WHOA! I go to do errands, and there is no money left!

Thank you Sandy! Great article!

SOOOO glad you found that title yesterday!!!

 

Drove up to Michigan and back for work today, there were constant radio ads for the C4C program from dealerships in the Toledo/Detroit region.

Figure they had prebought these ads earlier, and they were going to run regardless, but if people interested in using the program aren't paying attention, then they are going to be pissed when they hit the car lots this weekend, and get told that, at best, the program is on hold.

Like Warner, I'm really glad I jumped on this, and set up my deal last week for Monday of this week.

I'm a happy boy

 

Agreed. So much for the pundits who have been declaring CARS a failure for the past several months because nobody was going to participate.

It's hard to feel sympathy for dealers, but I hope they don't get screwed. A lot of people, customers and dealers alike, entered into CARS deals in good faith, and if the $1 billion is already exhausted, Congress needs to pass an exceptional authorization to supplement the bill with whatever money is necessary to complete deals that are already in the pipeline. I'm fairly optimistic this will happen.

However, things may not be as bad as they appear. I've been taking snapshots of the CARS funds balance "gas gauge." For reasons unknown, CARS.gov - Car Allowance Rebate System - Home - Formerly Referred to as “Cash for Clunkers”, decided to reverse the "gas gauge" for CARS funds left. On July 29, the gauge had "full" on the left and "empty" on the right, reporting $858 million available. As of 10 a.m. July 30, full is on the right, and empty is on the left -- which makes a huge difference psychologically, if you've been following this closely -- but the text says that $779 million is left. So, due to the heavy volume, nobody knows, and a temporary suspension seems warranted to get a handle on just how many sales have been made, but there is no reason to panic if you've already bought a car. If you haven't, don't hyper-ventilate -- this is going to work out.

 

The National Automobile Dealers Association surveyed its members in recent days and told the Transportation Department Thursday that it had a very large backlog of applications, according to Bailey Wood, a spokesman for the association.

Late in the day the group said the Transportation Department had responded by telling it to stop taking applications at midnight. Both the government and the dealers were concerned that buyers would drive off the lot assuming they had a big rebate that would not, in fact, be available.

The Transportation Department had no official comment on Thursday, but in the evening, a White House official, who refused to be identified, said that the program had not, in fact, been suspended. The dealers’ group said, though, that the last instructions it had were to cut off applications at midnight Thursday.

The Transportation Secretary was making calls to the House and Senate Thursday to try to line up more money. The House leaves town for its August recess on Friday.

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/bu...unkers.html?hp
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Favorite quote from the story:
"The sudden depletion of the fund was a surprise."

Not to me.
https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/gene...tml#post695001

Back on the 12th I was telling people to run (not walk) to the local dealer, and that I might have camped out overnight for a deal like $3,500-$4,500 off a new Fit.

And I said it again:
https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/gene...tml#post697369

Whether or not my flapping and flailing made a difference to anyone here, I don't know. But I kind of hope it might have encouraged a couple people somewhere, to hurry down, just in case.

So proud of you all, kind of like you graduated from Clunkers U.

 

TW, you've done a great job of reporting on this story. I hate the term "MSM" but you have, hands down, been my most reliable source of information about CARS.

 

Hey Man...I have to give you huge props TW. You were right on the money and I was WAY off base thinking it wouldn't run out by NOVEMBER! I think that you DO deserve some credit for motivating people to get their butts in gear. I was in line already, but in the beginning I wasn't that concerned about getting the deal done in a big hurry. But I DID get it done on Monday, which was in truth the first official day to get deals done (without having to go back in an fill out paperwork later). But I officially give you public props for your words of caution. So there ya' go!

Warner

 

I saw that and my first thought was that they ran out of money...overnight.

I think they should suspend the program and catch up with whatever has been done to this point. Or as of midnight tonight.

By "suspend" I mean NO transactions will be honored at all dated after midnight tonight, the dealers can't just keep on promising what may not be there.

When the suspension is lifted, an announcement can be made, and everyone who wants to buy at that time, they all have the same starting time/date.

During the suspension, the government can look over any problematic aspects, remove any dealers that did bad things, make sure the dealers that had not been registered or decided not to do it before are now able to register.

It also gives a chance to replenish the stock already sold, no matter what manufacturer it is. Dealers probably shouldn't be ordering all kinds of extra cars that they don't want to be saddled with. But they could order a few extra of the top models that were sold during the first part of CARS.

There's probably a bunch of cars somewhere between the manufacturer and the dealer already. Get those cars on the lot.

 

Thank you very much. When I get interested in something, I am interested.

I don't know what "MSM" means though.

Edit add-on: "Main Stream Media", found via Urban Dictionary.

