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I'll go back to the statement that I've made multiple times. This bill was written by the auto industry itself for its own benefit. If you have an older clunker such as your Suburban then they want to give you the option to trade it on another similar vehicle. They are in the business of selling high-margin SUVs to those that want and need them. The bill serves the purposes of those that created it. Now, it may not serve your purposes but it serves theirs.
It will not apply to every consumer in the US, that's impossible. The bill will apply to a HUGE number of Explorer, JGC, Minivan, mid-90s V8 truck owners that number in the tens of millions. These vehicles will be traded and destroyed as planned by the creators of the bill. Mission accomplished.
Sandy
This sucks.
Yes, it's true that they can eat the cost of the rebate if the paperwork isn't filled out correctly. BUT, it's up to them to ensure all of your paperwork IS filled out correctly. You need a clean title in hand, proof of 365 days of insurance (this would probably be your last two insurance cards), and 365 days of registration (again, two separate slips) all in your name.
Go to a dealer with this all in hand and negotiate the price first. If they ask you if you are using CARS, deflect the question. Just say "I am interested in buying a car today, what is the best price you can give me."
Once you have a WRITTEN (NOT verbal) estimate of OTD cost in hand (price plus taxes fees and licensing), then tell them that you will be taking an additional $4500 or 3500 off for CARS and provide them with all of your documentation. If your documentation is complete, don't buy that "we may have to eat the cost" B.S.
You should also not pay any additional charge for using the rebate. There is a paper that you sign that specifies "The dealer cannot charge you extra for using this program".
For simplicity, contact AAA or Costco and use their program. I looked at both rate sheets as of yesterday and all models (with exception of '10 hybrids) are pricing closer to Invoice than MSRP. The dealership cannot deviate from this set pricing or you can report them to Costco or AAA and they'd lose their participation in the program.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/28/autos/clunker_mpg_switch/index.htm?postversion=2- 009072813
Back in those days, there was more of a difference between the copcar and civilian model. The civilian model had around 190 hp, single exhaust, and an axle ratio something like 2.73:1. Copcars had dual exhaust, and something like 224 hp. Standard axle on the copcars was something like 3.23 or 3.31:1, with a 3.55:1 being optional.
I think these days, the civilian and cop versions of that engine are both rated at 224 hp. I don't think the dual exhaust changes the hp rating any, although it might help give it a better hp/torque curve.
Dealer can't charge you a fee. They are allowed to keep $50 from the scrap value. I'd let
them know this, and if they don't give it back report it to NHTSA.
Our dealer yesterday went through the whole computerized system to get the "approval" from the system before he would hand us the keys. That's the way it should be done. I bet there are lots of people out there who bought Hundai's early and are now in the same situation.
Yes the criteria has changed. It showed the Tundra at -3 MPG and $4500 trade value for the 92 Chev C1500. So they are fine tuning their program. Not that it will please those that were mislead.
Hopefully you will post your honest appraisal of this program in a month from now.
I think that article is well-written, too, and provides info indicating that affected consumers should try contacting the NHTSA.
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2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h)
Review your vehicle
why put the screws to the sellers and buyers over a few 10ths of a mpg?
Since dealer 1 went through the trouble of giving you the test drive, did you give dealer 1 the opportunity to beat dealer 2's offer? Just wondering cause if I was dealer 1 who took the time out only to have dealer 2 throw a cheaper price without an opportunity to beat him I'd be pissed.
And people wonder why dealers "lowball".
(c) One credit per person. A person may participate in a transaction for which a credit is issued under the CARS Program, whether as a single owner or as a joint-registered owner of either an eligible trade-in vehicle, a new vehicle or both, may not participate or be named in another transaction for which credit is issued under the CARS program, either as a registered owner of the trade-in vehicle or as a purchaser of the new vehicle
We live in California and have two cars which meet all of the requirements. However both cars are registered as Mr. OR Mrs. Rnittany
Does the above mean that we can't trade in two clunkers on two new cars - even though we are two people because the titles and registrations are listed at Mr OR Mrs? Does anyone know what the DMV or Fed views this as for the purposed of CARS? Could we trade in one used car as Mr and buy and new car as Mr, and then trade in the other car as Mrs and buy a second new car as Mrs?
