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My Experience with the “Cash for Clunkers” Program

I was aware of and began following the “Cash for Clunkers” program at least 2 weeks before it started. I have a 20 year old Jeep that qualified nicely under the program since it got 10 mpg city and 12 mpg highway. I was looking forward to trading up to a new, more efficient full size truck.

Early in the program, the rules stated that your trade had to get at least 5 mpg better than your old trade, and if it was less than 10 mpg better, you would get $3500 for the trade. I went ahead and set-up an appointment with my car guy during the first week of the program, but by the time I showed up, the programs was suspended. it took 4 days to blow through the 1 billion dollars.

When the program came back, refreshed with 2 billion in new funding, I quickly called my dealer who informed me that the rules have changed. I could not trade my old Jeep for a full size truck even though it has better fueal economy. I could only trade for a little 4 cylinder car or light truck. Well, I have driven those before and they wouldn’t suit my needs.

Finally, I found a 5 cylinder, 4×4 GMC Canyon that qualified for a trade under the program, but it was 4 hours away! The program was so popular, that none of my local dealers had a Canyon or Colorado (same truck, different branding). There were in fact 2 of these vehicles in the whole state of Michigan! Both were at least 4 hours drive for me.

So I did an app over the phone and fax, got approved, and made an appointment for a few days later. By the time I was ready to head down and sign the deal, the dealer informed me that they were backing out of the program early because the federal government were slow payers. In fact, they were owed 1 million dollars and hadn’t, at that point, been paid anything at all. They were worried they wouldn’t be able to make payroll. The majority of dealers complained that it was so poorly run on the part of the government, that they were worried they wouldn’t receive all the money they were owed. My guy told me there was an 11 page form that had to be filled out by the dealers to get their money back, and many were being denied because of small errors on the paperwork.

That was on a Thursday. The following Monday, the program was over. I suppose it worked out well for some people. Obviously, many people traded in their old cars for newer, more efficient ones. Though, they were mostly foreign cars. The program didn’t work out for me. I still drive my “clunker” daily, and look forward to polluting the air a bit longer.

Quick, sign me up for government run health care!