Audio clip
Pat Swift-Oladiende
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Staff Photo by Dan Henry Mitchell Bishop, a car salesman working his second week for Long Hyundai, jump starts a vehicle parked in front of two vehicles marked with "X's" that have been traded in as part of the "Cash for Clunkers" program. Mr. Bishop, sold his first vehicle Wednesday with the individual taking advantage of the new "Cash for Clunkers" program paying up to $4,500 towards the purchase of a new gas efficient vehicle.
GUIDELINES
* Your vehicle must be less than 25 years old on the trade-in date.
* Only purchases or leases of new vehicles qualify.
* Generally, trade-in vehicles must get 18 or less mpg (some very large pick-up trucks and cargo vans have different requirements).
* Trade-in vehicles must be registered and insured continuously for the full year preceding the trade-in.
* You don't need a voucher; dealers will apply a credit at purchase.
* Program runs through Nov. 1, 2009 or when the funds are exhausted, whichever comes first.
* The program requires the scrapping of your eligible trade-in vehicle, and that the dealer disclose to you an estimate of the scrap value of your trade-in.
* The scrap value, however minimal, will be in addition to the rebate, and not in place of the rebate.
SOURCE: www.cars.gov>
Interest in the government Cash for Clunkers program reached a fever pitch Friday when dealers got their first glimpse of finalized guidelines.
The program gives consumers $3,500 to $4,500 off the sticker price of new cars if they trade in their fuel-inefficient cars or trucks. The more fuel conserved equals a bigger rebate.
"We've had a tremendous amount of interest," said Pat Swift-Oladiende, a spokeswoman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the agency administering Cash for Clunkers, whose official name is the Car Allowance Rebate System.
"Just based on the number of dealers signing up today on our Web site, we know the dealers are very interested," she said.
The program will begin issuing rebates to car dealers on Monday, but car buyers can begin trading in their cars now, Ms. Swift-Oladiende said. Dealers apply for and receive the grants. Aside from proving ownership, there is little work required for the consumer.
Only certain vehicles are eligible for the rebates, however. For example, a 1999 Mercury Grand Marquis qualifies, but a Ford Contour -- a much smaller vehicle made the same year -- does not qualify.
The size of the car being purchased also impacts the rebate amount. A 1999 Chevrolet Silverado, for example, traded in for a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu -- a lighter midsized sedan -- would get a $4,500 rebate. But if the owner opted for the more pricey and larger Chevy Impala, the rebate drops to $3,500.
In LaFayette, Ga., customers were lining up for the rebate, said Jackson GMC General Manager Danny Skates. In the middle of the week, the dealership had already negotiated one sale based on the Cash for Clunkers rebate, Mr. Skates said. He was hopeful it would help business even more.
"We've had quite a few serious inquiries," Mr. Skates said. "It's certainly going to create a lot of interest in the market place."
The program is aimed getting gas-guzzling vehicles off the road, Ms. Swift-Oladiende said. The programs rules require dealers to pour a solution into the vehicle's engine so that it can no longer be used.
"The program stimulates the economy and puts cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles on the road," she said. "It's a win-win for everyone."
But only if you act quickly. The program has been allotted $1 billion in federal stimulus money, which translates to about 250,000 rebates nationwide. The program is set to expire in November or when it runs out of cash, Ms. Swift-Oladiende said.
Hyundai dealers nationwide were hoping to capitalize on the time-is-money-so-don't-waste-it sales pitch. They began estimating the clunkers' rebates weeks ago. Long of Chattanooga, which sells Hyundai and a handful of other brands, said the Korean carmaker's offer made sense.
"If you think about it, us being in a smaller market in a smaller state, the program might equal about 10 or 20 cars per dealership," said Tommy Nicholas, Long's general manager.
Chrysler dealerships upped the ante by promising to match any clunker money, which could amount to as much as a $9,000 discount. Chattanooga's lone Chrysler dealership closed earlier this year, but dealerships in Cleveland, Tenn., and Dalton and Ringgold, Ga., all reported seeing increased business.
Speaking a month ago about the Cars for Clunkers program, U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Chattanooga, said he supported the program because it helped bring business to the slumping auto industry. But he worried about fraud.
"States that have tried it found it was hard to implement it," Rep. Wamp said. "Certain people will try to trade in cars that they didn't drive. Or they would buy used cars to trade in."
There are some 60 pages of rules for car dealers and a list of restrictions for car buyers. Among the restrictions are some aimed at making sure trade-ins are the primary cars being driven by owners.
Dealers should be able to apprise car buyers on the rules, Ms. Pat Swift-Oladiende said.
"They are well aware of all the rules," she said.
Adam Crisp covers education issues for the Times Free Press. He joined the paper's staff in 2007 and initially covered crime, public safety, courts and general assignment topics. Prior to Chattanooga, Crisp was a crime reporter at the Savannah Morning News and has been a reporter and editor at community newspapers in southeast Georgia. In college, he led his student paper to a first-place general excellence award from the Georgia College Press Association. He earned ...
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