Anyway, my brother talked to junkyard people. A lot of primo vehicles with under 100K miles were turned in a "clunkers". Greg Lang
Here is a local article of "clunkers", almost one year later. http://www.startribune.com/local/95235699.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU
Cash for Clunkers left winners, losers
Some Minnesota junkyards profited from the rebate program, but others wish people could still be driving those cars.
By MARIA ELENA BACA, Star Tribune
Last update: May 30, 2010 - 11:20 PM
As the last of the decommissioned autos are crushed and melted down, it's looking as if last year's Cash for Clunkers program was a mixed blessing in Minnesota, at least for some of the secondary players.
More than 17,000 vehicles were traded in to state dealers through the federal program intended to get less fuel-efficient vehicles off the roads and spur new car sales. Car buyers in the state raked in $72.3 million in rebates.
But Cash for Clunkers created other ripples, as well: a boom for some used auto-parts dealers, on the one hand, but an apparent narrowing of options for people seeking inexpensive used cars, on the other.
According to the Department of Transportation, the bulk of clunkers exchanged through the program ranged from 10 to 15 years old, with an average odometer reading of 160,000 miles. Many were the same kinds of vehicles that low-income families seek to buy, making such vehicles still on the road scarcer, costlier or often in worse condition, said several people who work with such families.
"It was good for certain markets and good for certain people, but only a limited number," said Chris Hatfield, incoming director of transportation programs and services for Prism, a Golden Valley-based human services agency. "Basically it was good for new car dealerships and it was good for junkyards. Anybody in the automotive business that's not a new car dealership and not a junkyard had zero benefit."
Harry Haluptzok, CEO of John's Auto Parts in Blaine, would argue that his business' boom also benefited his community. John's bought 5,081 clunkers from dealers; about 400 remain to be salvaged for parts and then crushed before a July 31 deadline.
Haluptzok estimates that the program increased John's parts and scrap metal sales by $5 million. He hired 14 additional people to help deal with the influx and expects to keep them as demand for parts has increased 30 percent over 2009, he said.
He ticks off other benefits: increased revenue to towing companies, sales tax from used parts, better-quality parts for resale at a lower cost than new.
Salvaging parts
During a recent tour, Haluptzok opened the hood of a 1999 Ford Expedition, marked "C4C" on the window. Its engine will be destroyed with a sodium silicate plastic mixture, to prevent resale, but most every other part can be saved before the body is sold for scrap.
In addition to thousands of starters, alternators, transmissions, rearview mirrors, bumpers, headlights and other parts, Haluptzok was able to reclaim tens of thousands of gallons of gas, motor oil and other fluids that he recycles or uses in his own fleet.
Aside from Cash for Clunkers, most of his inventory comes from vehicles that have been in crashes. Unlike those, many of the clunkers have perfectly reusable bumpers, fenders, mirrors and radiators -- parts that often can be difficult to come by, he said.
At the other end of the metro area, Keith Olson runs U Pull R Parts in Rosemount.
His company processed about 400 clunkers. It was a benefit overall, he said, but he added that he could only take so many Ford Explorers.
Generally, the clunkers he bought were newer than the cars he usually buys.
"They increased my revenue in that way," he said. "The first ones you sold a lot of parts off of. But we ended up with so many duplicate cars, so many duplicate parts that the value of the parts dropped and became, in my case, unsellable. They went with the car body into the crusher."
He also said he worries about people continuing to drive deteriorating vehicles because other used cars that they might have bought are gone.
Car donations
In the office at Prism, Executive Director Liz Johnson was nearly frantic. For the first time ever, she said, she has sent letters to previous donors and churches asking for car donations. Among its services, the nonprofit agency makes lower-cost car sales to working poor, and it's averaging 65 calls a week from interested families, compared with about 45 last year.
Two other organizations, however, say their car donations are holding steady. Newgate in Minneapolis and Free to Be in Blaine are on track for numbers similar to last year. Newgate Director Ron Severson said he believes that training components of those programs, in which people work on cars, keep donors coming back.
Prism also has a bodywork apprenticeship program, Johnson said, adding that the difference in donations might come down to marketing strategies.
At Prism, not quite two families a week will get cars and they'll have fewer to choose from, Johnson said.
"The economy is pushing more people into the need of programs like ours," she said. "But with the price of vehicles and the difficulty in getting them, it's twofold."
Many of the cars they get are older and in worse shape, Johnson said. Sometimes, they have to invest close to the car's book value to make it drivable; she worries that people will run into more problems as the cars age.
Terrance Donaldson, of Minneapolis, is looking forward to Thursday, when he hopes to take ownership of a 1996 Cadillac DeVille he bought for $2,000, through Prism's program, which also includes budgeting and car-maintenance classes. He has waited about a month to get his car. After a stint of homelessness, he now has a job and a place to live, and the car is another step toward pulling life together for him and his family.
"It was easier than trying to find another car for that much that might break down, or going to a car lot and have to put down $2,000 or $1,500 to get into something," he said, adding that he bought his car with a $300 down payment. "With rent, the bus and a lot of bills, it's hard to save that much."
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