Transforming Clunkers into Cash
Nick Cutter of Cutter Family Auto Centers and Stan Masamitsu of the Tony Group Autoplex are excited about a new program that makes this a great time to cash in that gas -guzzler for a new ride. To the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it’s officially called the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS). To the general public, it is the Cash for Clunkers program.
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found is that the difficulty lies with the seller and not the buyer.
“It’s a very complicated program, but the consumer doesn’t have to worry about that,” says Cutter. “All they have to do is have a vehicle that gets less than the required gas mileage and let the dealer worry about all the details.”
To make things easier and to eliminate the worry about surpassing the mileage requirement, owners can trade in their gas-guzzling truck for something easier to park and less costly to fill. “A truck is the easiest vehicle to trade in because it’s not hard to find something that gets better gas mileage,” says Masamitsu. “But it is possible for people to trade in a gas-guzzling car for a new truck.”
Trade-ins must be driveable, insured and have been registered to the owner for a year. This prevents someone from buying a wreck and turning it around for a profit.
Once a sale has been approved, the old vehicle must be scrapped.
The program ends Oct. 31 or until the $1 billion allocated for the plan runs out. The question for the consumer is whether to buy now or wait. Cutter says waiting could be costly.
“If you need a new car in the next 12 to 18 months, now is the time to buy because this value will not be here 12 months from now as the market stabilizes,” he says.
“I have new vehicles that, for the first time in history, are legitimately under my cost as a dealer. Car people say this all the time: There is no better time. This time it is actually true, at least in the 30 years I have been in business.”
As an example, Cutter says he has a new Chrysler PT Cruiser that, with trade-in and rebates, can be purchased for half of its invoice $22,000 price.
DETAILING CARS
* Both U.S. and foreign-made cars are eligible for trade-in and purchase
* Trucks can be traded in for cars and vise versa
* Trade-in vehicle must not be greater than 25 years old
* Maximum cost of a new qualifying vehicle is $45,000
* Year-old vehicles bought new off the lot qualify. Used vehicles do not
* Leased vehicles are eligible if leased for a minimum of five years
* Vehicle trade-in must have been registered and insured for one year
* Trade-in must be driveable
* Rebate is not subject to taxes
* Rebate can be combined with other dealer or factory programs
* Rebate cannot be added to trade-in value
* Only one trade-in is allowed per new purchased vehicle
* www.cars.gov is the official website for information. Caution: Some false CARS sites that ask for personal information have been reported.
* Combined fuel economy levels can be found at http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/sbs.htm
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