our cash for credit clunkers

From USAToday (hat tip: Linda Christiansen)...

Higher credit risk buyers who used the government's cash-for-clunkers program last year to buy a new car had higher repossession and late payment rates than those who didn't use the program, a research firm [CNW Research] finds. Those motorists also had higher levels of buyers' remorse...

A mid-January analysis of those who purchased a new vehicle under the cash-for-clunkers program found the most dramatic differences among those in the lowest credit category: Among subprime credit borrowers, those who used the clunkers program had a 4.8% repo rate, more than double the 2.2% who bought similar vehicles but didn't use the government incentives....

As for buyers' remorse, almost 1 in 5 clunkers program participants who took part in a survey this month said they regret buying a new vehicle under the program. Among those who didn't use the program, the regret rate was slightly more than 1 in 20....