Are you the first to get the official $4500 CARS incentive $$$?

We are showing $50 per car.
I'm not sure if you guys know how this works? There are specific instructions as to how to "fry the motor" so the car isn't going anywhere. That means we have to call a transporter to pick the cars up and haul them off. I wonder how much it will cost to clean all that up, including the oil all over the blacktop under them.
The transporters to haul them all off will charge us $175 per car to do that. I'd say $50 is pretty generous considering we're gonna be on the line for $4500 (on average) x how many cars for how many days!? I betcha my owner's counting his jelly beans!!

 

Didn't even bother to ask for the scrap value. Although my dealer conveniently forgot to disclose any scrap value to me. Oops. I guess they can claim it as a first day mistake.

 

Since I live on the west coast, couldn't really be the first, but what haappened to me was really funny. I made a deposit for a 2010 Model III about a week ago. On tuesday my Toyota dealer called to tell me that my car was in but I will not be able to pick it till today. This afternoon I got the call from him while I was on the road in another car.

When I went home to pick up up the clunker which is a 97 T&C with over 220K miles the car wont start. I had to use my jumpers to start the car and noticed many of the warning lights were on. Barely made it to the dealer. Stopped the car and handed him the key. Car would not start. I told him what happend. His response "Perfect timing."

So I guess I lucked out and got the most out of my clunker. Truth is I used this minivan on a regular basis till yestderday and it did not give me any problems. I wonder if the car got upset when it found out it was going to be destroyed!!!!

 

Put in a order today for a Prius II in winter gray. Dealer says it'll be in Aug 10, hopefully in time to trade in my clunker. Originally was going for a III with nav but dealer would have needed to order it (about 8 weeks). Seeing as CARS probably won't last till then, I went for the II.

 

[FONT=&quot]Guys,

I need some advice here. I talked to a few socal dealers and they seemed to know about the CARS program lol!

Did you guys/gals negotiate the price first and then mention the CARS program?

My impression is that if the dealers know you are buying upfront with the CARS program, negotiating the price will be harder.

Also this one dealer tells me he is waiving my clunker fee for dismantling the car. He mentioned something like ~ 1XX bucks. I told him my scrap has a value and he laughed .

Also any concern about taking delivery of the car and in a few weeks, the dealer call to request the $4500 back because something went wrong (ran out of funds, etc)?

I don't need a new car but the program is a no brainer to swap car.

TIA,

John[/FONT]

 

I asked about the price before mentioning CARS, but I'm not sure it would have mattered. The dealer seemed both happy and a bit overwhelmed by the CARS program, and they haven't even begun to accept clunkers.

I was their first customer to use CARS, and their confidence in the program isn't very high yet. They wondered if I still wanted the car if the CARS payment didn't come through. Hopefully things will come together by Tuesday.

 

So you did all the paperwork and not take the car yet? Did you leave the clunker with the dealer .

The tax of the car is before the CARS rebate (thats the only way i see it)?

And why wait until Tuesday? Is that to get confirmation of approval for your clunker or the gov still don't know what the hell they are doing

John

 

the CARS program isn't a profit loss for the dealer there is just alot of uncertaintly around it so you could negotiate on your prius regardless. you probably will get the most money off on a IV or V if any at all, don't expect deals to be had on a II or III. treat the cars voucher like a down payment, because that's exactly what it is.

 

We completed all paperwork, except the vehicle license application. They would not let us take the car, and we did not leave our old van at the dealer.

I suppose the tax is before the CARS rebate--it doesn't really matter to me, because there is no sales tax on a Prius purchase through July 31 in the State of Washington.

The dealer wants some kind of confirmation from the cars.gov site that they have accepted our clunker, before they'll agree we're truly eligible, although cars.gov and Toyota's own site say we are. I'm guessing most dealers are taking this approach, conservative though it may be.

 

Picked up my '10 Prius III yesterday as part of the Cash for Clunkers program. Simple, simple to do, if your dealer knows what to do and has the paperwork ready, which mine did. (Fred Anderson Toyota in Raleigh-Recommended) $4500 from tax money...thanks, America. I turned in a '98 Passport.

