5:30 PM Fri, Jul 31, 2009 | Permalink |
SEATTLE - Today the House took the first step in extending the "Cash for Clunkers" program by approving an additional $2 billion. The Senate will vote next week.
This is encouraging news for dealers, but some feel that the promise of revenue comes with confusion and headache. Many dealers are knee-deep in paperwork and fielding calls from confused car owners.
"It's a great program," said Jet Chevrolet sales manager Don Thompson. "I think it has the potential to save the industry, but at the same time we are working double time because there is a lot of paperwork."
There are more than 17 requirements that must be met before someone can turn in their clunker for a federal subsidy up to $4,500. So far Jet Chevy has turned in 20 applications. One was rejected, and they have yet to hear word on the status of the others.
"We want to be careful because we don't want to put the customer through unnecessary issues, by turning in a car and then being rejected," Thompson said.
That's exactly what happened to Alie Kirby of Bellingham. On Saturday she and her husband traded in their 1995 Ford Taurus for a new Hyundai. On Monday, after driving home with their new car, they received a call from the dealer telling them they no longer qualified.
"We were devastated and confused," said Kirby. "The (federal) Web site says one thing, but then new rules came out Monday saying something else."
For the Kirbys, mileage was the issue; their old car did not fit the standards. Bellingham Hyundai felt so bad about the situation, they took it as a loss and allowed the Kirbys to keep their new car.
The Cash for Clunkers program is designed to allow people to trade a car less than 25 years old and that gets less than 17 miles per gallon in exchange for a fuel efficient vehicle. The program was slated to last until November 1, or when the money ran out, but few predicted the funds would run out so quickly. Thompson with Jet Chevy says despite the red tape, he believes this program could save the industry.
"I really believe that," he said.
He's hoping these paperwork issues are just growing pains.
The CARS program was a great idea and in concept seems to benefit the consumer and dealerships bottom line. With many government led programs the concept does not necessarily guarantee results.
I work at a local dealership on the sales staff and we have delivered over a hundred vehicles to customers taking advantage of the "cash for clunkers" program. After dealing with what seems like a mountain of paperwork submitting over 100 transactions (like filing your taxes for each and every transaction) The dealership has been paid on 2. That's TWO.
Lets do the math. assuming an average of $4000 times one hundred. $400,000. owed.
When customers are wondering why their local dealer can't honor the program perhaps we should
explain that our government is flakey and can not be trusted to pay their obligations in a timely manner.