Stopped into a local Toyota dealer to pick up a book and make sure I was comfortable in the drivers seat. 6"4' and 250 lbs I like to make sure I fit in the car. Talk about a hungry salesman that was really trying to sell me one of the two Blizzard Pearl III's they had on the lot. Since I do not want white Prius it was a no go today. Right car wrong color. Since I dress like a slob he was at first trying to push an used 07 on me before I told him I wanted a 10. Once he knew that, he wanted to write an order up right now. When he said you better get in on that Clunkers program today before they run out of money. That was when I realized he was real hungry for a sale. He would not quit about getting my Prius ordered today and on the CARS program. But anyway I'll stop back the first or second week of August and talk to him again and order the car. I sure didn't get the feeling that they had a line of twenty people lined up tongues hanging out panting for the car as they say.
Dealers will be dealers...even when they're slammed, they'll grab you as you come into the lot. Their pay is tied to sales...so there is no such thing as "enough." That said, I'm buying a 2010 (order is in) and picking it up in a week using the CARS program. From everyone I've talked to, they are very mixed as to how many people will use the CARS program. It was wildly successful in Europe and this is the model we are basing the US law on. Europe had to actually extend it and add money into the program because so many people wanted to turn in cars. That said, our requirements are much more strict than theirs. Several dealers I talked to think that it won't be as wildly popular because many people with clunkers don't want to take on a large car payment in this economy. So...we'll see. I would still recommend doing it sooner than later, if you're considering it. It will be QUITE PAINFUL for people who turn in their clunker a week later in November and get $1,500 knowing they could have received $4500 a week earlier. One other thing to consider is if you are ordering, it might take a couple months. From what I heard, you will qualify for the money if you have a VIN number. But if you're custom ordering and the money runs out, you won't get the money. Not 100% sure that's how it works, but I heard it's impt to get a VIN # to lock up your voucher money.
