Fixed for ya!the true problem with the cash for clunkers program is the same on that caused the housing market problem..If you couldn't afford a new car before guess what you still can't. People fore get that while the 4500.00 credit seems great, you'll be paying higher insurance, higher tag cost, higher upkeep.
Same with the housing problem. After Katrina the government in an attempt to "Strengthen the economy" made it so that anyone with a minimum wage job could afford to buy a 250K house with no problem..Problem is 99.9955% of those people that bought couldn't qualify for a fixed rate loan and didn't understand that adjustable rate mortgages is a fast track to being bankrupt. So every body and their dog was buying at the max of what the qualified for loan wise and two years later interest rates go up and that 850.00 a month note goes to 1200.00 then because the value of the home is less that 80% of the loan value the bank requires mortgage insurance that's another 100.00+ a month. So a house that you could barely afford to start with just became way to expensive "AGAIN" and poof foreclosures out the ears predatory lenders start loosing money cause they were predatory lending to loan to these high risk people. Credit gets tight so company's that were predatory lending against accounts receivable now can't pay their employees so predatory lenders layoffs happen and people can't pay their predatory lenders bills so they start loosing their cars and house.. predatory lenders predatory lenders.
Its a cycle. The only way to stop it is to make laws to stop those predatory lenders that caused this whole mess and also ensure that there are no people that can't drive a new car every 3 year or live in big 250K house.