Cash for clunker deals

[Todd S. Malicoate]

Did anyone here participate and trade their vehicle for a new one? It would be interesting to get stories from folks all over the US and see what their experience was like.

I know a couple of people locally that did this (one co-worker)...both are still waiting for their new vehicles since the dealership in question won't let them take possession until they are reimbursed. Both made their initial deals in late July and have already received payment books and purchased insurance on a vehicle they don't have. Anyone else seeing problems like these?

Not political (not looking for blame or praise of any government official), just curious as there doesn't seem to be any national statistics showing how many dealers have been paid yet. Thanks.

[ken k]

same story with a colleague of mine. Still no car.

ken k

[Rick F]

I was at the local Toyota dealer yesterday having my 2002 car serviced. Their back lot was almost full of trade-in clunkers. According to one of the salesman I spoke to, all buyers took delivery on their new vehicles at signing. Of course it helps if the owner of the the dealership has the money to front these deals - Roger Penske in this case.

[Todd S. Malicoate]

This is not how I understood the program to work. This is not how the official CARS website describes the system working. There should be some people raising hell at the dealership. The website has changed since I last looked at it, but it said that any dealership trying to pull this should be reported. But hey, what do I care, I've got a couple of vehicles that run just fine.

They have "raised hell" and reported the dealerships. Nothing has happened, and they still don't have a car.

To sum up...these particular dealers (not saying all of them) feel entitled to impose whatever rules they wish and face little to no consequences when they clearly break the law and are called on it. I get the impression that people think when you quote the law to them or report them on the phone or a website that someone in a black suit shows up and takes care of it...doesn't happen. I hope something like this never happens to you...it's extremely frustrating.

Todd, likely giving his co-worker a lift to work for another week

[TubaTodd]

My wife is now driving a 2009 Honda Fit (in Blackberry) thanks to Uncle Obama......and my old 2000 Ford Explorer. The only "issue" that we had to deal with was when the dealership was applying for reimbursement from the government they said they needed 13 month's proof of vehicle (clunker) ownership. Also, they said that one of my forms of "proof" didn't have the right date range. Sooooooo, I dug through my papers and found the proper info. I called the dude and faxed the dude and I never heard from him again. So, I guess they were satisfied.