Cash for Clunkers program nets 4,000 sales on first day
The government's Cash for Clunkers program only got off the ground on Monday, yet 4,026 eligible vehicles were reportedly swapped out in the program's first day. The program already has 20,564 certified Clunkers dealers, which gives eligible customers plenty of places to to cash in on the federal program. That is, assuming the EPA didn't make your vehicle ineligible in the 11th hour.
Hitting 4,000 Cash for Clunkers-related sales in the first day is impressive, but that's only a small portion of sales that the program is expected to create. The vehicles sold on Monday alone represent $17 million in rebates, which leaves $933 million in program funding after administrative costs are taken out. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood estimates that the program has room for 250,000 rebates total, so it seems that we've just scratched the surface.
But if consumers continue to trade in their vehicles at such a torrid pace, the money allocated for the program will be completely gone in about two months, well ahead of the November deadline to exhaust the program's budget. We've got a feeling, however, that there are more than a few deals struck on Monday that had been in the books for a couple of weeks. After all, some manufacturers have been accepting Cash for Clunkers deals since early July.
[Source: Detroit News, Photo: Will Keown]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
JayC 11:10AM (7/29/2009)
is that picture real? LOL
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Brian 11:17AM (7/29/2009)
I wonder if it's a photoshop or a publicity gimmick a dealer cooked up.
Will 11:19AM (7/29/2009)
Yes that photo is real but unfortunately i can't take credit for it. I just saw it on Steve White VW's twitpic and sent it to autoblog a few days ago. Great idea to promote CFC though!
Kumar 1:46PM (7/29/2009)
There's a similar setup in Indianapolis. I was driving around last weekend, and thought a car had slipped from a display stand. When we got closer we could see a few cars on end in a dumpster.
Nice cheap way to advertise.
Galley 2:08PM (7/29/2009)
Here's the photo on Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/ao5ga
That's funny. I was driving down the Greenville Motor Mile (where Steve White VW is located) and noticed that most dealers had clunkers in the front row with advertising on them.
bwzd7p2 5:06PM (7/29/2009)
I was curious so I made a big detour after work to go look. The Taurus is real and still there, but the Santa Fe is gone and the Blazer has been turned like the Taurus. Maybe it was unstable?
Venom 11:14AM (7/29/2009)
That photo is awesome.
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Brian 11:15AM (7/29/2009)
To my own 1989 Jeep Cherokee 261,215 mi. Wherever you are, I will miss you old girl.
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Andrew L 11:50AM (7/29/2009)
My Dad's old Econoline, I will miss you...
My father had a 94 Econoline conversion van (Centaurus). this thing was awesome, every option you could think of and then more like a rear mounted vacuum cleaner. I tried talking him out of trading it in but he didn't listen and instead got a 09 Nissan Altima Hybrid. My hippy sister called and said she was proud of him on one hand for going hybrid but on the other hand was upset he didnt sell the van to her... I would have totally taken the van first and sold my Sable for it...
Brian 11:17AM (7/29/2009)
The government is trying to break the rules of the free market, but it will come back to bite it in the ass.
All this is doing is having Uncle Sugar shift forward demand three or four years. All that does is make car sales all that much worse three or four years from now. It also drives up the prices of used cars, hurting the poor. More big government boondoggles and who picks up the tab? Our grandchildren.
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Brian 11:35AM (7/29/2009)
*Brian #1 here*
The US has never had a fully free market and probably never will be. Old myth there.
Yes car demand is probably being shifted somewhat. At a time when the auto industry is in dire straights it is a shift I'm sure they will gladly accept.
Since the number of cars on the road is not being changed and with the 18mpg limitation I doubt it will have a big effect on used car prices.
The 106 Billion war spending bill (and the other 100s of billions spent) it is attached to is the real government boondoggle that our grandchildren will be burdened under in the future.
MeiSooHaityu 11:36AM (7/29/2009)
I agree for the most part. We are going to have to pay this off in taxes eventually (nothing is for free).
Overall I don't care for the program, but here is the thing. I need a new car, and my old 98 Ranger qualifies. I could protest it by not using the money, but I will still have to pay taxes to cover it regardless (money for the program is already set aside).
Long story short; if I can get the rebate, and I still have to pay for it, might as well use it. I'm going to look a Fusions soon :)
Jon 12:07PM (7/29/2009)
"The government is trying to break the rules of the free market, but it will come back to bite it in the ass."
Just like when Reagan dramatically raised the tariff on Japanese motorcycles so that Harley Davidson wouldn't go bankrupt?
Dude 11:19AM (7/29/2009)
We are using what little tax money we have, to give consumers who can't afford a new car, money to get a new car, but then will have to raise taxes on them in order to pay for it down the road. Not to mention we are saddling down these consumers with more debt in a bad economy.
What could possibly go wrong?
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pmalik 11:25AM (7/29/2009)
You do realize that the stricter credit requirements are still in place, right?
CARS didn't change anything besides the additional incentive to scrap your old car; if you have 500 credit score, a beat up 1990 bronco won't save you.
Chris 11:25AM (7/29/2009)
Who says it's forcing people who can't afford a new car to buy a new car? This is the most flawed argument I keep reading over and over in regards to this program. People are still accountable for what they purchase. Even if there's a temporary increase in the value of my clunker, that doesn't mean I HAVE to trade it in and buy something. and if I do, I'm sure as hell going to buy what I can afford. It's not the governments fault people are buying what they can't afford.
British_Rover 12:25PM (7/29/2009)
Most of the CARS deals so far seem to be cash deals. I know it may surprise people that aren't in the industry but a lot of people do buy new cars with cash no finance no payment. Most of the people I have been talking to that are doing CARS deals have either had cash buyers or people with 700 plus credit scores and large down payments in addition to the CARS voucher. People with 700 plus credit scores that are putting down the CARS voucher plus another 5,000 dollars or so aren't going to get the car repoed. They will never be underwater in that car and will most likely pay it off early.
Check out the article at NPR for more info on this.
"We've actually been doing some cash for clunker deals already," says Fred Emich IV, general manager of Emich Volkswagen in Denver. Emich says customers came in asking about the program, and he didn't want to risk losing sales to other dealerships.
Emich was surprised to learn that most of the customers were middle-class folks with good credit ratings — usually thrifty people who kept their cars for a long time.
"I was expecting low-income, poor credit," says Emich. "It has been the complete opposite." He says a few of the customers paid cash for their new cars.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106936163
mellery 11:26AM (7/29/2009)
Any stats on the average increase in mpg the new cars are getting vs the 4000 that were traded in are?
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ack154 11:28AM (7/29/2009)
And your spam needs to GTFO.
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Jeff Johnson 11:39AM (7/29/2009)
Just because someone gets an erection over "MPGs" now the tax payers will have yet another burden to carry. Typical American thinking "just throw it away" and buy a new one.
Retards....
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