internet infamy

[swampduc]

An '89 land cruiser is a clunker?! That engine's got another 400k miles on it easy 

[He Man]

I bet he got the idea from those old Castrol commercials where they would drain the oil in two engines and run them until they died. 

theyd run for a while though. lol

[Howie]

Many years ago my school would buy junkyard engines for the students to disassemble, measure, do some machining, then reassemble.  The only new parts that went into the engines were head gaskets.  The reason why they got head gaskets is, at the semester, we would run them to keep the students honest.  Of course, they were run with only the oil the students coated the parts with and no coolant.  They would usually thermally seize from overheating first.  We would sometimes get them to restart several times before finally seizing.

[ducatiz]

Many years ago my school would buy junkyard engines for the students to disassemble, measure, do some machining, then reassemble.  The only new parts that went into the engines were head gaskets.  The reason why they got head gaskets is, at the semester, we would run them to keep the students honest.  Of course, they were run with only the oil the students coated the parts with and no coolant.  They would usually thermally seize from overheating first.  We would sometimes get them to restart several times before finally seizing.

if i had been in that class, i would have used moly assembly lube.. engine would still have seized but it would have taken a lot longer...

[1KDS]

An '89 land cruiser is a clunker?! That engine's got another 400k miles on it easy 

there are tons of videos like that, many of the 'clunkers' were even better/newer than the cruiser

[Scottish]

To a car guy it feels like killing a farm animal.

To a person it feels like a HUGE waste of resources.

[zarn02]

To a person it feels like a HUGE waste of resources.

It doesn't just "feel" like that.

[Howie]

I hope this list makes folks feel better.  I hated seeing that Land Cruiser die needlessly too, but most on this list will never be missed.  The replacements may not be enthusiast's dream cars, but they will suck up less fuel and pollute less.

The Top Ten Cash for Clunkers Trade-Ins:

1. 1998 Ford Explorer

2. 1997 Ford Explorer

3. 1996 Ford Explorer

4. 1999 Ford Explorer

5. Jeep Grand Cherokee

6. Jeep Cherokee

7. 1995 Ford Explorer

8. 1994 Ford Explorer

9. 1997 Ford Windstar

10. 1999 Dodge Caravan

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/1036/top-cash-for-clunkers-trade-ins-and-new-cars/

[Popeye the Sailor]

Sure, but the energy to build those new cars over using up something that was already built strikes me as a waste, too.

[NorDog]

Don't forget, you cannot increase prosperity by destroying assets.

Also, this program hurt the poor by making very low cost cars less low cost and less available in general.  Then there's the damage done to the used parts market, often used by the poor to find less expensive parts for needed repairs.

Cash for Clunkers was (is) a hideous program.

[Monsterlover]

+11tyb

[Scottish]

Don't forget, you cannot increase prosperity by destroying assets.

Also, this program hurt the poor by making very low cost cars less low cost and less available in general.  Then there's the damage done to the used parts market, often used by the poor to find less expensive parts for needed repairs.

Cash for Clunkers was (is) a hideous program.

yes.

[zarn02]

Don't forget, you cannot increase prosperity by destroying assets.

Also, this program hurt the poor by making very low cost cars less low cost and less available in general.  Then there's the damage done to the used parts market, often used by the poor to find less expensive parts for needed repairs.

Cash for Clunkers was (is) a hideous program.

+∞

[Monsterlover]

They weren't thinkin with their dipsticks

[Scottish]

I keep thinking that while a lot of those "clunkers" may not have been great cars they sure are better than a lot of the cars that are on the road. I'm not huge into redistrubtion stuff, but I wonder if some of those couldn't have gone to charity programs to provide for things like single mother/fathers or wheels to help abused women get out of bad relationships... kinda like they do with cell phones. I just know that there are a ton of people out there that those "clunkers" would have been a huge step up for.