cash for clunkers

Whether you cashed in on last summer's Cash for Clunkers program or not, you paid for a new car. According to research from Edmunds.com, taxpayers paid an average $24,000 per clunker in buying a new car. And they did so on sales Edmunds.com says would have occurred even if the $3 billion clunker...

This year, you got paid for tossing out the clunker car. Next year, you'll be rewarded for getting rid of the energy-inefficient washer or fridge. Many states will be sponsoring a "Cash for Appliances" program, similar to "Cash for Clunkers" in that you'll be paid for doing a big spring cleaning of...

Anyone who has ever bought a car and had the purchase financed by a dealership knows what a sweaty-palm experience it can be. Even the savviest of consumers are likely to blanch after the credit manager runs all the numbers and comes up with a payment that seems way higher than anticipated. And...

Clunk. That's the sound of this blogger's head hitting her desk. Why? Because now it seems there are clunkers everywhere you turn, and that moniker is now being flogged to sell you everything from sofas to teakettles. Whether you agree or not with the policy underpinnings that drove it, there's no...

As the CARS program -- a.k.a. "cash for clunkers" -- helped an estimated 700,000 cars find new homes, it was sometimes easy to forget the opposite end of the process. For every car that was purchased, another car was traded in, and these unwanted heaps were, allegedly, put to death with a nasty...

The Transportation Department has released sales figures for Cash For Clunkers, one of the greatest frauds of the past few months, and the results are interesting. Fifteen 2009 Hummer H3T's were sold and paid for in part with taxpayer money. Hummers. Now defenders of the program will of course be...

In a blustering press release touting the success of cash-for-clunkers, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood commented that the program was "a win for the economy, a win for the environment, and a win for American consumers." We interrupt this fantasy for a brief return to Planet Earth. Yes,...

The government says the Cash for Clunkers program spurred nearly 700,000 sales of new cars this summer. That would seem like a boon for ailing automakers. But is it really? The answer will hinge on what happens to auto sales in the coming months. And an analysis by car information site Edmunds.com...

Now that Cash For Clunkers has come to a merciful conclusion, I thought it would be fun to post this video of get-out-of-debt guru Dave Ramsey explaining on his FOX Business show why Cash For Clunkers was such a horrible program. Check out the clip below, courtesy of Hulu.And by the way: If you're...

Toyota (TM) will cut its manufacturing capacity around the world by one million vehicles a year, a sign that the largest auto company does not see a full recovery of the industry on the horizon. The decision is a smart financial one. It will allow the Japanese firm to increase the productivity of...