Opinion |

Op-Ed: ‘Cash for clunkers’ program a miss for this Mainer

Posted on Monday, September 21st, 2009, 12:42 am

I got a car for 500 bucks, and I’m stoked. Of course, it is a 2001 Kia Rio, which by definition puts me at least 10 notches down on the hipness ladder. After driving a Jeep Wrangler for the past 12 years, this new ride is a far cry from my carefree days of wind in my hair and sun on my skin. That was the epitome of cool.

But for the sake of economic responsibility, I have decided to drive a more gas-efficient car. The thing gets 42 miles per gallon for god’s sake! This is a huge improvement from the measly 17 mpg I was getting in the Wrangler. This is all great, but I have still been licking the wounds of rejection — I don’t belong to the happy, environmentally friendly world of the “cash for clunkers” winners.

After all the hoopla and the argument, I found out I wasn’t eligible. To get the rebate associated with the clunker program, I was required not only to find a more environmentally responsible automobile with better fuel economy; it apparently had to be brand new. No used cars for this part-time employed, full-time college student.

I would have had to purchase a car upwards of $15,000 just to be qualified for the program. After I weeded out the lower miles-per-gallon models, I am moving toward the $20,000 mark. And then there are the financing costs. So that $4,500 dollars that I would have gotten back wouldn’t even cover the finance charges that come with the loan. That is assuming the $20,000 fairy doesn’t visit me.

Let’s talk about mileage. I can do it in the form of the ever-evaded and often-feared word problem. Brian drives 80 miles round trip to school five days a week. He gets 17 miles per gallon in his Jeep Wrangler, and 42 miles per gallon in his Kia. What would the difference in gas be if he drove the Wrangler for a month versus the Kia? Assume gas costs $2.50 a gallon. The answer? $140.04 per month.

I know this is way too much math for an opinion piece, but that comes out to about $1,680 per year savings in gas — real savings. But again, remember that we’re still talking a huge initial investment for the new car.

Seems to me the only people who benefit from this program — so graciously endowed to us by the Obama administration — are those who either have enough cash around for a new car or those who are doing so well they can afford to take out a loan during this horrendous recession. You know, the one Obama said he would fix. Either way, if you have only enough to spend for a used car, you’re out of luck. I can’t even begin to guess the cost of registering a new vehicle as opposed to my little, crappy green Kia. At least several hundred dollars, I’m sure.

I guess I feel a little duped. I finally bought into the “let the government help us” mentality, and all it did was make me feel stupid for thinking the government could come up with a good solution. I guess buying the heap that will do what I need it to do for the next couple of years is better than doing what the Obama administration would have me do — go into a whole heap of debt.

Brian Curry is a non-traditional nursing student.