MidnightSwinger
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Cash for clunkers made a big impact in my opinion.
1971 Dodge Dart Rancho Cordova, CA. Pick-N-Pull (Not Mine)
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It literally couldn’t have. All of the A-bodies were exempt from “cash for clunkers”. Some of the post ‘80 FMJ’s weren’t, but that’s it.
It’s just a matter of value. I never saw any E-bodies in the yards, but I wasn’t looking in the 90’s before they got crazy expensive. But even when I started looking there were A’s out in the yards, and of course FMJ’s. There’s a Dippy in the Rocklin yard right now. But the A’s dried up when the values took off, they’re worth more as projects and parts than you get scrapping them. When a running, driving A can get the same 11k I paid for my running, driving ‘72 Challenger they don’t go to the yard anymore, just like the E’s weren’t when I bought my Challenger. Maybe a random car here and there from an estate where the surviving family isn’t car savvy, but that’s it.
Somebody lost a ton of money sending that ‘71 Dart to the yard.
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junkyardhero
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^^^ this
when you add the complexity of getting a title (if lost) or back fees associated, some good cars just wind up getting shipped off.
joe dickhead's granmamma dies and he thinks that he's sitting on a gold mine with a million mile [insert 4dr of choice here] that was parked by braille with a billion miles on it that ain't been run in 20 years or tagged in 15 and missing title, lists that shizz up for 5K and deals with all the tire kickers offering $500 (which is probably what the damn thing is worth), gets frustrated and calls up PYP to snatch it up for tree-fiddy.
or they're trying to clear a house for sale. the 3k they *might* get for that "old junk car in the drive way" isn't enough to move the needle on a six digit sale. you've got cash but can't get a day off work or a trailer till tuesday. well, guess what wimpy? that hamburger is gone EOD by them folks.
used to be rafts of FMJ's 20 years ago, now anything even pre 1990 is scarce these days.
when you add the complexity of getting a title (if lost) or back fees associated, some good cars just wind up getting shipped off.
joe dickhead's granmamma dies and he thinks that he's sitting on a gold mine with a million mile [insert 4dr of choice here] that was parked by braille with a billion miles on it that ain't been run in 20 years or tagged in 15 and missing title, lists that shizz up for 5K and deals with all the tire kickers offering $500 (which is probably what the damn thing is worth), gets frustrated and calls up PYP to snatch it up for tree-fiddy.
or they're trying to clear a house for sale. the 3k they *might* get for that "old junk car in the drive way" isn't enough to move the needle on a six digit sale. you've got cash but can't get a day off work or a trailer till tuesday. well, guess what wimpy? that hamburger is gone EOD by them folks.
used to be rafts of FMJ's 20 years ago, now anything even pre 1990 is scarce these days.
MidnightSwinger
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So all of the cheap used cars disappeared from the market, thereby driving up the value/demand of what’s left. How is that not directly correlated?
I watched it happen. I’ve been in junk yards since 1999, you would find several A bodies at any given time. Yes, usually wrecked 4 doors, but they were out there. Then poof, gone, that 71 was the first A body I’ve seen in a regular pick and pull since 2010. When was cash for clunkers again?
junkyardhero
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do you know how cash for clunkers worked?
i have a feeling that we've had this conversation previously... a real sense of deja vu...
also, i've seen at least a dozen a-bodies in the last 6mo across 3 yards
I know you caint save um all but that car could be and should be saved. I wish we had stuff around here like that in yards. Long, long gone.
MidnightSwinger
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I’ve never spoken about this with you or anyone on this board.
Yep, I was there for that too. Vehicles that were less than 25 years old that got bad gas mileage. In other words, cheap used cars. Once they were gone the demand for what was left IE cars that didn’t fall within the parameters of the CFC program, went up.
junkyardhero
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my apologies, i had conflated the conversation with somebody else. i'm sorry about my flippant tone.
i should have couched it as more of an overall "did we not collectively have this conversation just a few months ago".
however, i don't see a direct correlation of old cars being in that "demand segment" of what was left, thus driving up the prices. that stuff by then was already considered classics and the market demand was more for "commuter cars" than hobby cars.
at least here, in my market, there wasn't a noticeable market correction for those cars. but the days of $500 beater hondas and toyotas was for sure gone.
For the sake of conversation, tell us how it worked. I honestly don't remember.
junkyardhero
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for the sake of brevity, if you owned a car that fell into the parameters-- 25yrs old or less and got crappy mileage-- you could trade it in to a dealer and get a tax credit toward a new leased vehicle.
there were a bunch of caveats like the car had to registered and in driveable condition, and depending on how much better mileage the new car got than what you were trading in dictated how much money you got toward the new one. however, one of the key elements was that it had to be a new leased car-- they didn't just give you cash for your car.
there's a bunch of minutiae that i'm glossing over, but here's the wiki in full: Car Allowance Rebate System - Wikipedia
Ok. Thanks. Most folks I believe mistakenly think it was geared towards getting classics off the road and that's not the case it seems. I totally agree with getting the junk off the road.
The main "Cash for Clunkers" was in 2009. Not a single car made before 1984 was eligible. Let me repeat that- Not a single pre-'84 car was eligible. Not even most of the FMJ's were eligible!
