My Experience with the 'Cash for Clunkers' Program

The 'Cash For Clunkers' Program offered by the federal government, was designed to get old, high gas mileage cars off the roads, and put Americans into a more gas efficient, and environmentally greener car. This program offered consumers $3500 to $4500 on their old cars, depending on the gas mileage, make and model of their clunker. It did so well that the government has now suspended the program, because they spent all the money allotted for the program in one week. The program was meant to run for 3 months.

My experience with the 'Cash For Clunkers' program was not as easy as I thought it would be. Here is why.

Steps needed to qualify for the 'Cash for Clunkers' Program.

1. Have a qualifying trade-in vehicle.

This was based on the vehicles year (1984 or newer) and mpg (18 mpg or less). You may have had a clunker car, but it may not have qualified based on these rules.

2. Owned the vehicle for at least one year.

You could not have purchased a vehicle from anyone just to trade it in for the program within the past 11months or less.

3. Insured the vehicle for at least one year.

The vehicle had to have been driving on the road and insured for the entire year. For instance, you could not dig your old clunker out of the garage or from the back of your house that hadn't been driven in years to trade in. It must have been driven to the lot you planned to trade it in at.

4. Trade in for a new vehicle.

Find a qualifying new vehicle that has better mpg than your trade in by at least 2 - 10 mpg depending on your trade in, and find one within your budget. You could not use the program to purchase a used vehicle.
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My Experience with the 'Cash For Clunkers'

Since the program started on Monday July 27, 2009, by Friday July 31st, the dealers were out of qualifying cars. I personally had to look at areas about 30 minutes away, and then was left with choosing between higher end priced vehicles that was not within my budget, or lower priced cars that had no options or were not automatics

Most new vehicles that qualified for the 'Cash For Clunkers' program were not cheap. Chevy Cobalt and Aveo, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Hyundai Accent, Kia Spectra, Nissan Cube, Nissan Sentra, Nissan Versa, Toyota Yaris, Toyota Corolla, and the Toyota Matrix were some of the cheapest on the list of new cars that qualified for the program, and they averaged between $10,000 and $19,000.

When I spoke to the dealerships about the vehicles that qualified for the program, they were helpful, but limited on the cars available. The cheaper vehicles were small, not fit for more than 4 people, and not very roomy. The incentive of $4500 was a great deal, except for the fact that vehicles were very expensive.

Chrysler offered a matching $3500 to $4500 on their cars, that was the best deal around. That's why Chrysler ran out of cars faster than any other dealership. Unfortunatly there was only one in the vicinty and it did not have any cars left to buy. If I could have found a vehicle that offered cash back on top of the $4500 that the federal government offered on the 'Cash for Clunkers', then I might have had a bargain. .

Overall, my experience with the 'Cash for Clunkers' Program was good. I felt like the program was doing it's purpose of getting old gas guzzlers off the road and getting more greeener cars on it. Since the program was suspended on Thursday, I really hope that the Legislature plans to continue the program in the near future. Not only did the program provide a greener environment, but it started moving the automobile industry in the right direction.

Sources:

Chevrolet, www.chevrolet.com

Chevrolet, www.chevrolet.com

Toyota, www.toyota.com

Nissan, www.nissan.com

Honda, www.Honda.com

Hyundai, www.Hyundaiusa.com