Saturday, August 1, 2009

Conservative Girl Adventures - Cash for Clunkers




With all the hullabaloo of the past few days of the cash for clunkers program, I decided to go on a conservative girl adventure. I happen to have a car that is older, almost 16 years old to be exact. There is nothing wrong with it and it has very low mileage for being an older car. So, I don’t need to buy a new car. If I found a good deal on what I wanted I may have actually taken advantage of it.

Well, it really was an adventure. My first choice for a car purchase would be a used car, as I don’t think it is necessary to spend tens of thousands of dollars on something that immediately loses value. That is not an option with this program. I was very upfront with the people who were helping me, that I really just wanted to look into the program and didn’t want to take up too much of their time.

I set out as soon as the dealerships opened thinking that the flow of people would be less and I wouldn’t feel bad about taking time away from someone who really would buy something. I first went to the Toyota dealership. They were very busy, which is a good thing for the commission sales people. I was told within 15 minutes that my car didn’t qualify for the program. The sales person looked at my engine and went to his computer and came back and told me that my car gets a combined 20mpg and that the car had to be 18 or less to qualify. Due to the fact that my car is older it doesn’t get that, but I guess that is neither here nor there.

The street that the dealership is on is a big main road that has many dealerships on it. So I thought to myself why not go and see if I get the same answer from all. So my next stop was the Honda dealership. I had a very hard time finding a salesperson to talk to me. Again, very good news for the salespeople who work there, they will make some money this week. I again told the salesperson that I didn’t want to take a great deal of their time and just wanted some questions answered. This dealership told me that I qualified for the $3500 rebate and told me that I had to purchase a car that got a combined 24mpg. I thanked the salesperson and told him I would look around to see if I liked any of the cars that would qualify. I was very surprised to find out that I could get a hybrid for less money than the Accord. I personally don’t have a problem with hybrids. I actually kind of like the idea of buying a car that would save me quite a bit of money on gas.

I didn’t even to get into my car to make my way over to the next dealership. A Volvo/Volkswagen dealership is directly next door. My very first new car was a Volkswagen and I drove that car into the ground, and never had to change the clutch. So, I think they are good cars. I went into my spiel about just wanting a few answers, this dealership told me that I qualify for the full $4500 and only needed to find a car that got a combined 23mpg.

So then I decided to stop at the Ford dealership. This dealership gave me the same answer as the Honda dealership except that they told me that I had to get a car with a minimum of a combined 25mpg. I then looked at a few cars there and found a few that would fit into that. I then decided to ask how this rebate system worked. This is where it got a little dicey. I would have to go through the normal credit application process, and then I would have to fill out some paperwork for the rebate. After I was approved for the credit I would then have to leave my car with them, take the new car with a dealership plate. I was also told that I had to sign an agreement that if I didn’t qualify for the government program I would either return the car or pay them the $3500. So I asked the women why I would sign something that said I may have to pay for rebate program when she told me that I do qualify. Her answer was that with the system being a little backed up and the program up in the air they would need that just in case and that it would be fine. I understand that they work on commission and times for them have not been good lately. I have no problem with her trying to make some money. I am just not comfortable with the idea of signing something like that.

At the end of the day, I am not going to get a new car. I don’t need it. But what I really walked away with was the belief that I definitely don’t want the government to run my healthcare, when they can’t even run a program like this. I talked to four different people and got four different answers. If they can’t administer a program like this, there is no way they can administer a program for healthcare coverage for every American.



13 comments:

One Ticked Chick said...

It's amazing you went out to investigate on your own, kudos to you for doing that. There's no way in heck the government could EVER run a healthcare program. This whole thing is a sham and will do more damage to the country than we can possibly imagine.

Jessica said...

This is great! Nice work...I linked this on Facebook.

CAPTAIN THURSTON said...

Good job! Interesting report.

Opus #6 said...

Interesting personal report. Excellent!

RightKlik said...

Anothter great example of govermental incompetence.

Anonymous said...

thx for sharing...wish there was a way to share this on facebook for my more liberal friends and family who don't seem to grasp what will happen w/healthcare!

Heather Chandler said...

Wow, kudos for you for doing the legwork and research!

Scary though that not one dealership had the same answer as another. Gov't incompetence indeed.

Just a conservative girl said...

Anonymous:
You can copy this onto facebook. Use my link. My twitter address is shoegal90 and the link is on there.

Throwing Stones said...

Speak not against the Messiah..
But remember the scripture... to speak against Obama’s ideas is blasphemy. To question or point our anything he says is racism. His middle name is off limits and cannot be uttered. The statements of his wife, are forbidden to be analyzed. We may not discuss Obama’s mother, father, his 20 years in Jeremiah Wright’s church, his criminal and terrorist associates, his lack of patriotism, what he wrote in his books, what he said yesterday. Not even the Pope in Rome is afforded such insulation. But as Obama becomes the Vicar of Marx, I suppose looking at the histories of Communist and Socialist nations – blasphemy against the State and it’s Annointed is unwise

Sparky said...

Why am I not surprised that you received difference answers at each dealership?! [sigh] All Governments are incompetant and this is yet another example of how much so. God help us if these creatons take over health care!

Left Coast Rebel said...

I love this story, you are doing some great hard work! I'm going to post this at LCR, just asking for your permission! Nice work...
LCR

The Conservative Lady said...

Great job. The dealerships don't even trust the government with the program. Can't say I blame them.

Anonymous said...

sounds to me like the government is trying to run a program with minimal gonverment involvement. wait, is that a good thing or a bad thing? also, i'm a little fuzzy on the health care bills out there. which one is the one that has the government taking over health care? because as you know, the bills are out there for anyone to read.

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