My motto for this CARS program for myself has been "I read the news, so you don't have to".

 

I have the feeling there would be alot of pressure on Congress to pass more money if the funds ran out while there were still applications in the pipeline. Can you imagine the huge fecal storm if thousands of buyers and dealers had to cough up an extra $3500-4500 dollars they though would be covered. I doubt anyone at the capitol or White house wants to deal with that.
I does sound reasonable to me to temporarily halt new applications and process what they have to be sure of the remaining funding.

 

Yup, definite props to TW, she's been on it. Anybody out on the west coast who's pulling articles from the Dispatch in Cowlumbus, like she did a couple days ago, is really doing some Googling.

I didn't really think this money would last until Nov, but I'd have never guessed that it would only last a week. I got it lined up early, just to be sure, and now I'm glad I did.

TW, those are some good ideas on suspending the program for a cool down period. Too bad it's the government, I doubt they can put something that is so common sense together.

 

You're a fine shopper, too, Warner. Getting to any sale or weekly special the morning of the start date increases the selection and the availability opportunities. Having your paperwork ready to go and having read up on the info meant you would speed through the process and be pretty much guaranteed your voucher/rebate/credit.

More news:

Through Wednesday, almost 23,000 vehicles had been purchased through the program. At least another 25,000 were believed to be sitting in the system unprocessed yet. And the fear is that dealers may have already processed more than 200,000 sales that haven’t been sent in yet. The DOT is concerned that sales are being made faster than the agency can process them, and that money will be promised to consumers beyond the $1 billion allocated so far.


Michigan Congresswoman Candace Miller (Dem.) spent Wednesday and Thursday lobbying Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to find additional funding before Congress adjourns.


“There can be no doubt that the Cash for Clunkers program is a complete success given the fact that the entire $1 billion allocated to the program was expended in less than a week,” said Miller late Thursday when word got out of the program’s suspension. “This is simply the most stimulative $1 billion the federal government has spent during the entire economic downturn. The federal government must come up with more money, immediately, to keep this program going. Whether we look at returned TARP funds or reprogram stimulus funds to a truly stimulative purpose, the administration must take action.”

Cash For Clunkers Faces Suspension - BusinessWeek
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Here's one reason it's really important for Congress to consider more funding...

Let's say 225,000 cars were sold, with an average of a 10 mpg increase (from 18 to 28 mpg), and that the average miles driven per year is 15,000.

At 18 miles per gallon, it would take 833.33 gallons of gas to drive 15,000 miles. At a cost (using a price I saw today for regular in my area) of 2.85 a gallon (regular) comes out to $2,375. for a year's gas.

Let's change to 28 miles per gallon, that comes to 535.71 gallons, and a yearly cost of $1,526.

A savings per person of $849 in gas money. And 297.62 gallons of gas per person.

Now the fun part. Subtract the 28 mpg numbers from the 18 mpg numbers... and then multiplying those numbers by 225,000...

Savings for all participants in gas money:
$191,025,000

Gallons of gas saved for all participants:
66,964,500

ONE HUNDRED NINETY ONE MILLION DOLLARS saved in gas money.

That's only one year though.

And the amount of pollution reduction is probably amazing. The newer cars are much less polluting. That helps all of us for air quality.

Should help a tiny bit at lowering the price of gas. And reducing demand. This helps everyone at the pump. EVERYONE.

Guess what else happens. Gas goes down, everything costs less to transport. Goods and services prices go down.

Ripple effect that helps a lot of people.

 

LOVE your "fit mods" image there, did you photoshop it? It's so funny!

 

Yup props to TaffetaWhite. I was planning on taking my time but as you can see from the links provided, I decided to hurry up and get the Fit Sport with the CARS program ASAP and I'm very glad I did. Thanks again TW!

 

Used to use it as an av on another forum, it said "need cash for alcohol research". I 'shopped out the "alcohol research" and put in "Fit mods" a couple of days ago.

More of a quick than good 'shop job, but I was at work at the time.

Just thought that might Fit in better here

 

LOL!

July 31 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. government’s $1 billion “cash for clunkers” program to spur new car sales ran through the money six days after it began, Senator Debbie Stabenow said.

...

Officials at the White House and the Transportation Department declined to comment on the program’s status.

...

Jill Zuckman, a Transportation Department spokeswoman, declined to comment.



Tom Gavin, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget, the White House branch that oversees government spending, didn’t respond to requests for comment.


Mike Moran, a spokesman for Ford Motor Co., said in an e- mail that he had no immediate comment.

