International Research Deck

What cars are the best deals under the cash for clunkers bill?

Friday, July 24th, 2009 | Research

Given that you have to buy a new car to get this credit, are there any cars on the market where the depreciation over the first two to four years is less than this value? Remember that they also have to have a high MPG. On my budget, they also have to be under 20k.
For extra credit, what about actual cost of ownership including an average cost to insure, gas, repairs etc. Has anyone come up with a calculator for this?

First of all, this bill has not passed the Senate so you can’t go out and trade in your clunker today and expect the full amount.

New cars/trucks in the cash for clunkers don’t have to be high MPG.
Not sure where you heard that, but this was one of the big objections of the congress men/women that voted against it.

Depreciation has nothing to do with this bill.

Consumers would get $4,500 vouchers if the new car they are buying gets 10 miles-a-gallon better gas mileage than the model they are trading in. For light trucks, the improvement must be 5 mpg better than the older model, and for large light trucks, 2 mpg.

For a $3,500 voucher, the improvement for cars must be 4 mpg or better, for light trucks, 2 mpg, and for large light trucks, 1 mpg. The trade-in vehicle must be no older than a 1984 model and get 18 mpg or less in combined city/highway fuel economy.

New passenger cars purchased with the vouchers must get at least 22 mpg in city/highway fuel economy, light trucks must get at least 18 mpg, and large light trucks 15 mpg. Domestic as well as foreign models sold in the U.S. qualify.

www.edmunds.com will help you with the other questions. They have a section called ‘true cost to own’.

1 Comment to What cars are the best deals under the cash for clunkers bill?

Leave a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.