So Alex, how many cars have you taken in on the program and how many have you been paid on? I know you guys started earlier than most on this program, so I am sure you have a staggering number of cars lining your back lot.

Is it just me or does this look like it is turning into an ongoing PR nightmare for dealers? Most of the problems lie on the government end and the dealers are the scapegoat, just my observation of customers involved in this thread. People on the industry side of this know for a fact that the last thing a dealer ever wants to do is call back a customer with an issue after a vehicle has been delivered, so you know before the call is made they have made every effort to find a loophole to get around the problem.

I am a customer that had to cancel a deal due to dealer mistakes. I need them to cancel my invoice out of the database so I can start fresh. They said they can't. What do I do?? I am very frustrated with this and I feel the dealer just does not want me to move on.

Bob-
according the c.a.r.s. website, a dealer cannot require that you return the car and reverse the transaction if the application for the credit is non-compliant. HOWEVER! One of the necessary forms to sumbit to the government is called a "Summary of Sale and cerification" form. If you signed it, you are certifying to the NHTSA that you are compliant with the program, including having continuous insurance for 1 full year prior to purchase. This form is signed, deemed too be true under penalty of law. Simply put, the dealer has the ability to come after you, because you are not compliant with the law. in addition, you signed a form certifying you are in compliance with the program. I would do exactly what the dealer asks and start over perhaps with another dealer. We are all supposed to know the law, and having a car salesman tell you everything is cool when it's not is a pretty dumb mistake that could get you into serious trouble for fraud.

So I went into a dealership on August 7th with the expectations of buying a used vehicle. The dealership noticed what my old car was and said that it would be eligible for the C4C. So, with that in mind, I looked at the new cars and settled on a brand new vehicle. This was a Chrysler dealership where they doubled the “rebate”. So I dropped off my clunker, signed all the paperwork with the loan, etc. I didn’t however, sign a contingency document. Today I received a phone call saying that they need to have my new vehicle returned because it turns out I wasn’t eligible due to the insurance part. Even though I gave them everything, I had a lapse of insurance and it means that my vehicle was not eligible and they want to reverse the transaction. Is that possible? I wasn’t aware of exactly what the C4C guidelines were and they said they would “walk me through it” so I understood.. Can someone shed a little light on what to do here?

Deb-
this is from my state's nada FAQ
Two Ways to Cancel a Deal

You use the “Cancel” button to cancel a deal that has not been submitted or that has been rejected.
To cancel something that is in review, please e‑mail this unwieldy address [email protected] from the e‑mail account that was used to register with the site. In the subject field type in “cancel” and follow that with the invoice number.

I haven't had any problems resubmitting when they've been rejected. I can't however change anything when they're in the "under review" mode. I just keep waiting for the reject notices, impossible to be proactive.
I wonder if they're doing sweeps of some sort. I haven't gotten any rejections for reg issues, and I had some customers who hadn't renewed prior to the 10 day grace period(MN).
That makes me think I'm going to get another batch of rejects....oh what fun.

thank goodness this isn't my money. I'm starting to feel bad for the owner of my dealership....

Ken, my understanding of the registration and insurance requirements pertaining to lapse in coverage via an email to that crazy email address is they simply don't qualify. If you have a one day break it won't qualify even if your state has a 10 day grace period for the registration. We had some confusion with this on our early deals. Example: customer brings in registration for one year from oct. 2009 to oct. 2008 but they bought in July so they need July to July but for whatever reason they were late paying their registration in Sept. and let the tags expire for 3 days. That is why I keep stressing to our sales staff that they should sit down and review all documents with the customer and use that time to interview and ask these questions. I think the letter from the insurance company is a better idea then looking back at a bunch of dates on insurance cards to minimize confusion.

Has anyone been paid for clunkers that have a registration period with a 1 to 5 day gap between renewal? I've had a rejection for not providing co buyers state ID even though its not required.

Hi Deb... Sounds good but after you submit an invoice and it's in "review mode" lol the attachment function is disables... Are you having the same prob????

I just got a response from NHTSA:
If you need to send a corrected attachment, do not delete or update the attachment. Just add the new attachment, and name the scanned file on your computer ‘REVISEDTITLE.pdf’ for example. You will be submitting with additional documents, and that is okay.

Day 16....no money, no approvals. The only thing to shade us from the sun is to huddle "under review". There will come a day in the not so distant future where we will have to pose the question:
In order to survive, do we eat those who did not make it this far?

I was able to correct them at 9:50pm CST. They flew through. I deleted and added the correct attachments in no time.
Mindy - I really appreciate your help!

Mozilla doesn't work at all!! Don't try it.

If you're hung-up on the CARS.gov website, take a quick minute to fill out this Dealer Refresh survey on the environmental impact Cash for Clunkers has had:


Once we feel we have a big enough set of data, we will submit the findings for press releases. SO - DEALERS! >>make sure you do this because it could be a great opportunity for some media exposure and/or SEO exposure to your website!

Thanks Keith! However I am using IE8, perhaps I should go back to trying Mozilla, an option I hadn't thought of.

THANKS A LOT!!!
Also, I have an additional phone number for you. The one you gave me is for hours 6am-4pm CST, 202.510.7825 AFTER 4PM. If that helps?! I've actually spoken to people at that number but they couldn't help much. When I called they did not have the ability to "look" at the invoices.
Good Luck!!!

Misery luv's company...lol I did delete the entire invoice and created a new invoice. If you have difficulty deleting an invoice, you can send an email to the following bizarre email address:

[email protected]

In the subject line, write "Premature Rejection Request"... Include your info and the invoice number and the reason(s) you would like the invoice to be rejected... My experience is they are quick to get it thrown out of their que and back at ya... Once you get the transaction kicked back, you actually have to cancel it... You will find the cancel option is now enabled... That's what I did today so who knows... FYI, I did get a phone number other than the one listed on the CARS.gov site... I was told that it went directly into the department where the invoices are being processed... the phone number is (202) 366-0606. I was told there are people answering that number that actually work on the invoices and are there from 7am-6pm... I was not able to get thru today so I plan to try at 7am when it shouldn't be so busy... good luck and try to keep the faith... Mindy

Only seems to work with IE 8, weird.

Nice to hear someone else is having the same issues. Did you delete the entire original invoice then?
Really appreciate the input!

Hi Deb... I have been having the same problem. I was not able to speak with anyone at the CARS.gov phone number that could help... I also sent numerous emails... I ended up cancelling the entire invoice the submitting a completely new invoice for the sale... I am not sure it will fly but could not figure out how else to get it submitted with all the necessary attachments... So, not sure if my advice helps or not...

Is anyone trying to delete their incorrect attachments? 3 of the 5 I was able to actually submit after deleting the bad and adding the good but for some reason now I can't get to the submit screen, I get a fatal error message. Think it's a computer glitch? I sent them an email at the address that was listed with NADA, I believe yesterday, but who knows how long it will be before I get a response. Anyone just adding the new and not doing anything with the old?

Hitting refresh hoping to see one approved is getting old, hundreds burning gas, millions in liability and only 5 paid so far.

The paid ones just show up in the account without any documentation, we have to guess what deal it belongs to? (of course with only 5 paid it is easy to guess )

We have several stores that have not recieved a dime yet and many deals are from July.
Reading Automotive news, they only have 300 reviewers, that means aprox 2500 per reviewer. do the math... I have not slept right in days... It's like the month end that never ends at the stores, but we are more anxious with every delivery, instead of happy.

This is great info on the fact dealer should NOT hold the new car http://www.autonews.com/article/20090812/ANA05/908129958/1078