Anyone have problems today with "Cash for Clunkers" ?

I think they ripped you off and pocketed the difference. Seen this here before. It's not a rebate but a price guarantee and purchase by the feds of your trade -in. Just did this in February with a Honda van, sales tax after deducting trade-in value.

 

That's cause you aren't a dealer. I am hoping a dealer can tell us all how this is working. Supposedly on the dealer processing site, there is a "contdown" that shows how many $$ are left on the program. Yeah, it would be nice if NHTSA made that figure available to the general public, but, that's government for ya!

 

This shows the amount left, but I think there is a data entry backlog so who knows if these meters are accurate:

LINK REMOVED

Update: Website has changed. Link above not longer valid. Just go here to see the "current" fund level:

http://www.cars.gov/

Curiously they have changed the design of the gas gauge graphic. It now reads full on the right and empty on the left - more like a real world gauge. Originally it was flipped.

 

As a dealer, I can tell you that we have no idea how much money is left. There was supposed to be a "live" ticker on the money. However, I can understand why they haven't done that yet. Some deals are being kicked back for lack of proper documentation. So that money is freed up again. What they really should have done is exactly as someone else has posted. Give it a specific time period. Anything electronically submitted within the dates is eligible.

With that said, and given the success of the program, I wouldn't be surprised if the amount of money was enlarged if it runs out. The PR that Obama is going to get from this is HUGE. He can now brag that he (and the democratic congress) was responsible for pulling a quarter of a million gas hogs off the road. That in turns eases our dependance on foreign oil. Exactly like he promised in his campaign speeches. Whether you believe it or not, that is what every media outlet will have as a sound bite. If the money runs out, and there are still a bunch of people waiting in line, you can bet they will throw more money at the program. Honestly, they have already made over a trillion dollars appear out of thin air, why not another billion? At this point, what is the difference?

Taking it one step further. GM and Chrysler haven't been building cars for 30-60 days. Most dealerships are running very short on cars that qualify. Which means the government is funding a program that Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, etc are capitalizing on. I am pretty sure the government had it in the back of their minds to help stimulate the "american" companies...

All of this is just my miscellaneous ramblings, and none of it is to be taken as fact. As far as we know, once the money is gone, the program is over. And I expect the money to be gone by Monday at the latest. I actually have July 31st as my date in the office pool

 

The only problem I have with the CARS program is finding a dealership with a car.

My local Toyota dealer had seven 2010 Priuses in stock yesterday morning. I went there at 4pm that day to buy one and all seven were gone. The sales crew looked exhausted. In fact, I offered up a $5,000 deposit to get the next available Prius that hit the lot, but they weren't interested in my money or signing me up. This really surprised me, so I'm taking my money elsewhere. I'm sure there are other dealerships that'll take my money! hwell:

Bryan

 

I'm still waiting on Walnut creek Toyota to follow through with cash for clunkers deal. They said they are still working on some glitches then they would be ready to make an appointment for p/u. I left my clunker there on Friday the 24th and everyday I'm being told the next day its very inconvenient. I'm not sure if I'm being played with. Because since I made a deal below MSRP demand has pick up and they want to raise the price but have made no indication of that. Can it be an honest attempt to get everything correct before they let Priuses go under the CFC program. Please someone with experniece respond.

 

They could be, I think the manual says it takes the dealer 10 days to get money.

Here is a pretty cool website Cash for Clunkers | Cash for Cars NHTSA Program | Dealer Directory

 

They are absolutely jerking you around. There is no reason that you should have to wait 6 or 7 days to seal the deal on a car sale...

Bryan

 

Do we have to provide the original copy of the pink slip of the car (certificate of title)?

When I first bought the car on sunday, I only brought a copy of certificate title. Next day I brought in the original certificate title and gave to the finance guy (who was busy at that time).

Today they called back again to redo the contract on the 4500 because they had calculated tax on it. This time, a different guy helped me. I saw the folder that had all the docs and didn't see my original certificate title that I gave to the other guy the previous day. Now I am concern about these guys.

The same dealer also question me if I had a full year of car insurance registered for my clunker. My insurance cycle starts on May of each year. I gave them my May 2008 - May 2009 declaration. I also gave them May 2009- May 2010. They asked for Jan 08- Dec 08. I am like Wth??


John

 

Jabber,

Thank you for your insight from a dealer's perspective.

How is your dealership preparing for the program to run out of money? What is your plan for the deals that you have made that get rejected because the money has been exhausted?

 

The C.A.R.S. website has changed a little. They reworked the funds "gas gauge" graphic. It now looks like a real gas gauge with full on the right and empty on the left.

CARS.gov - Car Allowance Rebate System - Home - Formerly Referred to as “Cash for Clunkers”

 

One thing I did do that the salesman said really helped was have the tax office give me a letter stating that I had been the registered owner for the past 20 years and that it had been continuously registered. Had my insurance agent do the same thing. Sales guy said most folks are walking in and expecting them to take their word.. For the dealership, it is a CYA thing.

 

For this scenario,

Customer A brought a clunker in, bought a new car.
Customer A couldn't drive the new car home because the dealership wants to wait for the fund to clear up.
After a few days, the dealership still couldn't get the money
Money's gone.
Customer A comes back only to pick up his old clunker. Opportunity lost.

If the dealership doesn't want to release the car on that day, why don't you go to the next one immediately?

$858 Million Left For CARS After Day Two

 

Darn Jabber - you were so close! News is that the program is suspended as of midnight on the 30th!

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...o-more-cash4clunkers-after-7-30-midnight.html

 

Program is suspended.

 

Not until the end of tonight. If you are customer A, go find a dealer that does it NOW.

 

So I actually signed and paid for my Prius this afternoon - but because the car needed to be prepped I am not supposed to pick it up till tomorrow . I sure hope they don't try to back out!

I signed over my clunker to them so........hopefully I will drive home tomorrow in my Prius and not the clunker.

 

house passed $2B more - waiting on the senate

 

We put money down on a 2010 Prius last Saturday. We went in on Monday with all the info for the clunker (title, registration, insurance). Our dealer told us they would submit the application that day. We didn't hear anything on Tuesday. Tracked down our salesperson on Wednesday - he said they hadn't submitted any because they clunkers had to be destroyed and they didn't want to destroy anyone's car and then have the application get denied. They would not finalize any sales until they had received an approval from the government. They then decided to try the first 2 Clunker deals they had in line. If everything went well with those 2 they would start processing the 40 they had waiting.

Hadn't heard anything as of this morning so we called our salesperson again. He said they hadn't submitted any and they were having a meeting shortly to decide what to do. They just called to say that the dealership had decided to pull out of the Cash for Clunkers program completely.

What a frustrating experience. I can't believe how difficult the dealer was to work with and how unprepared they seemed. I know there were definite problems with the plan, but our dealer didn't seem to know even the basic details and requirements, which could be found at the cars.gov website.

 

Was your dealer an independent? We are working with a dealer that is part of the Autonation group. Since they are a big corporation they have all sorts of people available to handle things like the CARS program. You know what I mean - a lot of familiarity with policies, rules, forms . . . bureaucracies etc. My sales guy (former General manager of at a family owned independent) has worked at both types of dealerships and he felt that for the Autonation group it was going pretty well because they have the staff. He also thought that the independents might have trouble. I'm thinking he was right.