Thanks for any insight - legal references especially appreciated to show to the car dealer.
One last thing - what happens if I do the second CARS deal at a second dealer - is this being tracked? Best to do it before all of the paperwork hits, is is there no tracking of this a trade-in time?
Thanks for bringing it to my attention folks
You can't trade it in for a Cat 2 truck because the Tahoe is still a light duty vehicle. Yes it is full sized but its GVWR is below 8,500 lbs.
1) people with money that are frugal, and keep an old car until it dies. Perfect for the CFC program
2) broke people with lousy credit that can't afford anything better.
3) Kids.
Needless to say, 2 and 3 aren't likely to be trading in on a new car!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Apparently dealer 1 screwed up by not closing the deal when they had the chance. O.P was under no obligation to go back to dealer 1. Very few people have the time to bounce back and forth to make sure no one gets peed off at them. Dealer 1 probably gets sales the same way, when dealership 2 doesn't close a deal.
With a high demand for new vehicles in the C4C program, we may see more dealerships being more reluctant at selling below MSRP... especially if there inventories start to fall. Anyone with projections on C4C sales volume and what it will do to new car inventories?
In the end, the dealbreaker for me was when I told dealer #1 that we had a clunker and replied "we're a smaller dealership and I don't even know if we'll participate". I told him to let me know when he thought he might know...never heard from him again. I felt that dealer 1 gave us a fair deal and because he wasn't interested in hearing about my clunker, I moved on and asked dealer 2 to beat that fair offer. He did. It actually worked out that dealer 1 never contacted us again, he must not have minded losing the sale because of the clunker thing.
I'm so uncomfortable with the negotiation game, I would do ANYTHING to have the price of the car be the price of the car and that's that. But, I know a ton of people who play much harder than I did. People "waste" dealers time all the time. Remember...it's their game...not mine. Heck, I've heard of people taking test drives just to get freebies....now that's wasting time!
And has anyone's application actually been officially approved? If yes, when did you file? Wish there were a way to monitor the filing status for each application, but that's probably asking too much.
I agree with the approach of our dealer even though I'm dying to get my new car. If some customer drives a new car off the lot and later it turns out his application is denied, it puts everyone in a bad position to reverse the deal, which seems to have happened to some users on this forum.
I've had my truck for 5 years (car loan in my name)
Truck qualifies for CARS
Registered in my name, Insured in my name. (past 5 years)
Paid off the loan a month ago, and just received the title.
Will I qualify?
This program will be lucky to make it till Friday
GP
If what you say is correct than yes
GP
Earlier this year, my truck did qualify.
I went to go look for a new car yesterday because my truck is almost 13 years old and it could give out any day. We were excited to get to use the Cash For Klunkers thing to get a cheaper new car.
When we went to the dealership, we were told we definitely qualified. So we found a car I liked, which, with the rebate and other discounts PLUS the CFK, I would have had a NEW 09 for only about 6k. Seriously?! I am a 20 year old with no credit. The economy sucks and they make it so hard to get a car. I need to be able to get to school and to work in a reliable car.
So we get down to the paperwork and find out we don't qualify for it. Wtf? They had gone in and edited the EPA Combined Mileage to 1 above 18. I am so angry. This has nothing to do with wanting to make the country greener. If they want to do that, they would reuse all the good parts on old cars to build new ones. Crushing them and throwing them in a giant hole is not greener.
I am not an Obama supporter. If he really wishes to make me even more angry, he should continue. But really, if he wanted to help the generation that is probably going to decide what happens to this planet, he would be more leniant on the requirements.
And we have a newly minted topic: Watching out for Fraud
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
Bought new in Oct. 1993 Been a decent truck but was ready for some spendy repairs-tranny rebuild, front end etc. Also, previous usage isn't future usage...heavy towing etc.
Purchased: 2009 Nissan Frontier SE 4cyl. auto, power, bedliner-19mpg
First measured tank was 22.1 mpg mixed driving...
Got 4.99% from local CU, $650 CU rebate, $3000 Nissan rebate, $4500 CFC = $14,350 OTD
How'd I do?
If your truck gets 18 mpg or less and the new vehicle qualifies.
Go to cars.gov and click on the fuel economy tab and put in your truck and what you want to buy to see how much you qualify for.