In the News: Top Headlines on Cash For Clunkers a.k.a. Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS)
CARS tells dealers how to kill a C4C’s engine
…LegalCash for Clunkers can be a bit complicated, what with last minute rule changes and the multitudes of stipulations ingrained into the program. However, one aspect of C4C that leaves little to the imagination is what happens when a vehicle is turned in under the program: The engine is permanently wrecked, and the vehicle is destroyed.The offi…
Making the Most of Your Clunker Cash
…new government Cash for Clunkers program (or Car Allowance Rebate System – CARS). The dealers have set out all their signs and wacky personalities and inflatable monkeys – all to get you to trade in your clunker for a better car right now. I’ve spent some time discussing CARS with Ann Mesnikoff, head of the Sierra Club’s Green Transportation Ca…
Cash for Clunkers racks up 22,782 trade-ins and $95.9 million so far
…s Cash for Clunkers program returned 4,026 orders on its first full day of availability, some were surprised by the speed with which the sales booster took off. After only five days, the program seems to have picked up steam rather than lost it: 22,782 trade-ins have funneled through dealer lots in the 3-4 days since Monday when the program beg…
Shady Website Claims D-List Stars Support Cash For Reasonably Clunked Cars [Carpocalypse]
…to the Cash For Clunkers program has been nefarious types creating websites posing as helpful/official sites (the only official one is CARS.gov) and snagging personal data. A practice now endorsed by D-list celebs. The most hilarious/awful instance of this practice we’ve yet seen is the “Cash For Clunkers Automotive Network,” promoting sites lik…
REPORT: 9 of Top 10 clunkers being traded in are large trucks
…cash for clunkers“) program, people are taking old vehicles and turning them into new ones, with a fancy $4,500 check attached. Now that CARS has been active for a short while, early numbers are in: the trucks and SUVs that were so incredibly popular just a few years ago are being dumped by the thousands for smaller, more efficient vehicles. A…
Cash For Clunkers Update: 22,782 Trade-Ins, Money May Run Out By September! [Carpocalypse]
…Cash For Clunkers has quickly encouraged 22,782 trade-ins for $95.9 million. At this rate, NHTSA forecasts the one billion dollar fund could run dry by early September.
Where the fiasco is at today, a Cash for Clunkers update
…Cash for Clunkers” program has transitioned from Congressionally-passed legislation to NHTSA rule book, it has at same time gone from a great way to get old gas guzzlers off the road to something resembling a fiasco. Over the course of the past week, dealers have worried that they might be subject to income taxes on the rebates they collect and …
Cash For Clunkers Worthless For Most Auto Recyclers [Carpocalypse]
…suggest the Cash For Clunkers program is creating some new cars sales, but it’s also creating questions: are there incentives forrecyclers? Can you strip down your own car? Is the CARS Act “horseshit beyond repair” for recyclers? According to the law, there are approximately 7,700 car recyclers who have the ability to process cars because they …
Cash for Clunkers program nets 4,000 sales on first day
…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 tocash in on the federal program. That is, assuming the EPA didn’t make your vehicle inel…
Hoping to snag a Jetta TDI with your clunker cash? Sorry, you may be too late!
…click above for high-res image gallery Undoubtedly, one vehicle with the potential to profit handsomely from this week’s expected rush by Americans to unload old gas guzzlers for newer, more thrifty vehicles is Volkswagen’s Jetta TDI. With owners reporting typical real-world mileage of around 35-40 mpg along with superior dynamics to most hybri…
REPORT: EPA ratings changes shift some “clunkers” out of cash range
…official rules for the CAR Allowance Rebate System (CARS, also known as the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act of 2009 and the “cash for clunkers” bill) were released. Also last Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “refreshed” the combined mpg ratings on its Fuel Economy website. Why does this matter? Turns out the refres…
Full List Of Disqualified Cars Under Cash For Clunkers Refresh [Carpocalypse]
…the disqualified cash for clunkers vehicles. Below, the cars recently made eligible and ineligible after the EPA “refresh.” According to the EPA, what’s used on the window sticker or on their website is considered to be purely for guidance, whereas the Cash ForClunkers (i.e. CARS Act) program requires data out to the fourth decimal place. When …
Eight Ways To Get Screwed By Cash For Clunkers [Carpocalypse]
…screwed the Cash For Clunkers bill. A lot has happened in a month and we now we’ve got three more ways to get screwed. 8.) Buy A Clunker Now! Some unscrupulous sellers may try and convince you to buy a clunker for a few hundred dollars with the promise of being able to trade it in for a $4,500 voucher. In reality, if you haven’t owned your car a…
Kalashnikovs for Clunkers: The Next Stimulus Plan
…t qualify for the federal Cash–for–Clunkers rebate program, Mark Muller of Max Motors in Butler, Missouri, has an offer you might want to consider: get a free AK-47 with a new truck. The dealer, whose motto is “God, Guns, Guts and American Pick-Up Trucks,” one-upped himself from last year’s offer of pistols or petrol, and said that…
The Next Stimulus Plan: Kalashnikovs for Clunkers
…t qualify for the federal “cash for clunkers” rebate program, Mark Muller of Max Motors in Butler, Missouri, has an offer you might want to consider: get a free AK-47 with a new truck. The dealer, whose motto is “God, Guns, Guts and American Pick-Up Trucks,” one-upped himself after last year’s offer of pistols or petro and…
Hoping to snag a Jetta TDI with your clunker cash? Too late!
