AP sources: Govt to suspend 'cash for clunkers'

Government can't even handle a pidly billion dollar program and they expect us to trust them by taking over a trillion dollar health care system?

Dealers will be left holding the bag. For the dealer to see any of the money they have to destroy the vehicle first, then there is a chance that the government might say "Sorry that vehicle didn't qualify", because you forgot to dot an I on the application. The EPA changed mileage standards on certain vehicles, one day they qualified and the next they didn't?

From what I am hearing from my salesman buddies (I used to sell cars) is that this was a big "bait and switch" anyway. People coming in and their vehicles do not qualify, but since they are there, they work a deal anyway.

reply to post by RRconservative


I have no problem believing that dealerships may be left holding the bag. With the run they've had this past week the funds have probably be gone for days already. My oldest works for an auto wreckers and he said he's been doing nothing but pick up from dealers all week long.

The program requires the scrapping of your eligible trade-in vehicle,

www.cars.gov...


I wonder if the government knows that just because the car was sold to an auto wreckers doesn't mean that it will actually be scrapped. Unless maybe they have some law that goes hand in hand with this program that mandates the cars be crushed. A lot of those cars will be resold to people that will fix them up for personal use or to resell them. This will defeat one of the main purposes of the program, which is to get this cars off the streets.

To make matters worse, dealers are required to permanently disable the engines of traded-in clunkers before they can apply to the government for repayment, Krebs said. If payment is denied, the dealer is out the $3,500 or $4,500, and has a car with a ruined engine that can't be resold.

I don't see how the government is going to be able to verify wether or not the dealers did in fact permanantly disable the engines. From what i hear they're just scrappin them.

Though the White House is providing reassurances that dealers won't lose money, that could happen based on cash-for-clunkers rules. Dealers are required to give qualifying buyers the $3,500 or $4,500 discounts, and then apply to the government for reimbursement. Dealers who apply for repayment after the funding runs out will not be reimbursed, according to the program's rules.

"There's a big concern among dealers that this thing may run out of money and they don't want to be stuck holding the bag," said Michelle Krebs, senior editor of AutoObserver.com.

I feel sorry for any dealers that take a loss on this thing, and if any of them do it will have an adverse effect on the economy.

www.chicagotribune.com...

[edit on 7/31/2009 by chise61]

Something must really be wrong for the gov to stop something. Generally they ride their idiocy straight into the ground.

It was always messed up for New Hampshire residents. NH has no insurance requirement and having the car insured for a year prior to turning it in was one of the gov's criteria.

If the fed cant handle a few thousand folks and their old cars how are they going to handle 300 million and their vital organs?

reply to post by chise61


Are you aware that the energy cost of building a new car is around 160,000,000 BTUs? I wonder how many years you would have to drive one of these clunkers to produce a larger carbon footprint?

Here is a discussion you should look at...

Cash for Clunkers- the sad demise of good cars.

so far here's what i've seen come in. seems that mostly middle-class, financially stable citizens are trading in their 2nd or 3rd vehicle to buy a new one.

keep in mind all these vehicles listed are in running/driving condition, pass smog and safety inspection as well. this is only a week or so worth of cash for clunkers.

this is only a week or so worth of cash for clunkers.

1993 BMW 530i v8 (manual trans)
1988 Toyota Land Cruiser (77k miles)
1992 Cadillac DeVille
1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee (4x4 Laredo)
2000 Ford Explorer
1994 Chevrolet Caprice (LT1)
1995 Volvo 960 (pending gov't approval)

all of these vehicles WILL be immediately crushed.

can you guess what i have to do with them before they get hauled away??

forums.corral.net...

One of the best ways to reduce your carbon footprint is to buy used a car, not new.

Another thing that seems to be beyond the the governments comprehension is the people who drive the "real clunkers", that need to be taken off the street, don't have the credit or can't afford a new car.

Car dealer: 'If they can't administer program like this, I'd be concerned about health insurance'...

wcbstv.com...

