In The Market For A New Vehicle? Here Are The Details Of The New CARS Credit Program
Next month, the government will start handing out credits of $3,500 or $4,500 to owners who trade in low-mpg cars for higher efficiency models under the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), popularly called the "Cash for Clunkers" program. Here are the basic things you need to know to determine whether it's worth it to you—and how to protect yourself from scammers.
- Only certain low-mpg cars qualify.
To get the credit, the car you trade in must be less than 25 years old, and must get 18 MPG or less. It can be a foreign or domestic model. You can find your car's fuel economy rating here.
- Certain trucks and vans will have different requirements.
Check out the chart on this Consumer Reports story on the CARS program for details on trucks and vans.
- The amount of the credit is based on the fuel efficiency difference between your trade in and the new vehicle.
To get the $3,500 credit, you must improve the fuel efficiency by at lest 4 MPG. To qualify for the $4,500 credit, the improvement has to be at least 10 MPG.
- The vehicle has to have been continuously insured and registered for a full year prior to trade in.
- The new vehicle price cannot exceed $45,000. And it has to be new, not used.
- By participating in the program, you will not receive the full normal trade-in value of your vehicle.
You will only get the scrap metal trade in value, because the program requires that all trade ins be destroyed. You should find out the trade in value of your vehicle before participating to make sure it's worth it. Click here for a chart from Edmunds.com that shows which vehicles have trade in values that are lower than the credits (PDF).
- The program runs through November 1, 2009.
- The credit will be applied at the time of purchase.
There are no vouchers or forms—the dealer applies it when you buy or lease the new vehicle. The dealer then gets reimbursed by the government.
- There is no registration requirement or process.
As CNN points out, any place that tries to collect your private information in order to see whether you qualify is scamming you. Eligibility is based solely on the car requirements listed above.
- You can find a list of eligible dealers at the official government site, www.cars.gov.
That's the only official site. They'll list participating dealers there once the program kicks in. You can give them an email address and they'll send you an update when they have more information available.
RELATED
"Edmunds.com Provides List of Vehicles Eligible for "Cash for Clunkers" Rebate" [Edmunds.com]
"Beware 'Cash for Clunkers' scams" [CNN]
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Comments:
18MPG city or highway?
@The_Truth: It's a blended rate which may or may not bear any resemblance to reality. That is, your mileage may vary. Take a peek at the link in the story which gives the EPA ratings for most cars.
Oh great. My wife and I were hoping we'd be able to do this with her old Ford Taurus. It gets 19 MPG based on the EPA estimate. This sucks.
@The_Truth: Neither--you have to use the combined rating. Check [www.fueleconomy.gov] for your model--you'll see city and highway and then the combined rating.
The dealer will apply the discount? That will not lead to fraud, scams or anything. Not at all.
Our gas hog SUV gets just over 18mpg on the rating, never does in real life w/ city driving. Most vehicles are worth $4500 if they are newer than 25 years or at least somewhere near that. So unless you really beat the crap out of it your really not getting much of a rebate over trading in or selling.
Yet another great idea compromised into irrelevance.
@bohemian: I'm not sure why you say this - I JUST bought a 94 Camry with 145k miles for $900. I wouldn't trade it in because it doesn't get under 18 mpg combined, but still, nowhere close to worth $4500.
@Donathius: Yep. They need to rename it "Cash for Guzzlers". Most trade-in for this program will not be eligible due to MPG estimations.
If you had gotten a good efficient vehicle in the past, you are screwed now.
So my 2000 Mustang GT is STILL worth more to sell. Thanks a lot Ford for building such a dependable performance vehicle that gets good gas milage when driven sanely and doesn't depreciate much. How dare you?!?!?
The problem with this really seems to be that there are just almost no vehicles that qualify - Just browsing through I can't seem to find any, even looking at big, what I would consider gas-guzzling cars like big, older buicks and chevys, they almost all have at least 18 mpg combined. Then I finally found one! 1988 Cadillac Allante, click over to Craigslist, one for sale within hundreds of miles, asking price.... *drumroll* 7 grand. Lol. Useless.
did someone forget to close a bold tag?
18MPG for city or highway? Are they looking at the sticker MPG, or the actual MPG?
@bohemian: Most vehicles are worth $4500
Yep - this program is dumb. Lets reward the people who chose to buy inefficient cars with a tax credit for getting them off the road. The people who did the right thing by buying efficient cars from the begining get nothing.
Why don't they increase the taxes on gas and use the money to fund a credit for operators of efficient vehicles. Lets reward the people who do the right thing and punish the people who do the wrong thing so that they change their behavior. If they want to drive a SUV fine - but it will cost them more.
Hm. I can only wonder why they chose such a dubious figure as 18MPG.
My car get's 19mpg according to the fuel economy website.
BOOOOOOO!
This program is a bunch of fucking bullshit. It does nothing for the environment or for the average car buyer. It has way too many details for most people to follow and is just a stupid way for the administration to look good to the very few people that will actually be able to use this thing.
Also, lots of people do not buy NEW cars (I don't, never have) and this excludes a huge part of the car buying public that perhaps could use this program the most.
Another waste of $1 billion of our taxpayer dollars.
@Radi0logy: Seriously? I just got one on my first try: 2000 Ford F150 pickup.
Or, since I'm picking on Ford for no real reason, a 2005 Explorer.
