Posted on 08/01/2009 4:39:09 AM PDT by Kaslin
With the House pushing for another 2 billion to be injected into the cash-for-clunkers program, auto dealers have found themselves in a sticky situation.
Many dealerships are offering their customers the full $4,500 discount despite uncertainty about when or even if they'll be reimbursed by the government. This uncertainty stems from not only the grim news about the solvency of the program, but unnerving frustrations over the logistics of the reimbursement system.
"Once you get through the process of submitting one [reimbursement request], there's no way to know if they've got everything they needed. So we've to yet to see," said Bill Dowen, General Manager for Stevenson Toyota in Jacksonville, NC. "I think we assume that we will get reimbursed, but also we do it with knowing that there is some liability involved.”
Stevenson has only experienced about a 5% increase in sales. But other dealerships, such as Medlin Hyundai in Rocky Mount, NC, have doubled their business, making General Sales Manager William Witmire mostly happy.
“We love it. It's just been a good motivator for our sales people. It’s just nice to see people back out on the lot again to be honest with you,” he said. But when asked about his prospects for reimbursement, he was hesitant.
"We hope so, because we've got about 70 grand hanging out there."
Money for the program ran out just 7 days after it was instated, and the House immediately passed another 2 billion to try and save the program. Sen. John McCain has vowed to filibuster the proposal, telling Fox News “I not only wouldn't vote for the extra two billion, I was opposed to the initial billion.”
A survey of about two dozen dealerships across the U.S. revealed that most were highly concerned about the process for getting payment from the government, and moderately concerned about the possibility that the government wouldn’t pay them back at all.
“We're up, 30 percent,” said Taft Hefner, sales manager for Family Hyundai in Walton, VA. Family Hyundai was in the process of filing the paperwork for the vehicles it has sold, but had not heard anything back from the government.
“It’s a pretty big deal. It’s a difficult thing,” said Hefner.
Many of the dealerships who were contacted were simply too busy to respond to any press inquiries, a direct result of increased business from the cash-for-clunkers program.
“We sold every single car in the show room yesterday and they had to bring in new cars. I’m not sure if the government has responded to the applications,” said an operator who did not identify herself before hanging up at Melloy Nissan in Albuquerque, NM. “Everyone is way too busy to talk on the phone.”
Others were more than happy to speak at length about their concerns.
“We’re making a few dollars, but if I have to fight uncle Sam to get the money back it’s not worth it,” said Charles Delorenzo, the owner of Quality Jeep-Chrysler in Albuquerque, NM. “The computers are all down, there is so much paperwork, customers are frustrated because of the paper work and the value of their current car changing from the time they leave home to when they come in.”
Delorenzo said that Quality Jeep-Chrysler wouldn’t be honoring the cash-for-clunkers deal if they were still unsure about the prospects for reimbursement by close of business on Friday. Amanda Grover, the Corporate Controller of the Murdoch Hyundai Auto Group in Salt Lake City, Utah, said that its dealerships were also skeptical about continuing on with the incentive program. Their Hyundai branch in Orem, UT has 70 applications pending in the government system, and she compared the filing system to “pulling teeth.”
Many dealerships said that personnel were working as early as 5am and as late as midnight to try and beat the “slow period” during business hours where the government’s computer system was most difficult to operate.
“Knowing what we're dealing with, it is a government-run program. If we're all being honest, we want to say we don’t have the most confidence in what we're getting involved in,” said Dowen. “Really, this kind of open endedness – all we know is there's a billion dollars. After that runs out, do we get left hanging?”
Sure the dealers just mark the price up $4500 before they apply the govt cash ‘discount’.
“With the House pushing for another 2 billion to be injected into the cash-for-clunkers program”
You’d think the additional $2Billion was a done deal from what out local TV station reported last night.
Why can’t they stick to their own plan and it’s over when it’s over?
EXCUSE me, dealers are ready to trust a Government that just Sc**** them big time? Are these guys drugged, drunk, or just plain stupid?
We ain’t seen nuthin’ yet!! Wait ‘til the Jackass Party opens up the Healthcare bucket of worms.
