OT: more cash for clunkers stuff

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> I THOUGHT FROM THE START THAT IT WAS ANOTHER GOVERNMENT SCAM BUT
>WASN'T SMART ENOUGH TO DO THE MATH!!! WAY TO GO CONGRESS, YOU GOT US
>AGAIN!~!!!
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>
>Subject: interesting choice of words
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>
>From a real "Car Guy" out in Los Angeles, CA.
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>______________________________________________________________
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>SO...you took FEDZILLA up on its offer of $4500. dollars to trade in
>your old "Clunker" (interesting choice of words)? Well, let's see who
>got the best of that "deal"...
>
>If you traded in a clunker worth $3500, you got $4500 off for an
>apparent "savings" of $1000. You could have gotten $3,500 if you had
>just traded the car in. So you really are $1,000 ahead (depending on
>your clunker's value) at this point. Not too bad...
>
>
>
>However, you WILL have to pay taxes on the $4500 come April 15th
>(something that no auto dealer will tell you). If you are in the 30%
>tax bracket, you will pay $1350 on that $4500.
>
>
>
>So, rather than save $1000, you will actually pay an extra $350. to
>the feds. In addition, you traded in a car that was most likely paid
>for. Now you have 4 or 5 years of payments on a car that you did not
>need, trading in a "clunker" that was costing you less to run than the
>payments that you will now be making. Even if you save $1,000. dollars
>a year in gas due to better mileage, you're still gonna be in the red
>for five years....hello?
>
>
>
>But wait, it gets even better: you also got ripped off by the dealer.
>For example, the month before the "cash for clunkers" program started,
>every dealer here in LA was selling the Ford Focus with all the
>goodies including A/C, auto transmission, power windows, etc for
>$12,500. because competition was stiff due to poor sales from the
>stalled economy.
>
>
>
>When "cash for clunkers" came along, they stopped discounting them and
>instead sold them at the list price of $15,500. So, you paid $3000
>more than you would have the month before. Honda, Toyota , and Kia
>played the same list price game that Ford and Chevy did. Now let's do
>the math...
>
>You traded in a car worth: $3500
>
>You got a discount of: $4500
>
> ---------
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>Net so far +$1000
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>But you have to pay: $1350 in taxes on the $4500
>
> --------
>
>Net so far: -$350 (that's minus...in the
>red)
>
>And you paid: $3000 more than the car was selling
>for the month before
>
> ----------
>
>Net Loss: -$3350
>
>
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>We could also add in the additional taxes (sales tax, state tax,
>dealer prep, etc.) on the extra $3000 that you paid for the car, along
>with the Five years of interest on the car loan; but let's just stop
>here while you kick yourself. Suffice it to say that those costs will
>be much higher than any savings you get from "better mileage".
>
>
>
>So who actually made out on the deal? FEDZILLA collected taxes on the
>car along with taxes on the $4500 they "gave" you. The car dealers
>made an extra $3000 or more on every car they sold along with the
>kickbacks from the manufacturers and the loan companies. Manufacturers
>got to dump lots of cars they could not give away the month before.
>Lots of good or repairable used cars got taken off the market, crushed
>and sold as scrap metal to (ready for this?) CHINA! (Look it up...)
>And the poor consumer got saddled with even more debt that they cannot
>afford.
>
>
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>FEDZILLA'S merry men (who promised that people making less than
>$250,000.. would pay "not one red cent more in taxes") will make
>millions in new tax revenues after convincing Joe Consumer that he was
>getting $4500 in "free" money from the "government" In fact, Joe was
>giving away his $3500 car and paying an additional $3350 for the
>privilege. Chicago politics gone global...with an agenda.
>
>
>
>If you find errors in this math, please let me know....being a simple
>guy, I'm always willing to learn new things; and if you took
>"advantage" of the Clunkers deal, I have some swamp land down in
>Florida that's for sale...
>