might use for farming or actual work needs instead of a tree-hugger's Prius.

Sounds like you should be criticizing the idiots in Congress who came up with a way to waste billions of dollars on a project that never should have been passed at all.

If you want to buy a Prius, that's great, and none of my business. If I want a big gas guzzling 4x4 pickup, that should be equally great, and none of your business.

If someone cannot afford a car or truck, it is not the taxpayers' responsibility to buy one for them, be it a Prius or a pickup.

If Congress wastes billions, then that is ALL OF OUR BUSINESS, and we need to tell the idiots to stop the wasteful spending!

Socialism only works until they run out of other people's money to spend.

It was WRONG! | 9:23 a.m. Nov. 8, 2009

The program was WRONG.

- The car companies benefited were for the most part foreign based.

- It is questionable that many of the consumers were helped considering they now are saddled with an expensive monthly car payment, when their paid-for, so-called "clunker" - still young, at an estimated 147,000 miles average - might have continued to provide the motorist good service for years to come (like my 1987 model does).

- Thanks to this program, motorists who cannot possibly purchase a new car are denied the ability to purchase a good, used car at an affordable price, given the program's mandate of DESTROYING that good used car - and even its PARTS, so that motorists with similar cars cannot use its parts to prolong the lives of their cars.

The shameful waste and the unnecessary consumer debt, mainly in order to enrich foreign companies, was a bad idea!

Re: Buy American | 10:08 a.m. Nov. 8, 2009

When American car companies start making a product that can compete with the foreign products then I will consider purchasing one. However, I don't want a gigantic pick-up truck to drive to work, and foreign made sedans and coupes are superior in most every way compared to the American made counterparts.

Also, so what if the profits go over seas? Its not like japanese car companies send people from Japan over here to work in their stateside car manufacturing plants... actually there are Americans working in those shops. If your car was made in America, it was made by Americans with jobs created by the demand for that car. Why do I owe anything to the poorly run American car companies that continued to ignore the demand for fuel efficient cars and focus on gas guzzling SUVs and trucks and luxury cars because they have a greater profit margin? My tax dollars are now funding their business, that's good enough for me.

@ liberal larry | 10:20 a.m. Nov. 8, 2009

"Newer cars emit much less pollution than older cars."

Not true. "Clunkers" in metropolitan Utah are subject to the same, strict smog standards as are new cars, and also are equipped with the same smog-reducing devices.

Re: Buy American | 11:17 a.m. Nov. 8, 2009

Buy American,
How is buying a ford made in Mexico helping more people then a Toyota assembled in America? So you are more concerned about the owners of Ford making money then the Toyota assembly workers? I am not saying don't buy "American", buy the car that you think is best. I test drove 10 small SUV's before I bought a RAV4, I disagree with your statements about the Blazer being better. That is all a matter of personal opinion I suppose. I search out American made products when possible, but I will not compromise quality when it comes to spending 20k. Maybe if the "American" auto makers started making them in America again the quality would be there.

Cap'n Parrotdead | 11:35 a.m. Nov. 8, 2009

Liberal Larry is right, this was a poor excuse for journalism. Tt was clearly written with a point of view and a lack of objectivity.

Statements like "for a gain of only 9.1 mpg on average" have no place in an objective article. Who's to decide that a gain of 9.4 mpg deserves an "only"? A gain of 9.1 sounds pretty decent to me.

And, as pointed out, Honda's, Toyota's and Hyundai's are made in the US.

"Foreign" cards made in America | 1:21 p.m. Nov. 8, 2009

The last few "foreign" cars that I have purchased were all made in the U.S. American workers assembled them, and American dealers sold them. When I looked for a Chevy, I was told by the dealer that it was made overseas. I would rather make jobs for American workers than worry about where profits end up.

@Buy American | 1:21 p.m. Nov. 8, 2009

The reliability information is based on data CR collected about 1.4 million vehicles. Their owners reported any serious problems with their cars and CR used the data to predict the model's reliability.

The perceptions are based on a survey that asked people to rate car brands based on safety, quality, value, performance, environmental friendliness, design, and technological innovation. It's perception vs repair bills. Here we go!

Brand Perception – Top 10

1. Toyota
2. Honda
3. Ford
4. Cadillac
5. Mercedes-Benz
6. GMC
7. Lexus
8. BMW
9. Chevrolet
10. Volvo

Actual Brand Reliability – Top 10

1. Scion
2. Acura
3. Honda
4. Toyota
5. Lexus
6. Infiniti
7. Subaru
8. Hyundai
9. Mitsubishi
10. Kia

Cadillac is actually 31st of 34.

