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Clunker owners should read small print
Wrecked cars are piled up on a scrapyard
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TEXT OF STORY
Bill Radke: Ford is hoping for a boost when the so-called "Cash-For-Clunkers" program starts tomorrow. You've heard about this: you trade in your old gas guzzler for a more fuel-efficient car and the government kicks in up to 4,500 bucks. It's not quite that simple, though, as reporter Rico Gagliano tells us.
Rico Gagliano: If you watch television, like, at all, you'll likely see lots of "Cash for Clunkers" ads --like this one from Phil Fitts Ford in Pennsylvania.
Clunkers Ad: Bring in that old jalopy and get up to $4,500 towards the purchase of a new or select used vehicle!
The ad features shots of junkers from the 50's and 60's. The problem? "Cash For Clunkers" doesn't apply to jalopies that old.
Edmunds.com advice editor Phil Reed says that's just one misconception consumers may have.
Phil Reed: You have to have a car that's newer than 1984, and it also has to get 18 miles per gallon or less combined EPA rating.
And if you think you can buy a clunker today and cash it in tomorrow, think again: to get the money, you need to've owned the car a year. One more thing: even if you qualify for the program, the car-shopping maxim still applies -- "Buyer beware."
Reed: If you march into a dealership and you say, "I've got a clunker, wanna buy a new car," the dealer knows that you're $4,500 ahead of the game, and they're gonna hold the line on the new car.
So Reed says negotiate the price of the newer car first. Then tell 'em you've got a clunker to trade.
In Los Angeles, I'm Rico Gagliano for Marketplace.
The cash for clunkers is a limited program in doing the math taking the number of dealership in the us and program financing I figure each dealer could do 17 of the cash for clunkers program.
My question is if all dealerships do more than 17 deals and the fund runs out of money and my $4500 dollars is not paid am I responsable for making up the difference?
The program does not begin today. The ex-car salesman blog pointed out the government changed their homepage to reflect the official start day of July 27, or Monday. See:
http://excarsalesman.typepad.com/cars/2009/07/false-start-cash-for-clunk...
The commentator sniffed at the end of this story to the effect of "the govenment will pay $4500 for someone to get a car that gets 2 miles per gallon more, TWO miles per gallon more!" The attitidue reveals a lack of information by the commentator. I am trading in a small 1989 SUV for a small pickup truck in the Cash for Glunkers program, and am glad for this opportunity. I live in snowy NH on a steep hill and need a 4 wheel drive vehicle, not the all-wheel vehicle that most vehicles are offering. In my research to find a vehicle that meets my needs, is American, and gets at least 18 mpg to meet the program requirements, I had a choice of only TWO trucks, and no SUVs. If I lived in the city and did not need to contend with snow, I would have been able to choose any number of cars, although most that meet the milage requirements are foreign. So, I am grateful the program has realistic mileage increase requirements, although I do wish I could find a truck that would save me more than the 5 miles per gallon I will achieve by my purchase. Had this program not come along, I would not have been in the market for a new vehicle.