@juri squared: Yeah I think this bill should be labeled get the old SUVs and hummers off the road bill.
So if your car gets 18 mpg you can qualify for a $4500 tax credit, but if your car gets 19 mpg you get nothing.
If you're going to have a stupid program like this, at least have some kind of fair sliding scale.
The government should just butt the frick out of this.
So let me get this right... My 1991, falling-apart, piece of crap, burning oil, small car, actual "clunker"---- does NOT qualify because it gets 23 mpg.
BUT, my 2006, running great, wonderful smooth riding SUV that gets 17 mpg- DOES qualify.
????
Who wrote this bill? Cash for Clunkers my A**
@Coles_Law:
The article ended with a bold tag... I'm guessing leaving it opened caused everything below to be bold-faced, including the comments.
Wow, this plan is bullshit. My car gets 18MPG combined according to the EPA, but it will definitely get way more in trade-in than $4500. WTF is the point of the program when millions of the cars that will qualify will make more money in trade-in yet you can't get the trade-in value? I know it's supposed to be for clunky old cars, but what about newer cars that get even worse mileage than clunky old ones?
For what it's worth, all the text being bold makes it easier to read on the monitor I have at work. I wouldn't mind if they started leaving bold tags open more often. :P
@bohemian: Most vehicles are worth $4500
Whoops, I think you meant the "Cash for Most Cars" bill which failed to pass.
Anyway, nonsense. Vast numbers of cars sell for well below $4500. My last purchase was right at $4500 for a cherry 9yr old Passat V6.
@minsky: Tell us how you really feel. :)
Seriously, if nobody uses it then the money won't go anywhere. I agree it would be nice if the deal qualified for used cars, but think of the gaming of the system that would encourage in used car valuation, sales verification, etc.
@gauden44: Agreed. I guess I'm complaining about the name of the program... a 2006 car is a "clunker" but a 1991 car isn't.
Typical government logic, I guess.
@gauden44: When people hear 'clunkers', most would think any old car (5 or more years older) will work. But that is not how it is. Like Donathis and his 'old' Ford Taurus. An 89 model got 18/city. The 09 model get the same. No voucher.
Also, the website doesn't really do a good job.
I have a 1996 Buick Regal. The website shows 18 city 26 highway and 21 combined.
However, there are two different engines for this vehicle. A 3.1L V6 and a 3.8L V6. Each has a different mileage, but not according to the govt's website.
Also, look for a buick roadmaster. $700 in MPLS
And to top it all off, this waste of a bill has a $45,000 cap. As if the poor can afford to buy cars even with this bill.
This actually might work for me!!
Well, first of all - make sure you're looking at the COMBINED EPA MPG amount - a better link is this:
Looking at the site given above, I would've thought I didn't qualify.
My 1998 GMC Jimmy - which I bought used, have had since high school, and periodically breaks down - definitely qualifies with a "combined" amount of 16 mpg. There is no way I could get 4500 for it - the problems with it are too many to list, I thought I'd just donate it when I was ready.
I would LOVE a more fuel efficient car, and this is great - but it would be better if I could get a used car. Honestly, if I could afford a new car (and qualify for financing), there's no way I'd still be driving this hunk of crap around.
@pupu: Right or wrong? I don't want a dictator telling me what to drive. I just blew through 2 tanks of gas making 6 trips to the dump in one day in my corolla, when I could have only made one trip in an suv. Sounds inefficient to me, that's why I am buying a truck next.
@Radi0logy:
My 2000 Kia Sportage, which I was trying to sell for $1500, qualifies. My parents also have a 1997 Dodge Caravan that would have qualified, had they not removed the insurance on it two months ago.
@OrlandoDude: It isn't the official name of the program, it's what people have been calling it. Rally against the media, I guess.
Wooo, my junker truck qualifies! Now if only I could get a job. And, ya know, improve my credit. Income might help with that, I hear...
*sigh*
@juri squared: Well the article said that trucks and vans had different rules, I didn't click on any trucks or vans for that reason. Maybe I'll go back and take a look at them
@minsky: Concur.
People driving around cars that are worth less than $4500 are not new car buyers.
You might snag some people that buy a new car every 10 years... but people that thrifty tend to buy used.
My 2005 Prius doesn't qualify. Jerks.
PERFECT!!! My 1996 Ford Crown Victoria (18 MPG Combined -per the US Government) with 207,468 miles is worth $1200 in "good condition" per KBB. i'll get $4500 if i get a 2010 BMW that gets 28mpg? SWEET!
now, they just want the car... correct? if the stereo, speakers, spare tire, silverstar light bulbs, etc. are gone... i'll still get the $4500?
please, advise!!
-dave
And where is the money coming from?
@bohemian: My local Craigslist has 1,000 cars just in the $500 to $1,500 range. I myself have purchased four running cars for $600 or less in the last three years (shh, I already know I'm nuts).
Was this plan crafted by Cash4Gold?
what if Your car is rated at 22 mpg, but due to an error with the catalytic converter, you only get 18? Is there a way to prove it?
@gauden44: Yes.. and if someone wanted to turn in their 19 MPG vehicle for a 45 MPG vehicle they would have been more likely to do so using this program to help get it done...
The point is, typical government arbitrary and ill-conceived restrictions make this a nearly pointless program.
In any case, I'm not turning in my V8.
It might be more widely used if they also included used cars..but alas...that's how it is.