Cash for Clunkers

What details are you talking about? All details are publicly available to everyone and nothing has changed (as of today) since the law was passed.

This has been signed off and it is already Law (US Code XIII Sec 1301-1302). The law is called "Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act of 2009". Much of the law is already written and available to review. The parts that are to take no more than 30 days (could be sooner but not likely) from the time it was passed (it was signed off as law on June 24th) are:
1. provide for a means of registering dealers for participation in the Program
2. establish procedures for the reimbursement of dealers
participating in the Program to be made through electronic
transfer of funds for the amount of the vouchers as soon as
practicable but no longer than 10 days after the submission of
information supporting the eligible transaction, as deemed
appropriate by the Secretary
3. require the dealer to use the voucher in addition to any
other rebate or discount advertised by the dealer or offered by
the manufacturer for the new fuel efficient automobile and
prohibit the dealer from using the voucher to offset any such
other rebate or discount
4. require dealers to disclose to the person trading in an
eligible trade-in vehicle the best estimate of the scrappage value
of such vehicle and to permit the dealer to retain $50 of any
amounts paid to the dealer for scrappage of the automobile as
payment for any administrative costs to the dealer associated
with participation in the Program
5. establish requirements and procedures for the disposal of eligible trade-in vehicles and provide such information as may be necessary to entities engaged in such disposal to ensure that such vehicles are disposed of in accordance with such requirements and procedures
6.provide for the enforcement of the penalties described in
subsection
7. how to determine if a vehicle is an eligible trade-in vehicle
8. how to participate in the Program, including how to determine participating dealers
9.a comprehensive list, by make and model, of new fuel
efficient automobiles meeting the requirements of the Program

Other than these things everything else has been determined and written as law.

That is the law and is punishable by fine. Any scrapper in their right mind wouldn't tempt the system. All it would take is a disgruntled employee making minimum wage to turn them in. They will make plenty from the parts that they can sell from the car. And yes they can part the car out except for Engine and Drive Train.

 

If it wasn't for this program I would keep my 87 Volvo Turbo wagon for another year or two. It probably needs about $750-$1,000 to get it through 12-24 more months of use. Being it came with an automatic it is rated at 18 mpg. It may have a manual tranny now but the registration still shows an automatic.

It is only worth about $750 as a trade in if I was lucky with 370K miles on the clock.

That $4,500 is just too tempting to pass up on a new Prius.

I get nothing from the government other than their hand out for taxes from me. It is about time I finally get something back from them.

 

ALS-I kind of have that same attitude. As a non-minority, small biz owner with employees who pays a TON of taxes, I sure don't get any handouts, either. Seeing that I currently drive a 98 Passport that qualifies, I thought "Hey, I FINALLY qualify for something!"

So...I'm in. It is 100% the reason I'm getting a Prius. I would NOT spend that much on a car if the things didn't align:

-great rebate
-new great hybrid car
-mine won't be resold-but crushed up!

 

I would not be getting a new Prius if it were not for this program either. My plan was to hold off a year or two until a plug-in Prius was available. I can't pass up this deal though. When a PHEV Prius is available I'll get one and give the 2010 to my wife (or she'll get the PHEV ).

 

My plan, too, rstark18.

My wife always ends up being the 2nd adopter, since I'm always first.

 

Same here. Putting the '92 Volvo 940 Turbo into the CARS program. It comes in at exactly 18 MPG under the new EPA ratings. Sadly the car is in perfect running condition and average cosmetic condition, but it pollutes almost 3 times as much as the Prius! Get it off the road!

We also probably would not have bought the Prius yet without this program. And don't forget you'll get a new car tax break on your Federal taxes too.

 

Welshdog, I was just about to post that there were no more hybrid incentives left for the Prius. But I found what you were talking about.

Special Tax Break Available for New Car Purchases This Year

Cool stuff! Not huge...just local & state sales tax. But just another incentive!

Thanks for pointing that out.

