Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/25 for details.
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Turn in a eligible car with all the required paperwork at let say at a station and they once it approved, drive it to a designated junk yard and get a voucher that can be used in the next 2-3 months.
The fat lady sang today. :mad:
There should have been 2 more weeks left in this thing. Labor Day was the targeted closure date. Oh well, at least they'll have an extra $1 billion to give Goldman-Sachs for year end bonuses!
...not from me....
less then 15% of my business in August has been C4C.
Will you refund it to the customers who have taken the new cars without getting it?
When I asked the dealer, they said the junkyard only give them $50 and denied giving me any, so it wasn't in my contract
As you say, the Fat Lady sang today. Gift ends Monday. Back to business as usual.
will have to be declared on your federal tax return. Someone asked me this and
I said I have not heard that. Can anyone definitely clear up this question. Is the credit a taxable item?
NO. The CARS Act expressly provides that the credit is not income for the consumer.
--direct quote from the program's website at www.cars.gov
I have been looking, unsuccessfully, for a used v-8 pickup just to tow my boat to the ramp and the occasional trip to the dump and lumberyard - it would get less than 1000 miles per year. The local dealer has at least a dozen trucks mid to late 90's in fine, even rust-free, condition that would work for me - all labelled "cash for clunkers" on their windshields. What a waste. Is there any hope that they might not get paid for one & they might be able to put it up for sale?
BTW, many of the "clunker" trucks I saw should have been worth 3500 or more in trade without any clunker program.
Keep in mind the value of those is low, so there may be a lot of other things wrong with them.
Thanks for your consideration.
MODERATOR /ADMINISTRATOR
Find me at kirstie_h@edmunds.com - or send a private message by clicking on my name.
2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h)
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Scoville Hill is about five to ten minutes from my house too. I probably could have heard the sirens if I was home.
So what's the difference? I thought the cutoff was a 10mpg better new car to get to $4,500?
MY DEALER wasn't clear either and HAS not STILL responded to me about refund of net scrap value, in fact I am still waiting for the refund of sales tax they should not have charged(GA). The FI guy told me on 8/02/09 that my deal HAD been approved and they would send me a check for the overcharge and maybe net scrap value AFTER they received the rebate from the Gov. I am thinking they should have the Gov funds by now as it has been 15 bus days since then. So still waiting for the 465 dollars.
There is no doubt in my mind that many of the so called clunker PU trucks would bring $3500 to $4500 on the private market. Most people are just to lazy to advertise and sell them privately. If the dealer has already marked up the title as clunker. It would be tough to sell the vehicle. They could be nailed by the Feds. If a lot of them end up not being reimbursed you may get a good deal on one.
I called the NHTSA this morning and they were adamant that the dealer has to accept the sale and cannot refuse it based on this and mentioned they can also get fined.
Are these dealers not taking any training courses on business law and how to interpret the law?
Boy are they dumb.
If your around Long Island NY its for sale.
This is false.. Dealers do not have to accept the sale.
I am not aware of any power of attorney exclusions in CFC.
"Are these dealers not taking any training courses on business law and how to interpret the law?"
Are they required to? Most dealers probably retain attorneys to do this.
"Boy are they dumb."
You have been to three dealers with no luck. The dealers do not want to chance your situation. They are just making a smart buisness decision is all.
If your around Long Island NY its for sale."
Hey murphcoair - thanks for the offer but I'm about 275-300 miles south of you in southern MD - otherwise I'd be interested. Anybody in MD with one that was denied?
I'm going to check out a local 2000 F150 in the morning with 200K miles offered at $1500 but seller warned that tranny slips when hot. Hmmm....
The sales tax was another miniscule $1855
The '00 Isuzu Trooper got 15 mpg that was traded for it.
I was contemplating a 2.4 liter gas powered Malibu that is half that TDI price after C4C. It takes 4 decades to consume a car's total sale price in mpg differential at the 132 gallon per year savings of 38 mpg vs 28 mpg for 14000 miles.
I read somewhere some states make exception for GI on active duty overseas. That's about it.
You could consider my 1985 F-150 with "slightly more" than 200K miles. In addition to the classic lines of trucks of the 80s it has features such as "flow thru ventilation" (rust holes) and a "owner accessible" carburetor fuel system.
It also has "independent suspension" which means that when driving down the road the truck pretty much goes where it wants to.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
Also you should not be driving the clunker, what if it dies tomorrow? They should at least give you a free loaner until they do give you the new car.
Other rules say I should drive the speed limit, but I don't. Every minor infraction of every rule does not need to be reported and punished.
