Filed under: Car Buying, Government/Legal, Green, Canada
States start paying people to buy new, cleaner cars
All of the clean new vehicles in the world won't amount to much if they don't replace the older, dirtier fleet of cars currently on the roads. For this reason, some U.S. states are beginning to offer programs which pay drivers to turn in their old clunkers for new, cleaner cars and trucks. In Texas, for instance, up to $3,500 is available to qualifying families which earn less than $63,000 per year in combined income and own a vehicle which fails current emissions testing. Texas was able to retire 11,000 vehicles last year alone by using this cash-based incentive. California too has begun offering a similar program, and though its $1,500 offer is a bit less generous, that state has no income restrictions. Even our neighbors up north have plans to reduce their older vehicle fleet by one-percent starting January 1st of next year. Canada's plan would offer drivers either $300 towards a new vehicle, a discount bicycle or a bus pass, which seems a bit suck-tastic next to the program in Texas.
[Source: The Detroit News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
inteller 8:12AM (7/01/2008)
Mmm....I love the smell of government handouts in the morning.....it smells like FAIL.
The only thing people need that bring in clunkers failing emissions is a map to the bus stop.
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Johnny M 8:48AM (7/01/2008)
Are you mentally challenged? The only thing people need that are using the word FAIL is a break from internet blogs and a dictionary to read.
Vintage 9:27AM (7/01/2008)
This is such a huge load of crap. The energy required to create a new car is immense, and the global production of all the pieces needed to make an entirely new car also produces VAST amounts of pollution. Please see my video on this subject here, it's only a couple of minutes long:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooN9INJxxy4
I will continue to drive my old cars until I cannot fix them, because THAT is the best choice for this planet. So many (stupid) people just look at tailpipe emissions and ignore everything else.
Rocketboy 9:41AM (7/01/2008)
+ one for the first line
- twenty for the second one
Because, you know, not everyone lives on a bus line. Or has a bus line that works.
Example,
According to the gov't ran bus line's website in my area, it would take me almost all day long to make a 45min drive.
And that was only after I could guess which starting off point that it would me go from A to B from.
DKB_SATX 12:40PM (7/01/2008)
Vintage: the Texas program is *NOT* just for new cars. You can use the voucher on the purchase of a qualifying '05 or newer car (the '05s will drop off the list in September.) So, someone with a 10-year-old junker who doesn't make too much money could get $3k (or $3.5k for a hybrid) toward a 3-year-old used car that costs less than $25k. (yes, they can also apply it to a brand-new car, but the $25k price limit still applies.)
Alas, this will probably never benefit me. Besides the fact that I'm keeping my Legacy as long as it continues to be a good car, I plan to keep making too much money to qualify for the program. Those qualifications are tiered as well, the $63k quoted in the article is for a family of 4, it's $31k for someone who's legally single.
Disgruntled Goat 1:10PM (7/01/2008)
I wonder if most people commenting have even read about these programs or understand what they're about. My guess is no, but this is the Internet so why be informed?
The idea is to get these gross polluters out of counties sufferring from the worst smog problems. That's why your trade must have been registered in a qualifying county for the past 12 months. If you saw the summer air in places like Dallas, Houston and LA you'd see the value that programs like this have.
You all whine about government subsidies but the only reason programs like this exist is because the true cost of burning gas and polluting the air is not reflected in the price. If it was then gasoline would have crossed the $4 per gallon line 40 years ago. Until the true, total cost of burning that gallon of gas is included in the price (and true market forces can begin to work), gov't intervention is the only way to attempt to bring about equilibrium.
Kimura 8:14AM (7/01/2008)
I'll keep my old cars and you can take your money and shove it.
Besides, $3,500 won't go far towards a new car unless you're looking at the most basic penalty box. $3,500 is a typical option package these days.
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DKB_SATX 12:42PM (7/01/2008)
In Texas the program applies to the purchase qualifying used cars up to 3 yrs old as well as new ones.
William Smith 8:15AM (7/01/2008)
Regarding your comments about Canada's incentive plan to buy Green vehicles: I just bought an 08 Prius and get $2,000.00 from the Provincial Government, and another $2,000.00 from the Federal Government. That progam ends with the 08 model year. I haven't heard what they intend after that.
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cowboy bob 8:57AM (7/01/2008)
It was smart to take advantage of incentives. I would consider this also, providing the math over ten years shows a "real" savings compared to a small conventional "econobox". I am not convinced the real savings are present for the consumer of hybrid autos when the cost of ownership, initial purchase, possible battery replacement, and potential resale for older units is considered. An econobox can be had for 10k less than what you paid, and it still gets 35mpg. At an average 10 MPG increase over the "box" and 20k per year usage, your savings is about $500 to $550 per year. At that rate your $10k additional cost is not returned for about 20 years. Math does't lie.
Kappy 2:37PM (7/01/2008)
@ cowboy bob:
Yes, an econobox might get equal fuel economy to a prius, but the point is the the Prius gets that fuel economy while being far more spacious, better equipped, and often better looking.
William Smith 6:48PM (7/01/2008)
further to your comments: I have previously owned 3 new Camrys and the time to purchase a new car was now. I have no fault with the Camry, but the Prius was cheaper up here than the Camry. I have a weakness for new, proven tech. so I went for the Prius at a much cheaper price. Since it is only a month old, (and working perfect) I will have to wait a while to see if I made a good decision. Consumer Reports says it is the most reliable car on the road so that influenced me as their findings on cars have been right on with the ones I owned before now.
catgirlshyla 8:18AM (7/01/2008)
And the death of potential rare cars goes unabated. Then again, troll thru Craiglist would net some easy cash this way.
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K 8:32AM (7/01/2008)
They're doing it backwards. If they really want to clear the streets of older polluters, they need adopt the system the Japanese use: increase annual vehicle tax and registration costs based on the car's age, engine size, and emission level.
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Kappy 2:43PM (7/01/2008)
That wouldn't exactly work in Texas. (I live in Houston, I'd know). 1. In Japan a car is at least somewhat of a luxury (at least compared to here) due to the fact that everything is much closer together and most cities have an excellent public transportation system, along with an outstanding rail system. In Texas, however, a car is pretty much a necessity. Furthermore, the people who drive the "bad" cars only do so because they cannot afford a newer/nicer one. Increasing the cost of owning a "bad" car isn't going to solve the problem, but merely make their lives harder.
Jake 9:04AM (7/01/2008)
When Texas said that they retired 11000 vehicles, that means sold them in Mexico.
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DKB_SATX 12:29PM (7/01/2008)
Mexico has reduced that problem significantly, though. They've narrowed the age range of cars that can be imported easily and resold. Now you can only import cars that are 10 model-years old... so this year it's 1998 cars, next year it'll be 1999, etc.
Jared 9:05AM (7/01/2008)
To be fair the texas program is only if you live in or in a surrounding county of a big city because those are the counties that do emisions testing (so are the only places that cars can fail the test).
I am not a fan of gov handouts but if they really want to improve emisions and ozone problems the only other choice is to force people out of the old worst polluting cars. Which sounds a lot like communism to me.
My 2 cents
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DKB_SATX 12:44PM (7/01/2008)
Only Austin metro, DFW metro and Houston. San Antonio is still not quite an EPA non-attainment area yet (much of SA's pollution is blown into the Austin metro area by the prevailing winds, making it harder for Austin to clean up and keeping SA off the hook.)
Jared 6:18PM (7/01/2008)
wow did not know that SA was not on there.