Ducati996

Good point Mickey - I think overall "incentives" can motivate buyers and I think this program certainly proved it. I think the grandstanding from the politicians and the fake outrage is getting in the way of something that can do more "good" than not. Especially in Michigan and Indiana and other locations hardest hit by the auto decline. Every tool that can be thought of and used should be - in order to stimulate consumer spending.

Now the trick is to come up with an incentive for businesses to stem the flow of unemployment.....

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Dougster

I think you've got to look at actual, comparable, monthly or weekly sales numbers (not these misleading percentages) to get a true picture of what's going on. Remember that Ford was doing terrible last year while Honda was still selling cars left and right! Comparatively speaking, Honda is actually doing quite well against its competition in this hideous, horrible recession.

That being said, it appears that Ford is benefiting from a sort of "last U.S. auto company standing" mentality together with an aggressive discounting strategy last month... over and above the Cash for Clunkers program. While the old Dougster™ can't drive a Ford pick-up truck with its relatively stiff, bouncy suspension, if I could somehow manage to buy a new car today, it would most likely be a Ford product.

Dougster™

LoneCowboy

I agree
completely not interested in either Government Motors Version 1 or Government Motors version 2 cars.

Don't even like Fords, but guess I'm stuck with them now.

Hope they make a good pickup when it comes time to replace my "that which shall not be named" pickup,

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Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Four of the top five models sold so far under the U.S. "cash for clunkers" program, aimed at boosting the auto industry, are made by foreign automakers, according to Transportation Department data.

Ford Motor Co.’s Focus was the top seller, followed by Toyota Motor Corp.’s Corolla, Honda Motor Co.’s Civic and Toyota’s Prius and Camry, data from the department showed today.

Four of Top ?Clunkers? Model Purchases Are Foreign (Update3) - Bloomberg.com


Dougster™

Mickey

The news I'm hearing this AM is looking more like the Senate is going to anti-up for the additional $2B.

If you are thinking about going for some of that FREE money. Take a look here.

Cash for Clunkers Eligible New Cars

I'm somewhat surprised to see so many vehicles classified as trucks being on the approved list. Note the HUMMER H3 getting the thumbs up but then it's not a real Hum Vee.

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JoyofFluidFilm

mickey, thanks for the link!

Dougster

How to Avoid the 'Cash for Clunkers' Snarl

By Rick Newman Wed Aug 19, 12:19 pm ET

When car dealers start doing business with the federal government, whaddya expect? Perfect harmony?

Of course not. Several weeks into the "cash for clunkers" program it turns out that delivering a couple of billion dollars worth of rebates to hundreds of thousands of car buyers can generate a few flat tires. The Department of Transportation's latest update on the Car Allowance Rebate System shows that the government has received applications for about 412,000 rebates totaling $1.7 billion. But so far, the feds have approved only a fraction of those, leaving dealers furious.

The Transportation Department won't say exactly what the rejection rate is, but in an Automotive News survey, some dealers said up to 80 percent of their rebate applications had been rejected. Some dealers are waiting for payments totaling as much as $200,000, the survey found. About 13 percent of dealers said they've suspended clunker deals because of red tape and concern about getting paid by the government.

Prediction: They'll be back. Buyers, meanwhile, should make sure the dealer isn't putting the burden of obtaining a rebate on them. And those still looking for a clunker deal should be able to find plenty of dealers continuing to play along.

It's obvious that the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, the agency administering CARS, has been overwhelmed by the popularity of a program that has surprised just about everybody, including the masterminds in Congress who had to triple the funding a week after clunkers kicked in. NHTSA initially detailed 225 people to processing those 400,000 claims; it's in the process of assigning 1,000 more to the program to help speed up the rebates.

To put this in context, there are only about 635 full-time workers at the entire agency, and their principal job is to set safety standards, perform crash tests, conduct research, and regulate the automakers. So NHTSA is swelling to nearly twice its regular size--by borrowing workers from other agencies--to manage a program that will come and go within six weeks. I guess they'll get back to worrying about safety after Labor Day, when CARS expires.

NHTSA also has to make sure nobody's claiming that a rusty tricycle constitutes a clunker worth $4,500 toward a new ride. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that anybody would ever attempt to take advantage of wanton congressional spending and defraud the U.S. government. But do we trust car dealers and their customers enough to go by the honor system? Many of the rejected clunker claims are being sent back to dealers because of paperwork snafus like unsigned sales agreements, mismatched serial numbers, and forms that fail to include the make, model, and year of the clunker being traded in. Hmmmm. Those are all harmless mistakes, no doubt. But if people at NHTSA weren't eyeballing every application, chances are that there would be a newspaper headline somewhere declaring "Man Gets Clunker Rebate for Matchbox Car." It still might happen.

Dealer groups have been meeting with NHTSA to straighten out the foul-ups and make sure their own members are following procedures and playing by the rules. Odds are this will all get sorted out soon, the pace of rebates will pick up, and dissident dealers will quiet down and rejoin the program.

Meanwhile, delayed rebates have caused tension between some dealers and their customers. Just like money to ruin a beautiful relationship.

The government has gotten complaints about a few dealers who seem to be putting their customers on the hook in case there's a problem with the CARS rebate coming through. Now, in a negotiated deal it's always a good idea to put the financial risk on the other guy. Except that in the CARS program, dealers aren't allowed to do that. Banned practices include forcing the buyer to leave a deposit for the amount of the clunker rebate, in case the government doesn't cough it up, and forcing the buyer to sign an agreement to pay the dealer the rebate amount if the government rejects the application. In general, the burden is on the dealer, not the car buyer, to dicker with the feds and make sure the paperwork is correct (unless you lie on the application, which could invalidate the whole deal). Consumers can see the complete list of rules at Cars.gov (look under the FAQ), and buyers can report suspicious dealer activity to the government by calling 866-CAR-7891.

The popularity of the program has also caught manufacturers by surprise, one reason they've run short of some vehicles that clunker traders want to buy. Some dealers have sold out of models like the Jeep Patriot and the Ford Focus, for instance. Buyers were left wondering whether they can still get a clunker deal when the next shipment arrives or should pick another vehicle. So the government has tweaked the rules to include new cars that aren't on dealer lots but are in the production pipeline. As long as the dealer can identify an actual vehicle and its vehicle identification number, or VIN, the clunker deal can go through, even if the car is delivered after the program expires. Buyers need to make sure the VIN of the car they ultimately take home is the same as the VIN on the original sales agreement and watch out for any other kind of bait-and-switch.

If the nearest dealer has bailed out of the program, look for another. Despite the problems, there are plenty of reasons for dealers to stay involved with CARS until it expires. With the government subsidizing the cost of so many new cars, the program is obviously boosting sales. But it's also drawing other shoppers who end up buying a car even though they don't qualify for a clunker deal, and it's generating business in dealers' service departments as well. And with many buyers who qualified for a clunker deal already enjoying their new ride, the frenzy is starting to subside. That should give the government time to catch up and placate the dealers. A little haggling is just part of the process.

How to Avoid the 'Cash for Clunkers' Snarl - Yahoo! News

Dougster™