Trade In Details For Federal Clunker Program May Draw Questions From Enthusiasts

Our good friends over at Autoblog took the time to go over the latest trade in list for the federal cash for clunkers program and ran it through their favorite number cruncher.

The results that were spit out are quite interesting in the fact that what was reported by dealers as trade ins simply may not add up at first glance. Like who who would trade in a 2006 350Z or two 2006 Roush F-150's for just a $4500 credit? Hmm, sounds pretty fishy to me.

I'll give a few of the more interesting highlights and you can link over to see the rest, and let us know what you think.

Individual Vehicles

1987 Buick ASC GNX
1997 Aston Martin DB7 Volante
1997 Bentley Continental R
2006 Audi A4 Convertible
2006 Cadillac STS
(39) Chrysler TC by Maserati (are there still that many of these even around?)
2008 Foose F-150 (2)
2007 GMC Acadias (3)
2008 Hyundai Accent (see above)
2006 Nissan 350Z Roadster
2006 Roush Stage 3 F-150 (2)
2006 Toyota Corolla

But what actually be more interesting other than individual anomalies is the totals for specific models and brands. Take a look at these numbers and see what I mean.

Groupings

(18) Audi S4 and S6
(53) Audi A8
(3,500+) BMWs including an M3, M5, Z3, 850i and (3) 740il Protection
(52) Cadillac Allante
(1,047) Jaguars including (9) XJR, (2) XK8 and (96) XJS
(5,000+) Mercedes-Benz including (142) SL, (3) S600, a 1994 E500, a 1992 500E, 1995 C36 and 1999 C43

OK, these are crazy number to believe especially since all of the cars carried insurance for the last year and were supposedly drivable at the time of trade in. The only question out there from us might be if a majority of these odd trade ins were salvage titled cars surfacing from the southern states after Katrina and other flooding events. They may meet the letter of the law but violate the spirit.

Got any ideas? I am open to suggestions here to make these numbers seem a bit more believable.

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Agent009 - 9/24/2009 3:10:01 PM

+3 Boost

The Buick ASC GNX is currently running around $7,000 to $20,000 per example

kuvakas1 - 9/24/2009 8:12:10 PM

+1 Boost

American sunroof Corporation

thstone - 9/24/2009 2:53:44 PM

-4 Boost

Junked, salvaged, parted out, barely running. None were worth $4,500 otherwise they would have been sold privately or the dealer would have taken it as a trade-in and re-sold for a profit.

Agent009 - 9/24/2009 3:10:45 PM

+4 Boost

So these were all junk?
# 2008 Foose F-150 (2)
# 2007 GMC Acadias (3)
# 2008 Hyundai Accent (see above)
# 2006 Nissan 350Z Roadster
# 2006 Roush Stage 3 F-150 (2)

Need4Speed - 9/24/2009 4:21:01 PM

0 Boost

So the government hands out free cash...and it is suddenly sooo unbelievable that someone has scammed the program. I mean this has to be one of the most well run programs where tight scrutiny would certainly prevent things like this from going unnoticed...correct?!?
Not only that...but I can't imagine who would take advantage of our government and taxpayers like that...after all this is America!

ThierryHenry14 - 9/24/2009 5:25:39 PM

+2 Boost

It doesnt matter, because its the owner's cars and they can do whatever they want with it...

Does it suck? I think its a waste, but its their choice. If they cannot afford to service an out of warranty S600, or cannot afford to spend over 5K to repair something on an Aston Martin, then it makes business sense for them to do so...

thstone - 9/24/2009 5:27:56 PM

+2 Boost

C'mon. Get serious. Use your heads. Do you think for a second that a dealer, ANY dealer, wouldn't give the buyer $4,500 for any of these cars as a trade-in and then re-sell the cars himself? Dealers are professional buyers/sellers of used cars and they'd never pass up an obvious opportunity to make an easy $10K.

bmwdrvr - 9/24/2009 7:03:18 PM

+1 Boost

Why wound anyone miss the TC that has to be one of the worst cars in automotive history, and certainly an embarassment to the Maserati trident.....

sdcarguy - 9/24/2009 8:11:15 PM

+1 Boost

Yep, salvaged, just totaled, and absolutely no market for used cars with all the new car incentives.

hyundaifansdotcom - 9/26/2009 9:35:20 AM

+1 Boost

Looks like some dealers are about to NOT get paid. Some of those trade ins dont even meet the clunker requirements.