Will You Trade In Your "Clunker" Aerostar For $4500??

[93nighthawk]

Originally Posted by mbrown3039 Why be annoyed? Just slap a few of those blue, diamond-shaped "CNG" stickers on your van (one front, one rear, and one by the gas cap) and call it an "alternative fuel vehicle!" Mike Awesome Idea!

[whatstar1117]

No I would not trade; clunker bonus or not. Where can I find a new small work van that I can regularly overload to the max; pull a 3500lb maxed out hauling trailer and that in the summer will roast my feet and freeze my face. Aerostars are great trucks!

[mbrown3039]

Originally Posted by xlt4wd90

I just saw this list of the best candidates for the trade-in from Consumer Reports:

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/car...s-to-junk.html

It's disturbing that they show Aerostars older than 1996 in this list. That would mean most of the Aerostars ever built, and apply to most of us on this forum.

I'm thinking about doing it -- my Aero is a '95 cargo model and hasn't been worth $4500 for a while. But i can replace it for around $1200 bucks. So, I buy a new little "egg car" to tool around town in, save a bunch a gas, and save some pennines on the side to get back into an Aero by years end.

Does anyone know if the Fed incentive is IN ADDITION TO the trade-in value or IN LIEU OF? Thanks, Mike

[93nighthawk]

I believe it is the trade in value that the government will pay the dealership. There is nothing on top of that.

As for me, the can have my Aero when the pry the steering wheel out of my cold dead hands.

[DaveMac2Vans]

I'd rather spend that amount to refurb my Aerostars than get something new. It runs, is paid for, and I can still get 22 MPG in town.

[xlt4wd90]

Originally Posted by mbrown3039

I'm thinking about doing it -- my Aero is a '95 cargo model and hasn't been worth $4500 for a while. But i can replace it for around $1200 bucks. So, I buy a new little "egg car" to tool around town in, save a bunch a gas, and save some pennines on the side to get back into an Aero by years end.

If you can use whatever car you buy with this rebate, I would say go for it. So much the better if you can save up for another Aero at a later time.

I think for most of us, we own Aerostars for a certain set of functionality. To replace it with a new car having the same functionality would be difficult, and finding one with sufficiently better gas mileage to meet the requirements of this rebate would be actually impossible.

Face it, the current incarnation of this rebate program was designed by the auto companies to help them move some cars that are not being sold. That's why only new cars are eligible for the rebate, even Hummers. But it's disguised as a "green" initiative under the pretense of improving air quality by driving a new car. The requirements for improved gas mileage were slipped in at the last minute.

I'm sure there are many cars out there that should be taken off the road because their emissions and gas mileages are terrible. Again, I say to their owners: "Go for it!"

But for those people who see only the $4500 incentive to trade in their current, fully functional cars, I say "think again". You will be saddled with all the costs of a new car, including the monthly payments, insurance, and taxes and fees for at least the next 5 years.

I see something ironic related to this. Of the remaining car dealerships around here, most of them are heavily discounting the new cars on their lots. Some cars have been discounted more than $4500 off the MSRP, and they're still not being sold. And this is without any mileage requirements.