The Pogram Worked for Us | 1:40 p.m. Nov. 8, 2009

Under the CFC program we traded in a 20-year old foreign car that got about 15 miles to the gallon for an American made Ford hybrid vehicle that right now averages about 38 miles to the gallon (we understand as we learn to drive it better the mpg will increase).

Our choice came down to a Toyota Prius vs. a Ford Fusion hybrid. We have had several Toyotas over the years and the choice was a hard one to make. But, we wanted to buy American to make a point.

So far, it appears that Ford has done it--Ford has made a car that compares favorably with the foreign competition and has high gas milage.

I'm not a cheerleader for the CFC program, but I have to say it worked well for us and I think we used the taxpayer money as well as could have been hoped.

what a joke | 1:50 p.m. Nov. 8, 2009

wow what a program. i can't wait until cash for grandma under the obama healthcare program. Trade grandma in to the government for some cash.

Worked here | 3:31 p.m. Nov. 8, 2009

We traded in our clunker that was always on the borderline of failing emmissions tests for a new Elantra that gets terrific gas mileage in comparison. It isn't the government's fault if people abuse the idea behind the program by buying one expensive gas guzzler to replace another expensive gas guzzler. Heck, how many people gobble up Medicare funds while continuing to smoke two packs a day and eating garbage/junk food?

It looks | 5:16 p.m. Nov. 8, 2009

like the banks aren't the only ones who didn't change their ways. The american consumer is just as guilty as anyone.

Great Program | 9:04 p.m. Nov. 8, 2009

Traded in my daughters gas guzzling clunker for a compact car. Best government incentive program I have ever seen!!!

Re; Great Program | 9:16 p.m. Nov. 8, 2009

Doesn't if make you feel the least bit guilty to force your neighbors to pay for your daughther's new car? I would be ashamed!

michaelm | 10:14 p.m. Nov. 8, 2009

I was sure glad I could pay my taxes to help other people buy a car I can't afford because I pay so much in taxes. And I was sure glad to see all those perfectly good cars that many poorer people are grateful to buy on the used market or go to parts for those of us who have to fix our own old cars all get destroyed.

Nice way for our new hope and change administration to look out for the poor among us. I guess they only need us when we are voting, then when we need Obama to stand up for us he just takes care of people who continue to goof up the economy by taking on more debt while asking me to pay for it. Thanks but no more of your hope and change, I can't afford it!

lma3241 | 10:53 p.m. Nov. 8, 2009

Buy American and give part of cost to unions, buy foreign and bypass the unions. Not a hard decision for me.

When? | 11:38 p.m. Nov. 8, 2009

Now that I have a new car, new house, most of my food all paid for by other people, when am I going to get my new color TV and my new swimming pool? How I love this stimulus program! I love Obama! Keep it coming, I need, I need!

re: When? | 12:03 a.m. Nov. 9, 2009

you need to move to Sweden, where citizen in fact are guaranteed housing, color TVs, etc. It's called socialism. Oh, wait, that's what we're getting with Obama - nationalized formerly private enterprise, government health care, government telling us which cars to drive (which they conveniently own now). All we need to do is proclaim neutrality, have lax morals, and celebrate dubauchery. Oh, wait, we have that, too.

The Pogram Worked for Us | 5:27 a.m. Nov. 9, 2009

Proigram Worked for you, but did not work for me.

I would have preferred to keep my money rather than giving it to the government for them to give to you to buy a new car.

If you cannot buy it with your own money, you should not get it.....

What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

- - Adrian Rogers - - -

xscribe | 8:30 a.m. Nov. 9, 2009

@Freedom or not: You have your freedom to buy your gas-guzzling truck, and then you exercise your freedom to complain about gas prices. Hilarious!

Aker | 4:14 p.m. Nov. 9, 2009

RE: Buy American | 5:12 a.m. Nov. 8, 2009 - I have lived in Japan (4 years) and Germany (native) and can tell you that mechanics in each of those countries make the same arguments that the mechanics you know make. They each say their nation's cars are the easiest to work on and are better made. Most mechanics are not educated in engineering or in manufacturing processes and their opinions are probably based more on gut feeling or brand loyalty mixed with a dose of blind nationalism.

I'm an engineer and HAVE investigated the auto industry for build quality and reliability. I have good and bad news for everyone. First, the quality gap between US makers and the Japanese has decreased. The best made US cars (Pontiacs by the way) are very comparable to Hondas or Toyotas in quality. Even different models from each manufacturer have varying quality ratings. The bad news is that US auto makers still make up the bottom portion of the quality and reliability list.

The true test of an auto companies strength lies the ability to appeal to a wide audience. American cars are only a fringe product outside the Americas. Sorry.

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