…click above for high-res image gallery Undoubtedly one of the vehicles could have profited handsomely from this week’s expected rush by Americans to unload old gas guzzlers for something more thrifty was Volkswagen’s Jetta TDI. With its typical 35-40 mpg real-world mileage, superior dynamics to most hybrids and relatively sedate pricing, the Je…
REPORT: EPA performs 11th-hour refresh that makes some cars ineligible for Cash forClunkers
…fore the federal Car Allowance Rebate System – CARS (a.k.a. “Cash–for–Clunkers“) program went into effect last week. The sweetening $3,500 and $4,500 incentives are available to consumers who trade-in 1984 or newer vehicles with a combined fuel economy average of 18 miles-per-gallon, or less in exchange for more fuel efficient transportation (22…
Show Us The Clunkers! [Show Your Pics]
…With the Cash For Clunkers trade-in program in full swing, we think it’s time to take the pulse of the state of our clunker nation. So grab your cameras Jalopni-philes and head over to your local dealership. Give us your photos of traded-in clunkers in the comments below and we’ll make sure they show up on the front page. The commenters who get …
Gray Market Cars, a Cash for Clunkers Stumper
…car qualify for the cash for clunkers program? It is just one of many issues that Congress did not anticipate while creating the law.
REPORT: Dealers may have to pay taxes on Cash for Clunkers rebates
…Cash for Clunkers” program, or CARS (Car Allowance Rebate System) that launched yesterday. As the rebate program kicks into gear, dealers that are hoping to cash in are facing a new worry. But according to Automotive News, they may end up having to pay federal and/or state taxes on the rebate money they receive from the federal government. It se…
EPA Secretly Changing MPG Numbers Ahead Of Cash For Clunkers, Screwing Consumers [Cash For Clunkers]
…clunkers” for new vehicles through the Cash for Clunkers (or CARS) program are discovering the EPA changed fuel economy numbers for some cars last week, making it impossible to trade them in! Update. New Jersey resident Jeff Chase was considering trading in his 1989 Mazda 929 for a new car and checked the government’s FuelEconomy.gov website and…
smart USA president Dave Schembri on clunkers, upcoming electric smarts
…2009 Smart ForTwo – Click above for high-res image gallery In the first year that smart fortwo’s were available in the U.S., the company sold about 30,000 units. After that first heady period, though, sales dropped off dramatically. In June 2009, the company sold just 1,116 fortwos and in May the number was 1,169, for an annual rate of just over…
From the Dept. of Mixed Messages: LaHood Touts ‘Cash for Clunkers’
…cash for clunkers” program. Originally touted as a boost to both the environment and the adrift domestic auto industry, the “cashfor clunkers” concept quickly became nothing but the latter after Congress watered it down to apply to cars that get as little as 22 miles per gallon — and trucks that boast even lower fuel…
REPORT: Nissan engineers tweaking vehicles to meet Cash–for–Clunkers requirements
…Click above for a high-res gallery In an effort to sweeten the incentive for those taking advantage of the government’s Car Allowance Rebate System (a.k.a. “Cash–for–Clunkers“), Nissan has reportedly sent its engineers back to the lab in order to pinch every last mile out of each gallon of fuel. As it is written, the program offers a sweeter inc…
Cash for Clunkers Begins Today
…cash for clunkers,” finally kicks off with a press conference this morning by the transportation secretary, Ray LaHood.
REPORT: Cash–For–Clunkers dealers instructed to kill engines with sodium silicate
…s Cash–For–Clunkers program were being certified as destroyed, but actually being resold. To prevent that scenario from repeating itself in the U.S., land of Honest Abe, dealers have apparently been instructed to fill the engines of trade-ins with sodium silicate and run them for seven minutes in order to permanently disable them. Early reports …
