Cash for Clunkers

[pcgirl54 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pcgirl54]

Program Suspended

Last night the program was suspended. Ran out of funds.

Now the good news. My son had a beloved 1991 Linciln Town Car that we bought when he went to college with 96k miles and he has kept it for 9 years. It has 170k miles on it and our son made almost all the repairs. The AC and radio stopped working and it would not be able to pass emissions in 2010. We all loved this car and I am so sad that is now will be destroyed but it kept him safe and served him well.

Because of the Cash for Clunkers he got $4500 toward a 2009 Hyundai ELantra that also had a $2000 rebate that ended this week. Not his dream car but brand new and his first new car. He got $6500 off. Had he bought something used next year he would get nothing for the Towncar and he would have spent money on a car that still would need repairs and had 50-80K miles on it.
He had visited the dealer this week and after 3 days decided on the model since although the Accent was even less money it was better to get a midsize car for those long legs. Last night he went to finalize plans and right after he did the manager told the staff that the program was suspended.

So this is indeed an example where the Clunker program gave him $4500 for a car which is what he paid for the car 9 yrs ago. He was able to improve his situation with a new car with airbags better gas mileage and other options he has never had.

He figured the money would run out fast so he better act on it but neither one of us thought it would end yesterday. On the radio I heard the calculation was 12 cars per dealer. My son calculated it was 222k cars.

Update 7/31 that this has now been extended to 2 billion on the news.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

Program back on

The White House just announced that the "Cash for Clunkers" program will continue on.

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

My deal that I made on Monday is still in limbo. The dealer cannot let me take delivery of my new car until it has been approved / entered into the CARS system, and as had been reported in several news stories this week, dealers are having major problems entering in those deals.

pcgirl -- did you son get delivery of his new car yet? Some dealers are letting buyers take delivery before the deals are into the system, but that is a big risk for them. If it is rejected for some reason, then they are either on the hook for the $4500, or they have to somehow get the new car back from the buyer (and then it would be "used").

Kurt

[gophish Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close gophish]

Just saw another news clip and looks like the program is still on and also more cash to be put in to it. But also looks like you will have to move relatively fast to take advantage of it. We are looking tonight or tomorrow at something to replace our old minivan. Want to get something smaller like a small SUV and right now looking at the Ford Escape Hybrid. Will see what happens. Am expecting a call back from one of the dealers today.

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

Here is a news article on the additional funds:

House Votes to Add $2 Billion to ‘Cash for Clunkers’

[pcgirl54 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close pcgirl54]

Kurt

Yes ,our son is all set. He said once the dealer signs everything off the onus is on them. Sad to see the old trusty towncar go though but this was a terrific deal for him and now he has a safe new car. Just got off the phone with him. He did drive it home last night and he brought them the payment today so it's a done deal.

Appreciate the heads up on the glitches. He is someone who reads through contracts line by line like his momma.

Good luck to you on the Honda. We love our Hondas bought them two years ago and no issues.

Ford Flex is pretty cool but newer and pricier than the standard Escape which is also popular.

Good luck to all on your trades.

[Park Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Park]

If you want to get old cars off the road why not have a program that buys cars impounded and sold by the toeing company. These cars are bought cheap and repaired and find their way back into the market.

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

If you want to get old cars off the road why not have a program that buys cars impounded and sold by the toeing company. These cars are bought cheap and repaired and find their way back into the market.

The CARS program had nothing to do with getting old cars off the road. The program's intent was to get "gas-guzzlers" off the road and replaced with more fule efficient vehicles. The only qualification of whether a vehicle was eligible or not was based on its rated fuel economy, not age or condition of the vehicle.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

Here is a good analysis of this program from the Denver Post:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/art...ang_97775.html

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

I can't wait until the government runs everything

NY dealers pull out of clunkers program


Aug 19, 2:00 PM (ET)

By DAN STRUMPF


NEW YORK (AP) - Hundreds of auto dealers in the New York area have withdrawn from the government's Cash for Clunkers program, citing delays in getting reimbursed by the government, a dealership group said Wednesday.

The Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, which represents dealerships in the New York metro area, said about half its 425 members have left the program because they cannot afford to offer more rebates. They're also worried about getting repaid.

"(The government) needs to move the system forward and they need to start paying these dealers," said Mark Schienberg, the group's president. "This is a cash-dependent business."

The program offers up to $4,500 to shoppers who trade in vehicles getting 18 mpg or less for a more fuel-efficient car or truck. Dealers pay the rebates out of pocket, then must wait to be reimbursed by the government. But administrative snags and heavy paperwork have created a backlog of unpaid claims.

Schienberg said the group's dealers have been repaid for only about 2 percent of the clunkers deals they've made so far.

Many dealers have said they are worried they won't get repaid at all, while others have waited so long to get reimbursed they don't have the cash to fund any more rebates, Schienberg said.

"The program is a great program in the sense that it's creating a lot of floor traffic that a lot of dealers haven't seen in a long time," he said.

"But it's in the hands of this enormous bureaucracy and regulatory agency," he added. "If they don't get out of their own way, this program is going to be a huge failure."

The program is administered by the Department of Transportation. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday that dealers will be repaid for the clunkers deals they have completed.

"I know dealers are frustrated. They're going to get their money," LaHood told reporters. He said the Obama administration would soon announce how much longer the $3 billion car incentive program will last.

Through early Wednesday, auto dealers have made clunkers deals worth $1.81 billion, resulting in 435,102 new car sales, according to the DOT.


http://apnews.myway.com//article/200...D9A63RCG0.html

[grest Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close grest]

Some friends of mine turned their gas guzzling van for a crossover when the van broke down once again as they were travelling in New York last week...they thought this was a wonderful opportunity for them.

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

NY dealers pull out of clunkers program

What a fiasco! The government can't even run a simple rebate program. One could infer as to how well they could run other proposed programs, but that is probably not appropriate for this forum...

It has been over three weeks now since I made my deal, and I am still driving my old car because my dealer will not release my new car until they get paid from the government. (and I can't really blame them) So for now I am still waiting. Good thing my car still runs well!

Kurt

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

Now that it is officially over...

Just resurrecting this thread -- I just got a call today saying that my Pilot is ready for be to picked up! Only took four weeks for my dealer to finally get the money from the government.

This program isn't going to have much effect on new car sales. The vast majority of the folks that drive these old clunkers cannot afford to buy a new car even with this incentive.

Sorry, I couldn't help quoting John's prediction over a month ago. The latest reports are that 700,000 - 800,000 cars were sold under the "clunkers" program. Dealer inventories are way down. GM announced that they are planning to produce an additional 60,000 cars in the 3rd and 4th quarter this year due to the surge in sales, and they were recalling 1,350 union employees back to work.

Even though the process was riddled with inefficiencies and mis-management on the government's part, most news articles are declaring the program a success (whatever that means). I think it is safe to say that it exceeded most people's expectations.

So what's the next big incentive program?

Kurt

[Ann-Marie Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ann-Marie]

[QUOTE=PigsDad;340312 Good thing my car still runs well!

Kurt[/QUOTE]
You are lucky. Ours can not be driven. We are saving the last leg it has in order to get it into the dealer. My daughter is upset since it had 3/4 of a tank of gas. Our new Taurus was purchased on 8/22. So we are figuring 3-4 weeks. Hopefully the dealer did all the paperwork correctly.

[Jya-Ning Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Jya-Ning]

So what's the next big incentive program?

Kurt

Not really big like car but (suppose will start at Nov)

Appliances get their own recycled clunkers programs - USATODAY.com

Jya-Ning