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Consumer Messages to Congress on CARS Program
You can contact your state Representatives and Senators by visiting their personal websites. They normally only reply to consumers who live in the state they represent and if the email or letter has a clear physical address in their state.
If you would like to write your open letter to Congress, you can do it here know that some members of Congress will hear about this forum and take a peek at consumer feedback.
ONCE AGAIN THEY HAVE FAILED TO HELP THE PEOPLE WHO REALLY, REALLY NEED HELP!!! We are the millions who have a skilled talent “We live within our means”….We don’t buy homes we cannot afford and we don’t spend money that we do not have…at shopping malls…on things we do not need. Remember us, the responsible ones!!! We are the ones who really do drive “clunkers”, but cannot afford a new car. A commercial comes to mind about a teenager who doesn’t want to use “unused” minutes because they are old. We have managed to, once again, justify the narcissistic mentality of entitlement that we have in this country that we must have it “now” and “new”. Congratulations..on doing your part to continue this madness into the next generation!!
My husband and I were allowed to drive our new car off the lot the same day we signed the loan papers for the full amount with the agreement we would be reimbursed our $3,500 via check. To date, we still have not received the $3,500. They did have to re-submit our paperwork because during a move from MI to MO we had lost the original title to our clunker and had to re-apply for a new one, which took a while, but we finally received it and took it into the dealership on 9-5-09. Now, we are just waiting to hear back. It has been almost two weeks since they re-submitted our paperwork with the new title. They have had our clunker since day one–a 97 Ford Crown Victoria. What happens if the gov’t denies our application again? Isn’t there some liability with the car dealership? I have heard that dealerships were supposed to verify that all cash for clunker paperwork was in proper form and that the customer(s) actually qualified for the program before they close the sale. If the money doesn’t come from the government, will there be a class action lawsuit for people like us, still waiting for our money.
I have a question, I found out my local dealership is selling/giving whatever it’s called, to our local scrap yard and that they are getting paid scrap value which is well over $50.00 will I get the extra applied to my down payment or pay off value or will the dealership get to keep it. I thought that they only got to keep $50.00 and the rest went to consumer
I paid for and took delivery of my new car at the end of July. It’s now September 16 I still don’t have my title. Dealer says they’re holding titles till they get reimbursed by the feds. I can’t get a license plate without the title. Who do I go to for help?
“PLEASE DO NOT PUBLISH MY LAST NAME”
Once again the bumbling idiots in congress failed to make a program that is fair to all and had to make changes and amendments to rules that would be obviously unfair and they should have been intelliugent enough to catch before signing the program. I am in a chapter 13 bankruptcy, part of which allows for me to be able to purchase a new car over the course of the settlement period. I was not allowed to participate in the CARS program because the rules require that I give the title of my trade in vehicle to the dealership and take posession of the new vehicle on the same day that the deal is made. In order to purchase a vehicle I have to have a “permission to accrue non-emergency debt” form filled out and signed by the courts. This requires that I include all financing information along with a signed purchase agreement to the judge for approval. They amended the rules in the cars program that requires you have the vehicle insured for at least one year to exclude these States that do not require insurance because that rule “unfairly peanalized them”. The same day rule also “unfairly penalizes people in a chapter 13″ I think the insurance requirement amendment sets president that requires this change be made as well. I want to sue and have it made so the Govt. has to send out vouchyers to people like me that were also unfairly penalized. Any takers?
This is crazyness, the dealer told me pay full price .
and he’ll reemburse me “IF” THE MONEY GETS THU!
We as tax payers BAILED OUT these Creepy Businessmen.
Now they dont trust thell get there money.
I wrote my congressman, and got a very nice “OUT OF OFFICE REPLY”
Every clunker buyer should be able to follow up and find out if the dealer even filed and If they didnt “IT SHOULD BE FRAUD!”
Restart the program in the October – November timeframe for two weeks. By the time we got our paperwork straight the lots were virtually empty. Restarting the program at a later date will allow dealers to get their inventories back up and more people to participate.
Day 34 and still waiting for my dealer to call me to say I was “approved”. No answers from DOT, NHTSA, CARS Hotline, Senators, Dealer, Attorney General or Wisconsin Auto Dealers Association. I have no idea if my paperwork was rejected, processed, in process, rejected then in process, etc. My dealer said that of 130 “applications” that were sent in to gov only 14 have been approved! And…the approved applications are the most recent that were submitted. What about “approving” applications by date sent, starting with the earliest?!
How can I know If my Ford Drealer even bothered to file my Claim
I need to trust my dealership ? How do I know they are not going to get the 4500 and put it in there pocket and say sorry it didnt go thru, now you owe us another 4500$
there should be a way to track your “Voucher”
Here we go again, Congress was afraid they would insult offshore car makers or maybe it was their big political contributors, money talks they say.
I was disappointed to find out that the CARS program wasn’t restricted to American manufacturers and cars assembled in the USA by American workers.
