How to Benefit from the Cash for Clunker Program
There’s a lot of hype out there about the cash for clunker program. Dealers are advertising on television and radio in a full court press to earn your business. There are automotive industry sponsored websites doing the same online. Cut through the information overload and learn exactly how you can benefit from the cash for clunker program, independent of any dealer affiliation.
(While we do have google ads on this site, we receive no upfront payment from any dealer and have no established contract with anyone in the automotive industry. Further, we have no control over what google ads appear on our site. Our only interest is to make information about cash for clunkers available to consumers and hopefully offset some of our costs along the way.)
Consumers who will benefit the most from the cash for clunker program will have an old car. Older cars have reduced trade-in value and are likely to be worth less than the government credit of $3500 or $4500. Although, remember, cars can’t be older than 25 years to qualify for the program.
Buy the most fuel efficient vehicle you can. A new car that is 10mpg more fuel efficient than the trade-in will garner a $4500 credit. There’s no reason not to get as much money as possible from the cash for clunker program.
While Cash for Clunker allows a new vehicle purchase up to $45,000 in value, it’s better for consumers to spend much less than that. The less expensive the car, the more the government credit goes toward funding the purchase and the lower your debt load.
Don’t forget that Cash for Clunker will also provide credits for leased vehicles. The CARS Act allows for leases that last for 5 years.
Wait until all the little details of the CARS Act have been worked out and until all the dealers are formally registered. If you buy before this happens, your purchase may end up not qualifying for a credit.
At the same time, research the cars you are interested in and identify dealers. Investigate your options such as hybrid automobiles or super fuel efficient cars like the Honda Civic. Funding for the cash for clunkers program is limited and there is concern that the money will run out by Labor Day. Be ready to hit the ground running once the government and dealers have finalized the details. Know what vehicles you would like to buy, their prices, rebates/special incentive programs in addition to cash for clunker credits, and the dealers that stock those cars in your area.
Be wary of dealers trying to push you to purchase a car now, promising it will qualify for a cash for clunker credit. They are not able to make that promise—the government determines if a purchase qualifies, not the dealer and if the government hasn’t officially started the program or registered dealers, you could end up making a bad deal.
There have also been reports of car dealers saying anything and everything to get people into their dealerships and into a new car. Dealers have been caught lying to consumers that their car will qualify when it doesn’t just to get them to come out to the car lot. Cut through the bull by visiting dealers and avoiding phone conversations.
Photo credit: 1001 Nights
Tags: CARS Act, cash for clunker fraud, cash for clunker lease, lease cars
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