[screwballl]

My main complaint is this:

1) Taking road worthy and borderline classic vehicles off the road and crushing them. The information mentioned by kevinr above states that the ONLY thing that can be saved is the engine and drivetrain, the rest must be shredded. Whoever takes a vehicle from this program (such as the dealership or scrap yard) cannot benefit from the sale of any vehicle or parts from the "to be shredded" vehicle except the engine and drivetrain, and also the saved parts cannot be sold as a whole, only as individual parts.

2) If you look at the finer details, you get $3500 for going up 2 or more MPG, and $4500 on full size trucks going up 2 or more MPG.

3) This money can only be used towards NEW vehicles. NOT used, not "like new", not anything other than brand new vehicles from a licensed car lot. You cannot combine trade-ins or with newer vehicles to get an increased discount.

4) This is using taxpayer money


I saw a few news stories and they are mentioning these vehicles like 1998 Dodge Durango and 4runners and other SUVs and trucks that get 13-16mpg... yet most of these newer SUVs are also getting the same gas mileage, so your only option is to get something with better gas mileage such as one of these s**t-box econo cars that get 20 or more MPG. Since most people driving these SUVs and trucks need them for the family and towing stuff, there is no real benefit for trading DOWN to something like a Fit or Prius or any of these small cars that they are pushing.

Another thing that really bothers me... although this time it is considered voluntary, whos to say that the powers-that-be will not decide to make something like this a requirement in a few years?