True. However, rules exist to protect people from each other. This appears to be a case where the dealer is attempting to transfer risk to the customer in violation of those rules. I see nothing wrong with reminding the dealer of this, and using it as leverage to move the deal forward.
I am in the military and am currently deployed on active duty abroad. I have an eligible trade-in vehicle and would like to participate in the CARS program and buy a new vehicle. I have executed a power of attorney that allows another individual to sign all required documents on my behalf. May I participate?
YES. Note: A copy of the Power of Attorney must be brought to the dealership and included as a Miscellaneous attachment by the dealer in the CARS application for reimbursement.
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Then that is YOUR FAULT! The ball is entirely in the dealer's court but it requires the dealer to keep their greed in check -- almost impossible at many dealers.
This program should have been run like a Costco or Credit Union Buying program where a third party "approves" the purchase price of the new car and that is then reduced by the rebate required under the CFC program.
Regarding the delays -- dealers have brought these issues on themselves. We just came from a Nissan Dealer that upped the price of the car (Altima S) then took the CFC and factory rebate off that so the same car that would have been out the door in July for $18,560 without a trade-in is now $19,560 with the CFC rebate. Whoo whee, that's a stinker! Do the math -- the dealer more than DOUBLED his profit margin on the car thanks to CFC. So, dealers not consumers got the benefit of this goverment sponsored windfall. And, you missed out. Brilliant!
Also, the resale market for seats, stereos, tires and other parts has just gotten a giant influx of inventory.
I shouldn't be giving them ideas.
The dealer is playing a numbers game -- if he can pay off the note on the floor-planned car early, he can swap another car into the same note and pay less overall for holding the two cars on the lot than if he did it sequentially. (This is one reason dealers want to get older models off the lot as the new model year comes in and also why you can get a better deal at month end -- most floor plan payments are due on the 10th of the month.)
That means what you pay on your CFC car lets him pull it off the floor plan, plus gives him a small percentage of the profit. He's waiting for the rest of his profit from the gov rebate and that's when he'll pay his sales commissions, too. So, it's in the salesmans best interest to jack the price on you, not just because the margin and commission are larger but because there's money to pay his commission or percentage of the commission sooner.
BTW Kristi, the days of dealers living in modest homes in suburban developments are long gone -- most dealers live in big, beautiful mansions because they make PLENTY of profit on the cars they sell. So, don't go boohooing here.
C4C has only resulted in about 15% of our total business for August because that is all who walked through the door looking to take advantage of the program. You are new here. Please check your facts before you shoot off your mouth about how I run my business, because you are dead wrong.
Regarding the delays -- dealers have brought these issues on themselves
How is it my fault that the government promised payment within 10 days, and I am going on 4 weeks without payment?
So, dealers not consumers got the benefit of this government sponsored windfall
Everyone benefits. You get thousands for a car most likley worth nothing. Dealers make a couple extra sales. This is what the program was intended to do. Win win for everyone.
Where do you come up with this nonsense??? LOL!!!
The average car salesman makes less then 50K per year. Get real.
That means what you pay on your CFC car lets him pull it off the floor plan, plus gives him a small percentage of the profit. He's waiting for the rest of his profit from the gov rebate and that's when he'll pay his sales commissions, too. So, it's in the salesmans best interest to jack the price on you, not just because the margin and commission are larger but because there's money to pay his commission or percentage of the commission sooner.
What?!?!? LOL!!!!
Prices are higher on C4C transactions because of the added work needed to do a C4C deal. Add to that the general supply of new cars is very very slim. When product is in demand, the price goes up. Last I recall, this is America and this is how business is done.
BTW, last time you went out for dinner, did you happen to see a price listed for fresh Lobster? Probably not. Did you see "market price"? Most likely. My point is people are paying market value for cars. It is not a buyers market right now.
True. But six weeks ago, before C4C, it was--and had been for the last eighteen months.
The speed with which C4C ate up existing inventory caught a lot of folks off guard, and the resulting upward swing in real-world transaction price, while completely predictable, has caused many customers to cry "foul." Whether or not they are justified in their anger, this rapid swing will reinforce many negative images that customers have of the auto business.
Beyond the predictable supply-demand swing, a few dealers have openly tried to game the system by using bait-and-switch tactics, misleading advertising, and other unethical practices which will make it worse for the whole industry.
You have to ask the question to the dealer who did that to you.
I have never raised my prices one penny. I am just not as willing to discount as much as before because heavy discounting right now is not necessary to sell cars. There is a big big difference between raising prices and discounting.