This is one of my favorite articles!
Where have all the clunkers gone?
Thinking Green by Trudy Whitney
Almost every car I have ever owned was a clunker.
In 1956, my father purchased a peacock blue T-Bird. He drove it home and parked it in the garage. He loved that car, but I loved it more.
A decade later, when I got a hardship license (anybody could get one back then), my dad turned over the keys to the bird with less that 1,000 miles on it. Hardly a clunker! I kept that car through high school and college and wish to heck I still had it.
I sold it to the mechanic that kept “Fasty Fasty”, (we named our cars), running and ding free. His family still has that car. Darn it.
Through the years, many more clunkers came my way. I bought a used MG. I bought a used Triumph. I bought a used Ford LTD and I bought a used Cadillac my kids rode to school in for twelve years. I bought a used Ford pickup for the farm. I even bought a used golf cart. I finally bought a new Scion because I could not justify a gas-guzzling Caddy wrapped in advertising for an environmentally friendly business.
I got to thinking about clunkers this week because all the hoopla about cash for clunkers is over now and I wanted to investigate the aftermath of discarded relics.
I can tell you that I am disappointed that the clunkers most surrendered in the entire program were relatively new pickups, SUV’s and large sedans that were not particularily clunky. In fact, the requirements for a settlement on your clunker were based on an improved gas mileage number relative to your current usage. It proved not be a significant difference to improve our emissions, but more to stimulate car sales.
I am thrilled that dealerships were able to sell more cars. Nearly 700,000 vehicles were purchased and manufacturers put auto workers back to work. Dealerships received a real shot in the arm.
The fact remains however that most folks who capitalized on the offer are now more in debt than if they were still driving their older cars. On top of that, there are a number of programs aimed to help high school dropouts that gave people a nice tax write-off for donating their old cars. They are then sent to auction and the proceeds are used to help the kids.
The good news I can tell you is that revenue for car crushers has never been better. The crushers are required to receive the clunkers, put some silicate in the engine that makes it completely inoperable, drain the oil, recycle it, and then smash what is left to smithereens within 180 days.
The crusher guys are allowed to remove lug nuts and recycle tires, but under no circumstance can they remove the drive trains or transmissions or, oddly enough, the doors. They even have to report the VIN numbers to Carfax, indicating that the auto had been crushed. Ironically, that poses a disadvantage for those who may need a part or a door handle to keep their clunkers operational.
The crushed cars have an after-market value of a few hundred dollars. Most of the mashed mess is transported on a barge to Japan to become recycled steel. (I have to wonder if the smashing and transporting of crushed cars overseas is all that green.) You see, Japan has few natural resources for their construction needs so they have ingeniously made use of discarded materials. The clunkers have become quite the bonanza of a resource for that country. Recycling the metal is far better than allowing these clunkers to rust in landfills or junkyards.
I struggle with being green and being sensible. I hate seeing anything replaced if it still serves a purpose, but I can’t stand to see us using products that waste precious resources. It is a tough call but maybe if you “Google” what happens to clunkers like I did, you can make your own decisions.
If you live close to work, your school or your grocery store, buy a bike or some good shoes. Who knows….they may have been made from recycled clunkers.
Trudy and Bill Whitney are the owners of Rapid Refill Ink, an independently owned retail franchise that refills and remanufactures inkjet and laser/toner cartridges for office and home printers. In an effort to encourage recycling, empty cartridges are brought to the store that can be reused many times. Sustainable and recycled products were utilized in the build out of the shop located in McKinney. For more information call 972.548.9393.
