Scrap yard is final destination for clunkers

Cars in the Cash for Clunkers program all have the same destination - the scrap yard.

Once the cars are driven off the dealer's lots, they're taken to an auto salvage business like Motor Pro Auto Recycling in Gilbert.

Company president Mark Buessing buys the cars and strips off the parts, but he doesn't expect to find many gems. "They got their clunker badge for a reason."

He is getting ready by clearing space in his vast scrap yard.

"Normally this is filled with cars that are getting ready to be processed. We've skipped the auction for a couple weeks because we've been preparing for this. When this program hits, we're going to have to process a lot of vehicles."

He'll pay between $100 to $300 for each car. Some won't be worth much; others might have thousands of dollars worth of parts worth taking.

He's not allowed to sell the most valuable part - the gas guzzling engines. Under the program's rules, that has to be destroyed.