The Senate passed a bill yesterday containing the Cash for Clunker (CFC) program allocating $1 billion for the program as the House did last week. I reviewed the merits of the program in a Huff Post article.
Cash for Clunkers is a program which was architected by three organizations: Center for American Progress (CAP), ACEEE and Smarttransportation.org where I serve as Chairman.
You can see here the list of cars that are eligible for trade-in.
This program will have immediate benefits for dealers around the country.
I have been receiving hundreds of queries from around the country from individuals who want to use the program. "Where do I go to trade-in my car?"-questions are flowing in by email and phone.
Unfortunately, the version passed by Congress does not contain as much of an efficiency gain as we were hoping for, but it is a first step. The initial version contained in HR 520 and S 247 had a much bigger jump in MPG.
The good news is that this program run for a year at which time we can revisit the mileage bar and step it up. Only a $1 billion has been appropriated so only about 400-500K cars can be covered in this initial run.
Rev up that V8 from '88!
I don't qualify because my car already gets good gas mileage. My dad swears by the car buying process here: http://excarsalesman.typepad.com/ It is kind of similar.
I haven't tried it yet, but I might because it looks good.
I have a feeling dealers are going to automatically increase prices because of the increased demand (artificial) for lower MPG cars. So the thousands of savings from this bill for consumers is not entirely accurate. The demand will increase prices and you'll get a voucher from increased prices. I'm certain some markets you'll come out even as if they never offered this voucher. It is poorly written legislation.
Posted by: Jordache | June 19, 2009 at 11:54 PM
What do you mean "first step"? This is another massive spending program on the many others we've seen the past five months. Our nation could not afford those and likely cannot afford this one either. The piper will need paid at some point. Any recommendations for that situation when all these bills come due?
Posted by: arizona bankruptcy attorney | June 20, 2009 at 12:47 PM
60% the cars that are currently donated to charity will now be eligible for a $3500 or $4500 voucher under the cash for clunkers program. Since the tax deduction for donating a car is only $500 or what the car sells charities won't be able to compete with the program and charitable car donation will end. A better idea is to just change the amount a person can deduct for donating their car back to the book value. That way every car is eligible, the government doesn't have to spend $4 mil
lion of our dollars giving away vouchers and trying to administer a program that is way too convoluted!
Posted by: karenc | June 21, 2009 at 02:16 PM
I saw Mr. Hidary on CNN today explaining how this cash for clunkers program would save the average family $750 per year and how it would be a great help for low income families to help them survive in our troubled economy. How can he say this with a straight face given that surely the total payments that they make on the new car during the year (each for the entire term of the loan) will be far in excess of the $750 in fuel savings. Don't believe this dishonest crooks!
Posted by: JRS | August 08, 2009 at 10:38 PM