Cash for Clunkers

Come on now, WV gets $1.75 in federal dollars for every $1 its citizens pay in, the 4th highest in the country. My state gets $0.88. Please think of me when you are driving your Prius on your nice smooth roads .

 

I have been told if you are single and make over 33 thousand a year. You would not be able to get this voucher. I did a word search for salary but found no hits. Read a lot, this may have already been covered.

 

That's not true.

One voucher per person, new car must be under $45k.

 

Several metro areas (such as Dallas) that have had EPA air quality issues, have started local Cash for Clunker programs aimed at removing high emissions vehicles from the road. The Dallas area plan (administered by the North Texas Council of Governments) has an income requirement similar to that. I'll bet they were talking about a local program, not the new federal one.

 

most of these deductions or credits etc do not apply to "RICH" people

examples:

stimulus checks
the original hybrid tax credit of a few years ago

these seem to phase out at something like $150K joint AGI

has anybody seen limits on income associated with the CFC program?

thanks

 

I think you are probably talking about this State of Texas program:

Is your car or truck 10 years old or older? Or has it failed an emissions test? - Texas Commission on Environmental Quality - www.tceq.state.tx.us

 

lol, you think they spend that on roads? It's spent on government buildings for jobs they've moved out of DC. Most of our good roads are built for people to drive through our state as they go somewhere else.

My insurance rates are hig because Canadians seem to wreck a lot in my county in their travels and it makes our local rates high based on accidents.

 

That’s it! Two different programs doing the same thing or almost the same thing ..however if federal deal is done it could be better..up to 4,500 bucks or 3,500 bucks. Down side if your car is rated at 18 mpg or higher you get nothing. Correct... , I have a few friends with cars that are very old I would like to tell them about this if they could trade them in and get Vouchers...with the Texas program you can buy used starting at 06 model, what about federal deal? Sounds like this has not been signed off on yet, is that correct? Many versions are under review.

 

The house bill summary implies (says?) that the voucher issued for an SUV or truck can be used to another SUV or Truck, not a passenger car...

Light-Duty Trucks: The old vehicle must get 18 mpg or less. New light trucks or SUVs with mileage of at least 18 mpg are eligible for vouchers. If the mileage of the new truck or SUV is at least 2 mpg higher than the old truck, the voucher will be worth $3,500. If the mileage of the new truck or SUV is at least 5 mpg higher than the old truck, the voucher will be worth $4,500.

I have a true clunker I want to trade in for a prius - 1996 E250 Ford Van (dreadful mileage!). The law summary sounds as if one cannot trade in a truck for a passenger car.

Am I reading too much into this?

 

Yeah. You're fine. The summary isn't worded as precisely as the bill is. Those are the rules *if* you trade one truck for another. You can trade a truck for a car and vice versa as long as both vehicles meet the requirements. If you trade a eligible truck for an automobile you must get 4mpg better for the $3,500 voucher, 10mpg better mileage for the $4500 one.

There is a distinction between category 1 and category 2 trucks, but either way, your van is certainly eligible as a trade-in (provided you owned/registered it for a year etc.).

It's not that long, they use big margins.
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:s1135is.txt.pdf

 

Yeah, we got screwed by that one. Bought the wife's Prius in May '06. She got laid off Nov the same year. They gave her the 6 months (yeah generous by most standards but then they get to keep the "only if you make it to retirement medical account" so in the end, she is negative) severance pay in a lump. Her income for the '06 tax year is 145% of what it would have been, we get kicked into AMT and get $600 tax credit instead of $3000 on the car.

I've been thinking more about this $ for Clunkers program. Say someone usually keeps their trucks for 10 years. They can get $3,500 by trading in an 8 year old 17 MPG truck for a 19 MPG truck. That sucker will be on the road until 2019. Without this program, they keep driving the 17 MPG truck 2 more years and maybe the replacement gets 22, 25, or more MPG. We all lose and we get too pay for it to boot.

 

Sorry Bruce - You just flunked the "I want to be a politician" test. Your commentary made too much sense...
Not a big deal - this program will cost our kids only $4billion. Chump change nowadays.
And just think about the fraud that will take place in this program - may put Medicare to shame.

 

Update bill being voted on the floor of the house today:
Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)

Changes:
It changes the date from March 30 to date of enactment.
It allow the junk yard to sell the engine and transmission as long as the drive train is not sold together.
The car must be 1984 or newer

G

 

I just love good ole' Uncle Sam. (Psst, I think he's been hitting the bottle again). I purviewed the link you sent but was wondering if anyone knows when the bill is coming up for a vote. Trying to make heads or tails of what's going on up at the big house is like swimming through molasses. (Hmm, maybe I'm confusing my metaphors. I guess the big house generally refers to prison, but know that I think about it....)

 

voting today on fast track... little or no debate ... no amendments and need 60% (i think) to pass
G

 

Thankee sir!

 

So the traded-in clunker still needs to have a combined EPA of 18 or less?

Darn. The 'clunker' I'm getting rid of is rated 24. By going to a Prius, I'll be saving 2.2 gallons / 100 miles. This is double that of the qualifying 18->22 and 13->15 trades, which are equivalent to saving just 1.0 gallons / 100 miles.

 

The details are still being worked on. Per the Detroit News, it was not attached to the tobacco bill and the House and Senate are still playing with the requirements. A group led by Diane Feinstein is trying to tighten up the mileage improvements (you'd get $4500 if the new vehicle got 13mpg more than the trade in). The House is expected to vote today.

http://detnews.com/article/20090609...ted-to-vote-today-on--cash-for-clunkers--plan

 

It is being debated on the house floor right now on C-SPAN 1
http://www.c-span.org/Watch/C-SPAN_wm.aspx

 

Just passed the house.