That said, I was reluctant to tell people to hurry up for this program. BUT if this dealership is any indication, this is a VERY popular program. They had about 40 clunkers in their lot already (one of which had "Thanks Obama" painted on the side), with many of them being Ford Explorers. If the numbers are true, (the billion dollars divided by all the dealerships equaling 18 clunker deals per dealership)...well, this could be over soon.

So...don't wait if you are truly interested in this program. My guess is it will be expanded if it is this popular, but who knows in this economy?

 

I would rather have the dealer take the approach conservatively than just saying "yes" to everything and later call you back for the $4500 that was rejected later.

For me, I am doing the swap because my second car is a clunker, not like I need a car. If without this program, I won't even consider it.

John

 

Don't think I was the first, but traded in a 1995 Cadillac Seville SLS with 115,000 miles. Got the 4500.00. First impressions are..."Wow", nice driving car. Looking forward to seeing what maximum fuel economy I get.

 

I do not care about being first. I do not however wish to be the guy standing next in line after last.

I'm just back from the dealer who told me I was the first person to file the paperwork at that dealership has required: Title, Registration and Insurance Company Letter (signed on company letterhead) proving uninterrupted coverage for at least one year to do the deal. I filled out a C.A.R.S survey, signed a C.A.R.S. required purchase form (you have to do this) and have a Deal Memo from the dealership. Process took about an hour. I was that dealership's first successful registrant! and they are the second largest dealership in the state.

It appears what is happening is EVERY Cash for Clunkers application must be approved by the government before at least our dealership, maybe other , will release the car!

My paperwork will be submitted Monday morning. The new car is ready to roll.

The only unclear issue is the scrap value. It appears to be $ 250 minus $ 50 - when I have that figure: I walk in with a certified bank check and the deal is done.

Nice to see the - $ 4,500 on the deal paperwork.

No sales tax here in Connecticut on the Prius plus from the dealer free for life oil changes, tires and batteries. Oh, and free maincures while you are getting your free oil change on Monday mornings. Plus in our wee case, a free back bumper protector applique thingie and I think free pin striping. For the latter I'll have to wait until late Wednesday for pick up.

 

Your story parallels mine, except for the freebies, and regarding the final date of approval. The salesman thought it could happen Monday, but the finance guy standing next to him was saying, "Not a chance. Tuesday, at best." If folks are actually taking their cars home now, then there must be some less risk-averse dealers out there!

 

hmmmmm

All of my Clunkers are being left here and everyone's gone home in their new cars.
Once you accept the Clunker and do the contract, the clunker's NOT supposed to hit the streets again. We have specific instructions to "kill" their motors using a liquid solution. I can sure understand why this is required... and what if you get a ticket or wreck your junker? Yikes.
It sucks that a few of you aren't in your new cars & have to wait.
That's your dealership wanting to limit their possible liability till they feel safe and comfortable.

We're sure runnin' out of Prius quick! We've sold 20 Prius since Friday morning. A fourth (1/4th) of those were NOT cash4Clunkers... but what's cool is that the $4500 c4c is actually like having $5000 because there's no sales tax on it!

Psst: I still have a small handful of II's left at my superspecialPriusChatpricing (good thru 7/26 - thru me or Jane, my assistant) in good colors! Gray, white, gold, red, silver! ($1K off window)

Dianne

 

The delay is a little annoying, but the prerequisite for actually getting the car is the dealer's success in interacting with the cars.gov servers. They want to see a receipt indicating acceptance of my particular vehicle. If every dealer in the country is planning on doing that on Monday or Tuesday morning, I wonder if server capacity will match demand. They seemed to have a lot of trouble logging in on Friday.

 

see quote...Good question!

Any Toyota dealers have input on this? Will this work?

IF I pay someone with a $500 clunker to buy a prius with it, get the $4500 rebate and then sell the car to me right away...will that work?
If so I would like to do that.
Will give $500 -1000 to someone easy for their clunker and time.

 

Call them back and tell them the rule specifically said they should disclose the scrap value. I did it and got back $150.

 

The tax is after the CARS rebate, so it's essentially 5000 off for us Californians.
Lovely dachsie, btw. My two couldn't wait to get on the passenger seat.