That about sums up my thoughts exactly

Cash for Clunkers May Cost Up to $45,354 Per Vehicle

LOL
seekingalpha.com...

reply to post by Stormdancer777


I dont know whether to laugh, cry or set a government building on fire. Such a wave of emotion.

It's like somebody let the crackhead hold the checkbook.

House approves $2B more for 'cash for clunkers'

www.breitbart.com...

Originally posted by MOFreemason

AP sources: Govt to suspend 'cash for clunkers'

www.breitbart.com

WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional officials say the government plans to suspend the popular "cash for clunkers" program amid concerns it could quickly use up the $1 billion in rebates for new car purchases.

(visit the link for the full news article)

today one day later from the OP posting, the house passed overwelmingly to put 2 billion more into the program!! what suspension??? Oh, the one on FOX NEWS...sorry.... from AP "sources"

I'd be willing to bet the majority of these old clunkers on the road are residing with the working class and poor - who may or may not have a job at the moment and who are most likely unable to get financing at any cost. It makes me wonder who exactly this really benefits.

Originally posted by Unnoan
I'd be willing to bet the majority of these old clunkers on the road are residing with the working class and poor - who may or may not have a job at the moment and who are most likely unable to get financing at any cost. It makes me wonder who exactly this really benefits.

It benefits those who have a low MPG vehicle that were looking to downsize for whatever reason anyway, and who can afford a new car. As a car salesman, it does seem to have spurred some much needed activity in the new car sector, but just how far it accomplishes the stated goals of the program is questionable. At the dealership I work at, only the Hyundai brand is participating, as only Hyundai is promising to pay the dealership back if the gov reneges.

It's a typical government boondoggle.

reply to post by mhc_70


I think somehow you misunderstood my post to imply that i believe all these cars need to be taken off the streets.

Another thing that seems to be beyond the the governments comprehension is the people who drive the "real clunkers", that need to be taken off the street, don't have the credit or can't afford a new car.

You are absolutely right about this.

Apparently one of the biggest problems with this program is the government's innability to handle all of the claims.

That's when they ran into difficulties with a federal Web site ill equipped to handle the volume of claims and the multiple documents each submission requires. Some dealers said the process took upward of an hour for each transaction, caused repeated rejections and consumed many hours submitting and resubmitting data

The dealers seem to be having major problems getting these rebates approved and fear they won't receive all the money they're entitled to.

At Walser Toyota in Bloomington, customers began lining up on Monday before doors opened at 7:30 a.m.. Swenson said. By that afternoon, his dealership had done 150 trade-ins under the program. His salesmen worked overnight to scan and submit forms.

But of the 150, he said, only 30 received responses and all of those were rejections.

It took three hours Thursday for employees at one of Sam Pack's Dallas-area Ford dealerships to submit just eight documents. Pack said he feared that many deals made under the program wouldn't be properly reimbursed

"The details of processing this is beyond what anybody would think is reasonable," he said.

autos.yahoo.com...

reply to post by jimmyx

Yes, according to today's New York Times, the program has received more funding and will continue a little longer because it has turned out to be a lot more popular than expected.

It's just like ATS for people to be belly-aching because the government has a program that works well, that helps the auto industry, that helps car buyers, and that helps the environment.

Of course the program isn't perfect. No program ever is.

But according to a lot of you, the Obama administration is wrong no matter what it does.

reply to post by Sestias


Can you please tell me which part of this program is working well?

The dealers who are spending hours a day with mountains of paperwork and still not getting re-imbursed or the environment...

www.wired.com...

Go Green — Buy a Used Car. It’s Better Than a Hybrid.

Ditching your gas guzzler is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint, but if you really want to do something about global warming, get a used car. You’ll be putting less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

As Matt Power notes in this month’s issue of Wired, hybrids get great gas mileage but it takes 113 million BTUs of energy to make a Toyota Prius. Because there are about 113,000 BTUs of energy in a gallon of gasoline, the Prius has consumed the equivalent of 1,000 gallons of gasoline before it reaches the showroom. Think of it as a carbon debt — one you won’t pay off until the Prius has turned over 46,000 miles or so.