Doonz said: "I have found once you have got some elbow grease, blood, and knuckle skin into a car, it's a lot harder to let it go. The study I read was for people who don't even know what a ratchet is. For those of us who wrench it's much, much cheaper."
I agree! I've invested a lot of sweat equity in my 92 Ex. For the past several years, or 100,000 miles, I've been doing the repairs myself, or with the help of a friend. I really don't want to part with it. And someday, Explorers will be classics, like the Early Bronco. (However, to help preserve my Explorer, I plan to semi-retire it as daily driver, get something smaller for commuting, but keep the Ex for snow or when I need a real truck to haul stuff).
I read the description of how they kill the cars. It sounds too much like Dr. Kevorkian. I couldn't do that to my Explorer. I've been through too much (good and bad) with that truck. I'd donate it to charity before I'd kill it.
I think that the purpose of the CARS program was largely political. (1) People like to get "free money" from the government, and it gets votes. (2) Environmental groups hate SUV's, and they needed to be paid back for the votes that they delivered. (3) There's the "social engineering" aspect. The easy way to get people out of those big, bad, environment-destroying, gas-guzzling Explorers, and into politically-correct Corollas was to bribe, rather than coerce them. That may come later in the form of higher taxes, registration fees, or even the refusal to register older vehicles. I hope not, but "Just because we're paranoid doesn't mean everyone isn't out to get us!"
Bob