No one that was gonna buy a cheap *** 1985 econo-box decided to buy an A-body because they couldn't find a ratty mid-eighties crap box. That's not the same market, not even close.
So no, there was absolutely NO correlation between cash for clunkers and the price of A-bodies going up. The price of A-bodies went up, but it was MUCH later than 2009. You know how I know? I bought my Duster in 2012 for $2,000 and almost succeeded in driving it home.
As for "poof, they were all gone after 2010", again, I'm calling BS. Here's a bunch of cars I saw personally in the yard or pulled parts from. Not even everything that hit the yards, and only about 5 yards that I watch in Sacramento because I don't drive that far to pull parts. And honestly, this is only most of the A-bodies I saw. I didn't take pictures of the FMJ's I pulled brakes from, or even the C-bodies I pulled 8 3/4's from, and there were a bunch of those. Heck there was at least a couple 4-doors I didn't take pictures of.
9/2012 - pulled the entire front clip from this '71 in South Sac
10/2012- pulled the fenders from this one, and a few other small parts. It was pretty rusty
11/2012 - this is the Duster I pulled all my fold down seat parts from
10/2013- Someone beat me to this one, that's not my cart in the picture. I took a picture as I was walking out from grabbing something else. They knew the gig though, they took the UCA's, spindles and brackets but not rotors, calipers etc...
3/2014- pulled the doors and fenders from this one, somebody beat me to the rest of the front clip. Really solid car, damn shame
7/2015- grabbed a few random parts from this one. It was RUSTY.
3/2017- I was gonna look at this one, but I talked myself out of it . It was in the yard to be parted though, at this point it wasn't for sale complete
Hell there was a complete '73 Dart Sport that iPulluPull had for sale in South Sac a few months ago. It wasn't in the yard though, it was for sale complete with a title, I think they wanted $3,500 for it. There may have been a thread here on it.
But yeah, bottom line is A-bodies stopped showing up in yards after the price took off, and that was really only about 5-6 years ago.
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MidnightSwinger
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I’m not from Sacramento, been here for 6 months.
And? What does that have to do with anything?
Not being from Sacramento doesn't change the fact that "cash for clunkers" didn't drive up the price on A-bodies.
And it certainly doesn't change the fact that there were still A's in the yards well after 2010. I only posted the cars I personally saw in the handful of yards I went to as an example for you, I missed out on many more. Sacramento wasn't the only place A-bodies were going to junk yards, it was just the only place I was going to junk yards.
MidnightSwinger
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Your opinion doesn’t change my experience in the slightest.
DiggerDart
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Hey Hemi 71x is Lindsey Field still open?Did my tour there.
To bad the dash was so butchered.
Fast340cuda
Well-Known Member
Thanks again for the tip hemi71x! I stopped by the wrecker on my way back from Nevada this afternoon and picked up the hood, left front fiberglass fender extension, battery tray, horn set, and some misc hardware from the 71 dart!
I had to look that one up.
You mean at, or near, Weisbaden, Germany?
Google, said it closed up, back in 93.
Zweibrucken closed in 91.
I was there Feb. 74-Feb. 76.
mikess68
Well-Known Member
You guys know of any a body bucket seat tracks. 72 ??
This is "Me" at a Pick-N-Pull, taking one apart, a few years ago, when they came by to take the picture for their inventory listing.
I'm sure i was taking off the lower control arms, on that one, for my rebuilding.
I'm sure i was taking off the lower control arms, on that one, for my rebuilding.
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And your opinion clearly isn't changed by facts.
A-bodies didn't "dry up" in the yards immediately after cash for clunkers. It just didn't happen, regardless or your personal experience. You said you didn't see a single one after 2010 until the one in this thread, I posted 7 and that wasn't all of the ones I personally saw, just at the couple of yards I was going to! So clearly your "experience" wasn't accurate. I know because I was still pulling parts from the yards long after 2010. Hell I scrapped a wrecked '74 I bought just for the brakes and the roof skin in 2012, it went to the yard and got picked apart. Not a single A-body was eligible, so, not a single A-body was taken out of the market by cash for clunkers. People scrapping their mid-eighties junkers didn't take their several hundred bucks and buy up all the classic Mopars either.
Correlation is not causation!!!
See I missed that one entirely! Never even saw it.
So much for the inventory listing being on time though huh? Get a nice email notification along with the evidence that you're already too late
junkyardhero
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also, to keep in mind the CFC program only gave you the tax credit toward the lease on a new car (and some used cars).
so it's not like you junked your 91 Dakota and got 2K to go buy an A body.
the program was a double incentive-- removing some cars that characteristically were known to possibly be polluters as well as removing cars that got poor gas mileage AND encouraging spending by basically giving participants a "down payment" on the lease of a new car that got better mileage and ran cleaner.
Up here there was same program. Dad had his Buick Reatta listed for sale for $3500 certified. Not a bite. He heard about CFC and dealership gave him $3k and he purchased new Ford F150....sharp truck but no perks lol. Opted for rubber floor over carpet lol.
1WildRT
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The thing that pissed me off about C4C was that virtually 90% of the new cars bought were foreign made... If your accepting government money it should have be spent on US Products...
I didn't like our taxes buying private autos... Wanna guess how I feel about all the free government money schemes in the last few years?
I didn't like our taxes buying private autos... Wanna guess how I feel about all the free government money schemes in the last few years?
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