Auto ?Clunkers? Offer in Doubt After Going Through $1 Billion - Bloomberg.com
--------

The US government's $1bn (£604m) "cash for clunkers" programme aimed at reviving stagnant car sales has been so popular that the money has nearly run out after less than a week.
Car dealers have seen an avalanche of customers wanting to turn in their gas-guzzling bangers for new, more fuel-efficient models since the programme began on Monday. About 250,000 vehicles have been sold under the plan, which offers payments of between $3,500 and $4,500 for each car that is scrapped and replaced.

US 'cash for clunkers' scheme runs through $1bn in less than a week | Business | guardian.co.uk
--------

Possible extension may have more requirements:

U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein of California and Susan Collins of Maine said any extension of the incentive must require greater fuel efficiency and higher reductions of auto emissions.

From the same article:
The U.S. government's $1 billion "cash for clunkers" auto sales incentive program reached its funding limit unexpectedly after an avalanche of business exhausted its funds, an Obama administration official said late Thursday.

New funding sought for U.S. clunker program | Reuters
--------

Compare the amount given to the program and how many people benefited from CARS with stories like this:

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co. paid out a total of $18 billion in bonuses in 2008 while receiving a combined total of $45 billion in taxpayer dollars through TARP. Together, the three firms earned $9.6 billion last year, Cuomo said.

Banks Paid $32.6 Billion in Bonuses Amid U.S. Bailout (Update4) - Bloomberg.com
----------

They get 45 billion and give out 18 billion in bonuses.

How many cars would that cover? 4,040,000 cars could have been sold or purchases helped via a program like CARS. 18 billion could help over 4 million people.

Look at this quote:
The top 200 bonus recipients at JPMorgan Chase & Co. received $1.12 billion last year, while the top 200 at Goldman received $995 million.

200 hundred people at either of two financial institutions got as much as 225,000 people did for the CARS program. Unbalanced? Yes, it is.

And you know what? For some reason, I think the people I have seen posting here, about their CARS cars are considerably happier with what they got, than execs at those financial institutions.

Here's why:

When you have a little, and you get a little break, a little more, it makes a HUGE difference. A HUGE impact in one's life.

When you have a lot, and you get a lot more, it doesn't make that much of a difference. How much stuff can you buy or invest? How much food can you eat? You can only drive one car at a time, sleep in one bed at a time, be in one house at a time, visit one country or take one cruise at a time.

The people with all that money have the same number of hours we have in each day.

I mean, I'm pretty sure they don't put on track shoes and run around the house every day to be sure to sit in each of their chairs.

Hey, for awhile I had ONE chair in my apartment. It was one I rescued from the trash area, an office chair. I had it at my computer desk. There's only me. I only need one chair. It was on wheels, so it could be moved.

MORE programs that help "the little people". More programs that help the little people help themselves. CARS did both. It not only helped many people get out of a gas guzzler, but the gas savings over the years will also help.

------

 

 

Automakers have ordered millions of dollars in television ads. Dealers had the hot dogs, balloons and full-page Sunday ads in the newspapers ready to pounce on sales opportunities. And it is all in vain: the "Cash for Clunkers" program is on hold.

FIASCO: Suspension of 'Cash for Clunkers' program couldn't come at a worse time - Drive On: A conversation about the cars and trucks we drive - USATODAY.com

--------

Donate the hot dogs and balloons to homeless shelters, or ones for abused women and children.

I know that dealers (and most businesses) think that they need gimmicks to attract people.

But you know what? They don't.

Word of mouth is better than advertising and hot dogs. If you have a good product, good service, good people, the word will get out.

And if it's a crappy product and/or crappy service and/or crappy people, the word will get out faster.

 

July 31 (Bloomberg) -- Lawmakers from Michigan are pressing to add $2 billion to continue the “cash for clunkers” program after a burst of demand exhausted most of the initial $1 billion.



The program to encourage new car sales is still in operation, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters today. Members of Congress had said late yesterday that the clunkers offer was being suspended.



“If you were planning on going to buy a car this weekend, using this program, this program continues to run,” Gibbs said. “If you meet the requirements of the program, the certificates will be honored.”



Lawmakers Seek $2 Billion to Keep ?Cash for Clunkers? Running - Bloomberg.com

 

as far as i know we are not offering that right now at our dealership. we are actually turning people away

 

It's breaking news.

It will take awhile for it to get around, but I'm plugging in the links. Obviously any phone line into their CARS HQ will be FLOODED. With dealers. With consumers. With reporters. People wanting to know why it stopped...who haven't heard that it's back on again.

I don't have access to any official dealer info, but I'd guess that you folks probably have access to some extra info that should be showing up for you, pretty soon.

Pass the information on to the management or owners or whomever needs the info. Especially since turning people away at your place may mean they are going elsewhere, and getting their car there.

They've updated the CARS site, removed the old "gauge" that showed funds. But have not updated the amount that was for the program, it still shows $1B.