Well this is proof that America runs on wheels. They should have stimulated the economy with this last yr and today we would probably be out of the woods in this economic slump. Look at all of the industry they would have affected and the jobs that would have been saved and created. As usual they should have left sales to the salespeople and kept the accountants and administrators out of it. Nothing happens until you sell something and until you do we don't need and accountant or administrator.

The goverment has found something that actually stimulates the economy and it's over? I don't think so...

Four days to run out of money, that sure lasted long. Go to the link Alex posted, here's an excerpt that I think will cause a majority of the problems

"But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told dealers Wednesday that a vast majority of transactions submitted were being rejected for incomplete or illegible paperwork."

A vast majority, as in a vast majority of the dealers may not see their money. Remember this is the same government that encouraged Chrysler and GM shut down over 2000 dealerships without any consequences, do you really think the ones left really matter that much more to them?

Nick if you are still reading this, now aren't you glad you are on the used car side of the industry.

To Good To Be True ! Too Funny...We thought
we were on to something ! It sure created some excitement ! Many dealers spent lots of money promoting this c.a.r.s. thing.

Government out of money....http://www.freep.com/article/20090730/BUSINESS01/90730081/Cash-for-clunkers-plan-suspended

Um....who's screwed with us? C'mon Congress - vote for more money!!!!

Sam - I'm sorry Sam. We misread that part. It looks like it is a first come / first serve basis on who gets the money with the only time restraint being to enter for approval before the program's expiration date.

Alex- Can you tell me where in the 136page PDF titled "The Rule" that I can find where it said you have 7 days to report the deal? Ive read over it and cant seem to find it. Thanks.

So this cash for clunkers program in my opinion will cause more problems then good. It is great for the customers that take advantage of it now right away. But the dealers that write these deals and cannot get the money are going to be losing a ton. I am willing to bet that there will be an average of $40-50k lost by dealerships. Remember, a lot of giveaway artists working as a sales people out there too. This is the main cause of profits lost in the first place.

I am so with Jon on this one. I have watched over the past few weeks car deals get written up under this program before the money was even officially planned to be released. I can see dealers easily lost $90,000 on this program because of how quickly they panicked to make deals.

Also, I was in a very affluent area where 70% of the buyers pay cash and can buy cars whenever they want. We are talking Princeton, NJ. What pisses me off is how these people have the money and can buy a new car at anytime that they want and get rid of their clunker. However, most of them wait for this program to come and take advantage of it. This program should have been created for the average American with certain guidelines.

This is another case of the rich stealing from the government. It is ridiculous.

Also, you would think that this clunker money would allow you to push for holding more gross on the new car. Well, it does not work. So if you want to make money, just sell used cars because it is where it's at.

Get in, get your deals, and get out. Don't expose your dealership to the very real potential of huge loses.

Call me a skeptic, but I think more than one dealer is going to be burned by this program before it is all said and done.

Someone mentioned cash flow before, let's say you did a great job like Checkered Flag, but when the money runs out you have 20 clunkers that you have destroyed that you are now unable to get funding on. That leaves the dealer with a loss of $70,000 to $90,000 in funds they will never recover and without the option to retail out of those 20 vehicles. I know of a lot of dealers that a loss like that could close their doors.

As a customer . . . .How does the dealer think he can "unwind the car deal" after he has disable my engine with the govt approved solution.

My dealer told me that he would give me $100 to replace my vehicle if the govt doesn't deliver.

WHAT!!!

Alex, spot on about keeping the cars money flowing. I am going in today (on my day off)to process C.A.R.S deals. EVERYONE please fill out the "optional survey" I have heard this will have impact on C.A.R.S. 2.0. Hmm...Can someone get Cardone to refresh the "Swallow Flame" motivational video and change it to a "Gov. Paperwork is fun" motivational video. Good Times!

Nick, don't worry when the money runs out the new car dealers will go back to sitting on their new inventory and making mini's, while the independent used car dealers are selling cars and making gross

I feel sorry for the guys that have deals done and the money is gone before they can collect. At that point the dealer is in a no win situation, unwind the car deal and piss off the customer or lose $4,500.

cash for clunkers has done well for us, but its the biggest pain in the ass. i can go on and on and on about the issues with the program. At least it has been a success by driving more traffic.

