Cash for Clunkers has been incredibly popular from a consumer standpoint, with 457,000 cars being traded in thus far for a total rebate of $1.9 billion. As the Cash for Clunkers program approaches $3 billion, however, the funding is running dry and the plug is being pulled.
Auto dealers take note: the deadline to submit any pending Cash for Clunkers deals, including all paperwork, is 8:00 pm ET on Monday, August 24th.
While the program has obviously produced a lot of results in a short period of time, not all auto dealers have given Cash for Clunkers glowing reports.
For example, auto dealers in the San Francisco Bay Area have reported that despite promises from the Obama Administration that they would be reimbursed for the rebates they are giving to car buyers, there is some skepticism and fear that they could be left taking some losses. Some dealers are still owed in the millions. From a story at MercuryNews.com:
“We haven’t received anything yet,” said Tom Young, operating partner and executive manager of Concord Chevrolet. “I have not heard of a single other dealership that’s been reimbursed. They have a lot of our money.”
Concord Chevrolet has about 44 deals awaiting reimbursement from the federal government, which is offering $3,500 to $4,500 per car as part of the Cash for Clunkers program. The government said Thursday that the program would end Monday.
Downtown Toyota of Oakland halted its participation in Cash for Clunkers last Friday, owner Ralph Fattore said. It has turned away “at least 30, maybe 40″ customers who wanted to trade in a clunker for cash, Fattore said.
“I have not gotten one dollar in reimbursement,” Fattore said. “I have $300,000 or more dollars out there that Uncle Sam owes us. If they screwed up this program so badly, I wonder what our health care system will be like.”
AutoNation, which operates dealerships throughout the country, including a number in the Bay Area under the AutoWest brand, says it is owed $45 million by the government.
Obviously everyone is still hoping that, despite the delays, reimbursements will be forthcoming. The problems are not limited to the Bay Area either. Dealers in New York, among others, have pulled out of the Cash for Clunkers program early. They also say that reimbursements have been slow to come.
Other dealers, however, while concerned about the delays and contemplating an early withdrawal “just to be safe,” are expecting a huge surge of Cash for Clunkers activity over the last weekend of the program. From a story at RGJ.com:
“There’s still a demand among people interested in purchasing (a new vehicle),” said Richard West, president of Jones West Ford on Kietzke Lane in Reno, where about 25 new vehicles have been sold since the program started in July.
“If you’re sitting on the fence, now is the time to buy,” West said.
For more information and to stay abreast of the latest news, here a few resources:
- Official Cash for Clunkers website — (CARS.gov)
- Cash for Clunkers to end Monday — (Official Press Release from CARS.gov)
- Cash for Clunkers Facts — (CashForClunkersFacts.com)
Tags: auto dealers, auto sales, AutoNation, cash for clunkers, government