firehawk wrote:

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I guess this is the right place to post this....

For all you MJ guys, there is a SB MJ at the Pic A Part here in Indianapolis.  I believe it was a Cash for Clunkers vehicle.  It is is really nice shape, with the full interior.  It is NOT 4WD, and has a manual transmission.

IMO, it would be worth taking the whole truck home and replacing the motor.  It's really in that good of shape.  I know if it was a Cash for Clunker, you can't do that....what a shame.

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You should see some XJs and MJs I saw (I took pics!  Save them on "digital film" if ya can't save them for real!) behind dealers.  One person traded in a 80s/early 90s Trans Am convertible that was fricken MINT at the local Kia dealership (why?  WHY?), and I've read that several Corvettes and a 1987 Buick ASC GNX (the ASC ones are super-rare) was sacraficed.

 

At O'Daniels here in Ft. Wayne there was an XJ that had spray painted on the side something about the Cash For Clunkers ....  I about cried.  Think of all the energy that they they will waste to create a new car that only get better gas mileage.  Then the energy that they will have to spend to crush and recycle that XJ. 

Then look at the little amount of parts/money etc. that it would have taken to extend the life of that XJ.  Yes it might not get the best gas mileage, but it will cost you nothing to purchase (compared to other vehicles) and then will continue to last forever with little maintenance. 

It kills me with all these "Hybrid" cars, the only thing that they care about is gas mileage.   There are so much more to saving you money than gas mileage.  A study done a few years back in Europe found that one of the top 10 most economical vehicles on the road was a Wrangler because they last forever, parts are cheap, and the only real expense with them is gas. 

A good example of this is the Honda Prius.   Great gas mileage, but the battery alone that they use is very bad for the environment.  It uses a lot more fossle fuels to create than a normal battery does.  If that goes out (which some have been going out within 3-5 years) it costs, if I remember, somewhere between $1-2000.  So all that money that you just saved on gas, throw that out the window and then suck up some more Poladium fossel fuels.  I just read an article aobut how these hybrid cars are using up so much rare fossel fuels that it won't be physically possible for them to be produced like this for long.  When I say hybrid I am not talking about your corrola that gets good gas mileage, I am talking about the extreme ones like pruis and the SUV's with the huge batteries so the engine can shut off and save gas...

Ok I'm done.

I fricken love Top Gear! Used to be into it hard core a few years ago. The are hysterical, even when they knock us Americans.

-- Edited by 90XJkid on Monday 5th of October 2009 08:34:07 PM

Aha, yes... I love them!  Especially this episode...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5XJsA-lFw4

-- Edited by ChevelleSSLS6 on Tuesday 6th of October 2009 03:34:32 PM

If you read the bylines of the CFC bill the only thing that has to be destroyed is the engine. My cousin works at a Chrysler dealership and he said they drained out all fluids and started them up and held the throttle down till the engine went. Then the car has to be sent to the junkyard. Now what happens after it is "junked" is an entirely different matter. I have on a good source that a CFC vehicle that was a 1999 XJ with 247k on it ended up being bought from said "wrecking yard" and as we speak is being converted to a monster trail vehicle. (with a rebuilt engine LOL)
I have also heard a story of a dealer buying a Corvette outright (from the owner) because it was worth more than $4500 CFC trade. I mean if I someone was going to give me MORE than $4500 then heck yeah I'm there. Show me the money!
From what I have heard/seen most of the cars were real POS vehicles.
Now were some real gems scrapped?...probably.
Did this happen everywhere?..not likely.
Dealers make a ton on trades and used cars. They are not going to send out a $8000 trade as a $3500 CFC car. If a dealer wanted to purchase the car and run it like just another car deal that was up to them. Remember people no one is gonna send a mint 1970 Hemi Cuda to the crusher so don't believe the rederick the muscle car guys tell you. They like to cry foul anytime a bill like this come out.

I am sure SOMEONE will try to debunk me.... so to save that person time here is the link.

http://www.cars.gov/faq#category-04 (official link)

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/03/dealers-now-allowed-to-kill-c4c-engines-em-after-em-they-get?icid=sphere_blogsmith_inpage_autoblog (info link)

Once you get reading and realise that we just paid our tax money to help the automakers out of bankruptcy I hope it makes you MAD. In my opinion that was the worst thing to do. I might be wrong but I doubt it.

-- Edited by tjhawk on Wednesday 14th of October 2009 01:53:53 AM

That firebird was MINT, the Wagoneer was missing a wheel center and a trim piece, but looked super rust free like it was from Arizona, but the interior wasn't all rotted out how they get down there.

...more...

did you see 2 rx7s?  Mustang GT (stick!), any rotted out XJs? (there were some that were pretty ratty, but most were in good shape with some rust like mine) and when was the last time you saw a Subaru SVX?

that black truck is a 454SS... kinda poopy performance stock, but some 4.10s and speed parts, and it'd move like no other.

I wonder how many good XJs are gone... good college kid transportation, parts for those of us who just won't let them go, and the 'affordable used cars' (under 5k) are noticeably thinned out.  So much for 'helping the poor'.



-- Edited by ChevelleSSLS6 on Wednesday 14th of October 2009 11:57:39 PM

Are you sure all these were CFC cars? Some look like nice trade in's. I saw the orange stickers on a few but the rest looked like they could be the trade in staging area at any local dealership.  
I guess up here in the "nort woods" we got a differrent set of rules. No portable crushers or silica in the engines. Just drain the oil and kill the engines and ship them off to local yards. I have a hard time believing that a portable crusher crushed them onsite. I have seem many a car get crushed in my day and you gotta take out the gas tank and all the fluids. I can't imagine how much mess it would make crushing them without doing these things.
My buddy just went to a scrap yard recently and he said there are so many new arrivals that he got his body parts dirt cheap and they were in great shape. The only thing I can think of it that maybe these are getting parted out while they are waiting to get crushed. Who knows.
I guess my point is still one that we as TAX PAYERS funded a stupid program that only helped prolong the enividible demise of GM. I give it a year before it folds up altogether. The automakers are so doomed that my sister who lives 45 mins from Detroit says you cannot hardly find a U-Haul ANYWHERE in lower Michigan because people are moving out of state in record numbers.

-- Edited by tjhawk on Saturday 17th of October 2009 02:17:03 AM

-- Edited by tjhawk on Saturday 17th of October 2009 02:20:58 AM

-- Edited by tjhawk on Saturday 17th of October 2009 02:29:17 AM