The other day I saw a list of most-traded-in-clunkers in the government’s Cash for Clunkers program. At or near top of the list, apparently (and who knows with government stats), was the Ford Explorer SUV. Today a few too-too-precious souls think this means consumers are rejecting large vehicles.

Maybe, but the vintage of the clunked Explorers suggests otherwise. The 1995 Explorer tops the list, followed by the ’97 then the ’96 and ’98. Really old but still running.
I have a ’98. It runs like a top and always has. According to the Blue Book, in the real world I might be able to get $2,500 for it as a trade-in, assuming, I imagine, an altruistic dealer. The government would probably give me a lot more than that and then wreck it – using a brilliant process that seems to cause more “environmental damage” than if the clunkers just stayed on the road.
I’m waiting for the public outcry for Cash for Old Dishwashers (oops, too late; just heard that they’re already talking about that in Florida), Cash for Tickle-me-Elmos and, most of all, Cash for Barney Frank.
By the way, one report suggests that ex-Explorer owners are buying the Ford Edge, basically another SUV. Overall, though, Cash for Clunkers is a boon to foreign-owned car companies.

Of the top 5 new car sales emerging from the Clunker boondoggle, 4 are made by companies headquartered elsewhere than here in the former United States of America. The good news is that #2 on the list is the Ford Focus. The really good news is that the two soviet pension and eldercare companies, Chrysler and GM, didn’t do well at all.