Kevin

 

I wasn't interested in a new car either until this program. Then, after looking into it and driving a Prius, I was ready to purchase. The only snag is that the dealer doesn't want our 2000 Altima as trade. So, instead of giving us trade-in value and then reselling it for us they suggested we sell it ourselves and then come back.
I have no intention of selling a perfectly good car and then going carless until a Prius happens to arrive that is the right color with the right options and run the risk of the dealer deciding not to honor the agreed on price.
Dealers used to take your trade-in and resell it for you to make buying a new car easy. That's one of the ways they earned their profit (selling at MSRP). The way this was to transpire, they wanted me sell my current car so I could walk in with cash down, obtain financing through them and walk to work for an unknown amount of time until my car comes in. Oh, and they would allow me the privilege of paying MSRP for the honor of purchasing through them without any effort on their part to earn a profit. What kind souls. I forgot why I quit buying new cars, but they reminded me all over.

 

This Cash for Clunkers program is going to be incredible. It is going to help a lot of folks out of their gas guzzlers and into something new and efficient, hopefully to save them lots of money.

I work at a Toyota dealership, so if anyone needs or wants detailed info, just send me a PM

 

I don't quite understand your post. Does your car meet the requirements of the CARS clunker program? If it does and it's value is less than $4500...just turn it in. If not, I guess you'll have to sell it. That said, there are Prius's on lots...they might just not be the perfect color and all. Good luck.

 

This was a trade-in additional to the CARS program. My point is that if I have to sell it myself, what value does the dealer add to the car buying process to justify MSRP? What do they add that is worth $1,000+ over invoice?

 

One thing you need to understand. With the CARS program the dealer is required to hand the car over to a scrapper and therefore can't resell it. As far as $1000 over invoice that is just that dealer and the deal they want to make regardless of the CARS program. Would it have been the same price if you didn't have your CARS trade-in? It should have been.

 

Ummm yes. I understand that the truck I would be trading in for the CARS program would have been scrapped and could not be resold. ~MSRP is what new Priuses are selling for locally and would not be any different with or without CARS program.

 

Yes, Tom, your post is very confusing. When you turn in your car, you get $0 for it. You do not get any money for trading in your car if you are using the CARS program. Period.

Anything pricing they are playing around with has nothing to do with the value of your car. It doesn't matter what you think it's worth...it's basically worth NOTHING to them to take it in as the scrappage value pays for their admin and transportation and little more. So, your car is no more valuable than some total junker that can barely run with the windows knocked out and rust from front to back. As long as it can drive and meets the US law requirements, they have to take it and give you exactly $4500 off the MSRP of the new car.

If you are turning a car in for CARS, I guess you should stop using the turn "trade in" as that's not what it really is. Maybe this is why I'm confused with your posts...

If you're getting $1 or $1000 for your car as a trade-in, you are not using the CARS program.

 

Hello everyone! New 2010 Prius owner.

1. Go to cars.gov and that website will tell you all you need to know.

2. I had a '91 Camry, 6 cylinder, 18 mpg combined. The difference between combined millage of Camry and the Prius got me over the 10 mpg needed to get $4,500.00 off the price! 4 to 9 gets you $3,500.00.

3. The Camry will be crushed by law.

4. Any car will do and the car you are buying can be domestic or foreign.

5. Must have owned the car for at least one year and have had insurance also for one year or more.

6. Don't forget that this year, all sales tax of a new car is a tax credit.

 

Exactly. Not sure why people aren't just going to site. It's VERY organized and lays out everything. You can also download the actual law passed and signed by Obama. KW

 

Cash for clunkers will make dealers a good amount of money.

Lets say you turn in that shiny SUV for $4500. The dealer has to scrap it but he can SELL it to the scrapper for $500 (????) for the value of its airbags, radio, doors, glass, bumpers, tires, plus the metal value of the remaining body and drivetrain. The scrapper does have to crush the car body and engine (together of course!) but the pickings before its crushed are going to be profitable.

The dealer and the scrapper both make money. The government pays the same $4500 regardless of how much money is made from the scrap car.

 

Actually, the scrap value belongs to the owner (the person who traded it in) minus $50 which is designated to the dealer for associated costs. The owner can use the scrap value to negotiate further with the dealer. It's your cube, you can do what you want with it!

 

Let me try posting this again. It didn't show up last time.

Having re-read my post, I can see how it was confusing. I apologize. What I was trying to say is that I was planning to participate by trading in my Truck (1988 Chevrolet Silverado 14MPG) for CARS and additionally trade in my 2000 Nissan Altima as a traditional trade-in. I found out that the Dealer did not want to give me a fair price for the Altima, so there is no longer an incentive for me to purchase a new Prius. I actually have incentive to NOT purchase a new car.

 

I think they'll have to follow a guilde line