Another thing to recall about the “Cash for Clunkers” program is how it hurts the poor. The program will take these “clunkers” off the street and give them to the government to destroy. But these are precisely the kinds of cars that poor or fixed-income people tend to purchase. Most of these “clunkers” are of course in fine shape, but they are not “green” enough according to government determinations. So poor people who cannot afford to purchase new, government-approved (and thus artificially expensive) automobiles will be told to “go take a hike” – literally!
The government having melted down these “clunkers,” the market in low priced used cars will dry up, thus driving up cost and further hurting poor and working people as well as seniors and others on fixed income. Grandma who just needs a cheap old car to get down to the pharmacy for her prescriptions will thus be forced to walk or hire a cab, as the finance companies will take a look at her social security income and say “next!”
Cash for clunkers is an attack on the poor for the benefit of government-connected Big Auto big-wigs and GMAC-style bankster/moneylenders. As with most government programs, the poor get the short end of the stick.
to me it’s typical government largesse. When this program started it was going to take this certain amount of $$ and it was going to run through NOvember. LOL, they stopped it after 3 days because they didn’t anticipate the demand and then go to Congress saying we need more money. Hello? and they don’t understand why we don’t want their healthcare. What brain disease is they catch when they get to D.C.?
got that right..somewhere in the deal is an additional $4500 to offset the “discount”.
when I was a younger lad, my dad explained it to me this way:
pretend you have a balloon. if you want/demand a lower price on a new car, squeeze the balloon on the front end. the back end gets larger to equal out. if you want/demand a lower rate on your loan, squeeze the back end of the balloon and the front end gets larger. if you want/demand a low purchase price AND a lower interest rate, squeeze both ends and the middle gets larger.
lesson learned? the dealer will getcha no matter what kind of deal you THINK you’ve gotten..
The president will get the money.
He’s making a deal with China to sell them B2 bomber blueprints for only $50 billion. That should be plenty to fund this sellout of our country.
I remember seeing pictures of new cars from overseas parked after offloading in huge lots, miles and square miles of new cars and no buyers.
Personally I think a lot of fools will be created about this program, the dealerships will get stiffed, they will close, the banks will get stiffed, they will close.
I would say in a few months repo men will be working a lot of overtime hours.
This is free cocaine being tossed out as samples.
I can’t find out who voted for this extension. anybody find a link yet? I wanna give my congresscritter GRIEF if he voted to blow the budget!
You know, in the end this fiasco could end up being a great tool to use to fight Gov’t Healthcare. Hell, if they can’t even run a used-car program right, how much to you want these same people messing with the health of your family?
Got a link on that?
Well, that’s right.
This thing is a pretty straight forward thing, with few rules. Wait till you get tied up in the health Scrae scam with millions of people losing their private insurance and moving to Government insurance.
It’s a nightmare in the making.
This from the super genius that felt it necessary to suspend his campaign and hot foot it back to DC to vote for a $Trillion bucks of TARP spending and destroy any chance he had of winning the Presidency.
Should push his conservative creds through the roof holding the line on government spending.< /sarcasm >
Turn in your Clunkers and report to the Gubmint Clinic for your rectal exam. Remember that induction physical, stand in a straight line, drop drawers, bend over, and spread those cheeks maggot!
I turned in a cash for clunkers car yesterday. The whole transaction took 3.5 hour and this for an all-cash purchase! For my tax-payer provided $4500, I purchased a small, reliable car having less than 1% US content. So my grant, which I didn’t really need, took money from the US economy letting me buy a car I didn’t really have to have, and didn’t employ any US manufacturing assets. If this makes sense to you could you let me know.
You did a fine thing. You contributed $4500 more to my grandchildren's debt load and further bondage. You sure seem proud of yourself for being so patriotic!
( Is it necessary to place a /sarcasm ?)
The govt. doesn't melt them down. They are chopped and the steel is sent to China to make cheap crap for us to buy.
“melted down” is not to be taken literally. obviously they aren’t melting them down literally.
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