I dont see anybody talking about small independant used car dealer having to grab there ankles and hold on for this one.

All i know is things have slowed way down since the gov decided they wanted to play car dealer king and pick favorites.

Im happy for some of my collegues with new car stores but im less than thrilled that they are messing with the free market.

Why did they only offer this to "new" car deals?

Just this morning I talk to a guy who wanted to know what I would give him for his clunker and I cant touch what he is being offered with this program by the new car dealership and its not the first time thats killed a deal for me in the last week!

Am i the only one out there dealing with this??

Look at the line on your check that says "taxes". Still happy about the program? You should be.....you paid for it!

Andy - even though I am speculating those dollar printing presses will fire up again, it is pure speculation. I could be dead wrong...and hope I am because that means we're showing signs of stability and growth. Your customer is running on his/her pure speculation as well.

I had a customer last night who came in and stated that they are going to wait for "next month when the government offers a higher rebate and allows for a higher combined mileage."

...*facepalm*

Richard - not speaking for Brian, but if the money is gone well before November 1st it will be a big win politically for Obama. He is one of the best DC-marketers I've ever seen and they'll have this in front of the media in 2 seconds. There will be enough political clout on this one, and media coverage, to get more money passed through the House(s) without hassle.

But, the second batch of bucks will probably not have the same affect and they might have to open the requirements some more.

It just all depends on if the money runs out early and if no other political issues surface.

Brian,

Do you believe the government will allocate more resources if the program is such a big success?

If you start doing the math, this program will run out of money by mid August. While everyone is trying to get all the legal information and processing forms right, the $1 billion is going fast.

If 18,000 dealers register and each does 10 deals in their first week, that 75% of the money gone. Many of the dealers we have talked to and this forum support this, have a few dozen deals done per store.

The Hyundai dealers have been at this for 3 weeks so they easily have dozens of deals done. One of my clients has 60 deals done and most have 15 done per location.

The NHTSA is supposed to provide a "countdown clock" on the CARS website. This clock will be going from $1 billion to ZERO in not time flat.

Dealers will need to keep an eye on this because this program could go from 100 mph to a dead stop in a few weeks.

It will be a bad case of muscial chairs. Imagine booking a deals just to find out that no more money is left. That will be a happy customer.

John,

"It shouldn’t be this complicated."? Since when is any government program not complicated?

I'm over-joyed and very nervous. As of yesterday we had over 100 plus deals in our 3 stores plus yesterdays business so the program has done what it was suppose to do, "bring customer in", and they are all mostly good qualified customers with a lot of cash deals. I wonder though if the ones coming in are not just a lot of pent up demand were seeing. If we can get them all processed it will make our month. That brings up the concern. It seems like it will be a "dash for the cash" and a lot of dealers will come up short.Since the money is only good for roughly 250,000 car deals nationwide, which comes out to about 12 per dealer with 19,700 dealers. It only stands to reason somebody will lose. We are doing this well and we are not in a large market so what are they doing in large markets? The key in my opinion is the dealers who get the paperwork right and get the deals in to Uncle Sam fast will get the payoff. We have set up Cash 4 Clunker teams in each store to run the process we have set up so that we can get the deals in quickly and correctly to avoid the potential loss that may come, problem is right now we have added $500,000 to an already negative cash flow and it's growing. Plus will the Govt. change the rules? So it's good but scary!

Mark - good advice. If we're reading the 136 page document of rules right, along with the other newly added forms to the website, it seems like you have to report the deal to the government within 7 days of doing it. That also requires a status update on the Clunker along with a "killed-for-resale" title. I'm not sure we can really hold onto these clunkers. But if things go as planned, you get the deal recorded with the NHTSA within 7 days, then they get funding for the clunker to you 10 days later. We'll see how well this works, but the way this thing reads, and past promises, there is a 17 day turn around. We're only 4 days into this program now.