CASH FOR CLUNKERS

Hurry in with your trade in! That's the message that car dealers and manufacturers have been wanting Americans to hear lately. Although "Cash For Clunkers" has only recently made a big splash in the headlines, the Car Allowance Rebate System, (CARS) was implemented way back in January of this year.

Happily, it proved to be enormously more popular than had been expected and, in the end, the program had to be extended in order to prevent the money from running out. Rebates were $3,500 - $4,500, depending on how "clunky" your "clunker" was. The amount of the rebate was determined by how much gas savings (in miles per gallon) the new car was expected to get over what the old car got.

Work trucks only got a $3,500 rebate, as they are not typically rated for fuel efficiency and they had to be newer than 25 years old, but not newer than 2001. Other restrictions also applied to work trucks. Lists of eligible car models and years were available at a number of "Cash For Clunkers" web sites.

The line once drawn between American made cars and foreign cars has long been becoming quite blurred. Toyota and Volkswagon, among others, have manufacturing plants here in the United States that employ tens of thousands of US workers, as well as purchasing parts from hundreds of US manufacturers. And, US auto makers have plants in foreign countries.

But the big three, GM, Ford and Chrysler are still in trouble and are competing to find the right combination of style, fuel efficiency and power, in models that have only recently come on line. Upgrading the fleet isn't something that one does overnight.

But, if you took advantage of the "Cash For Clunkers" program, you probably upgraged "your fleet" overnight. If you did, you probably achieved a mid-thirties to low-forties increase in gas-mileage by buying the newer model car, in particular if it was a hybrid. Trading in an old gas guzzler for a hybrid and getting a rebate at the same time ... now that's greening up nicely!

The CARS Program

Was "Cash For Clunkers" Successful?

U.S. "Cash For Clunkers" Stimulating Canada

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