Dan and Tara took advantage of the Cash for Clunkers program, trading in their 2001 Nissan X-Terra for a $3,500 government-backed discount with the assurance that their gas guzzler would be taken off the road for good, as Cash for Clunkers mandated.

So they were surprised to their old jalopy for sale at the dealership a few days later.

The couple cried foul, but it turns out everything was on the up-and-up. The Orange County Register reports:

“They came in for the cash for clunkers, but we went out and looked at the car and decided it’s a pretty clean car, so we took the car on a trade-in,” said Ken O’Donnell of VW of Garden Grove. “We decided we’re going to give them the $3,500 they would have gotten from the clunker program as the trade-in. We’re not asking the government for any reimbursement.”

Indeed, the feds confirm that the dealership did not seek money for the Nissan under the cash-for-clunkers program.

So fear not, those of you who took advantage of Cash for Clunkers, then think you catch a glimpse of your old ride in your rear-view mirror. That’s not a resentful zombiemobile out for vengeance, just a clunker that the dealership eyed and decided its polluting days were far from over.

Couple shocked to find their ‘clunker’ is for sale [Orange County Register]
(Photo: Brian McGann)
(Thanks, Brett!)

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