Cash For Clunkers Program

Skip Talbot

Skip Talbot

EF5
Joined
May 1, 2004
Messages
3,417
Location
Springfield, IL
I've been checking out this "Cash For Clunkers" program the government is sponsoring. They give you $3500-$4500 to trade in your old vehicle for a brand new one. There are some condition of course. Your beater must get 18 mpg or less according to their standards. You can check eligibility of your vehicle here:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/CarsSearchIntro.shtml

Jeep, Chrysler, and Dodge are also doubling this rebate, which means you can get a total of $7000 or more off the purchase of a new vehicle. I love my van, and its holding up well, but at 205,000 miles I'm worried its not going to last too much longer. Its a '99 Chrysler Voyager and it just barely qualifies for the rebate. with this smash deal I'm tempted to jump on it and get a new Jeep. Has anyone else had any experiences with this rebate program?
 
My wife works for a Major Ford Dealer here in Edmond, Oklahoma. Like you mentioned, there are some stipulations to the Govt. Rebate. You have to improve your mileage for one, and a couple other conditions with Mileage and how old or new it is. I Asked her how many Cash for clunkers Customers she has had and she said 3 so far, but her Dealership is swamped with Cash for Clunkers Customers. So apparently, many other consumers are taking advantage of it.

Her Managers think the money will dry up sometime in August if it continues to be a big success. Also, the process takes about 48 to 72 hours for the Govt. to process the Deal, so don't expect to just go in and immediately drive out with a new vehicle. The Govt. has to issue a number to the Customer, and that is what takes the couple of days to process....Then they can pick up the vehicle and drop off their old vehicle.

I also asked her about the Feedback she is getting from Customers, and she says they are just thrilled to get such a good deal!

Anyways, I hope this helps, i just recently bought a new car, so I don't have first hand experience with the rebate.
 
My wife works at the local Hyundai and they are swamped with this right now. Yesterday they had like 25 cars which is pretty impressive even before the economic down turn. Like Dustin said though but I wonder is how it's going to play out now all these people just added more debt to the credit machine that was killing us in the first place.
 
the program sucks.

If you have a 30 year old Toyota that gets 19 MPG you don't qualify...but if you have a 1 year old Hummer that gets 15 MPG you do.

It's all about increasing MPG...not getting clunkers off the streets.
 
Tyler Allison said:
the program sucks.

If you have a 30 year old Toyota that gets 19 MPG you don't qualify...but if you have a 1 year old Hummer that gets 15 MPG you do.

It's all about increasing MPG...not getting clunkers off the streets.
Click to expand...

Its all about what you are going to buy. If you have a 30 yr old Toyota, getting 19 miles per gallon, and you purchase a vehicle getting 30-40 MPG then you will qualify....If you are going to buy a truck, then No, you probably won't qualify.

IMO...whether its improving MPG, or getting clunkers off the streets...Is that not a good thing?? I think it is.....
 
Jeremy Jones said:
Its all about what you are going to buy. If you have a 30 yr old Toyota, getting 19 miles per gallon, and you purchase a vehicle getting 30-40 MPG then you will qualify....If you are going to buy a truck, then No, you probably won't qualify.

IMO...whether its improving MPG, or getting clunkers off the streets...Is that not a good thing?? I think it is.....
Click to expand...

So you like paying for other people to get new cars... when you cant because you dont qualify.

Exactly... I think it sucks too. :rolleyes:
 
Jeremy Jones said:
Its all about what you are going to buy. If you have a 30 yr old Toyota, getting 19 miles per gallon, and you purchase a vehicle getting 30-40 MPG then you will qualify
Click to expand...

As far as I understand it, the car you are trading in has to get 18 mpg or worse irregardless of the car you are going to buy.

There is a meter on the website updated daily showing how much money is left in the program, and it looks like most of it is still in there. I'm going to try and jump on this as soon as possible, though.
 
MOD NOTE: This topic has the potential of straying into political grounds. There have already been posts deleted because they've gotten political. Please let's keep it on-topic, which was if anyone has experience with this program and how it works.

In other words, keep it to the facts.
 
I don't have experience with it, but it's just like any other program... you have to meet all the requirements. Mine would qualify, but I couldn't take advantage of it just on principal... it's a moral issue with me, not at all political. How it works, some of the facts....we borrowed a whole gob of money from other countries, now we are giving that money to folks that are driving cars that are getting less than 18 miles per gallon, many of them decent cars... to help purchase a new car that gets a little better gas mileage. We are going to be passing that debt on to our kids and grand kids and expect them to pay it off with tons of interest. That's about how it works. If this is still considered political then I won't be saying anything else. I respect the fact that this is a private forum and the content should be controlled to some extent.

When my granddad was my age, you couldn't make a man take a handout, now everybody is standing in line...

Josh
 
I have an 02 Ranger with 176,000 combined fuel economy of 17 according to the EPA. I was looking to get a brand new Ford Focus, so I went to the dealership on Tuesday. They were advertising a brand new Focus SES for 15,742. I was expecting I could talk them down maybe 500-700 off that, then apply the $4500. Instead, with the $4500 rebate, they gave me a price of $11,600 and told me to take it or get out. $11,600 + 4500 = $16,100.

The problem was that there was pretty much a line of people in the dealership wanting to take advantage of cash for clunkers. One lady came in and said 'I need the smallest most fuel efficient car you have' and then they showed her the focus in the showroom and she goes 'Great, how much?' - You can't compete with that.

As far as is I think it should be given out? Absolutely not. No better way to force some people to pay for others to get new cars. Just because I bought a Ranger that gets combined 17 MPG doesn't mean everyone else that's paying taxes on this board should have to pitch in and give me $4500 for my 'clunker'.
 
There are actually people out there hedging that money will be there a year from now for this program and buying "clunkers" now for $300-500 and holding on to them for a year (to meet the ownership requirement) in hopes of getting $4500 for them toward a new car and then selling said new car with the built in $4500 profit, less tag/tax upkeep. Not a bad idea if there were to still be money around then.
I love it when people exploit poor ideas. Cash for clunkers is a poor idea...
 
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