Cash for Clunkers. Where did that come from?
As a taxpayer of this country I don’t remeber saying (voting) that we should give more of our money to the auto mfgs that we just bailed out.
How much does it cost us to right a check for $4,500? I’ll bet its at least double, but I’m thinking its way more than that!
My next question is, what is happening to all these cars WE bought? Are they just going to sit in a landfill? My feelng is that they should or could have been bought by private industry in this country – maybe for less than our government decided WE should pay! There are a lot of recyclable materials in a car including glass, plastic, steel, aluminum, copper, etc. Also fenders, hoods, doors, bumpers for body shops.
Now that WE have purchased all these cars I’m thinking that the powers that be most likely have a deal in place to sell them to China just so they can recycle them and sell them back to US! Might even be American owned companies operating overseas…
Who were the lobists that talked our elected officials into spending OUR money this way?
Who will bailout the lenders that are loaning money to people (that are driving a beater that’s paid for) who now buy a brand new car with a five, six, seven hundred dollar a month payment when it comes time they can’t make the payments?
The vehicle that you trade in could’ve been built in Japan, Europe, the USA, Mexico, Canada, Korea or where ever. The vehicle you bought was most definatly NOT built in this country! It doesn’t matter if the tag says Ford or Chevy. There are more parts built in the USA on a Honda than on a Chevy. Thank you Sen. Kennedy.
These are just some of the questions I have that I don’t have the answers to. Will someone do the research and let me know how this program helped the taxpayers?
Our 1993 Mercury Villager Van was rated by fueleconomy.gov at a combined 17 MPG through July 23, 2009. When our car dealer checked on Friday, July 24 (while we were in the showroom about to make a deal) after the final rule was published, it had increased to 18 MPG. We had written up a deal to trade for a Nissan Quest with a combined MPG of 19. We had been following the details of the CARS program and touching base with the dealer all through July in preparation for the implementation. With only a 1 MPG difference we no longer qualified for any money under the program. We meet all the other requirements of the program – have owned, registered, and insured the car for the past 16 years and the car still runs.
We looked for similar vehicles with at least 20 MPG but the only ones available are many thousands of dollars more and therefore more than negate any savings from the CARS program. My husband is a plumber who needs this vehicle to transport his materials and tools. His only other option is a commercial vehicle which would get a much lower MPG.
According to the Consumer Bill of Rights posted on cars.gov:
Qualified consumers may participate in the CARS Program between July 1, 2009 and November 1, 2009 or when authorized funds are no longer available.
We were qualified from July 1 through July 23 but were not able to participate due to the delay in launching the program. This would not have been a problem if we could have participated from July 24 forward. I made multiple phone calls and sent multiple emails to the Dept. of Transportation, NTHSA, and the EPA in an attempt to get the MPG changed back or some other concession with no success. During the course of the program, the Dept of Transportation decided that deals made under the previous MPGs would be honored. However, the dealers were not allowed to register for the program, nor were the final rules published until July 24 so there should not have been any deals prior to July 24. The dealer we were working with was trying to follow the rules and therefore would not write up a deal prior to July 24. Dealers that didn’t follow the rules are getting there deals honored – doesn’t make sense.
I still feel that our Consumer Rights were violated but was told by the Dept. of Transportation that any further complaints should go to Congress.
I bought my vehicle on 8/1 and have not received the title yet. I called the dealer and they said they were holding the title until the government reimbursed them.
My state charges penalties and interest if you don’t register your vehicle within 30 days. The dealer really didn’t care.
I suppose I could be pulled over by the police and charged for not having current registration also. I am sure “Oh its okay the federal government hasn’t reimbursed the dealer under the Cash for Clunkers program yet” excuse will work.
Whether or not Cash for Clunkers was a success depends upon whether you received the benefits or just paid for them. New car sales were increased, but no one knows how many of the buyers would have bought anyway. Furthermore, to take taxpayer dollars from some people to buy cars for others, regardless of the buyer’s financial circumstances, is simply un-American. On balance, I object to such programs.
To be honest, I’m really disappointed. Another government bailout that I’m not part of. The Cash for Clunkers program failed one important group. Those like me that have always tried to have a car that got reasonable MPG. I’ve done my part to own a car that got 30 MPG (or close to). Therfore using less foreign oil, less carbon footprint etc.. I’m glad to help. Do my part. My reward, $0.00. Instead the great succesful Cash for Clunkers rewards those that had to have the big 4×4 SUVs, Trucks, V8 cars etc (that maybe didn’t even need them). Now they get the rewards. Me, I could use a new car. My 2000 Saturn wagon (27MPG) is needing repairs and my only choice will be to keep fixing it as I can’t afford a new car. Maybe if I had an extra $3500-$4500 I could. Thanks again Mr. President and Congress. Nice job.
ONLY IN AMERICA can you trade in your AMERICAN made car on A Jap car and get $4500 OF AMERICAN TAX PAYERS MONEY! Way to go again law makers! WTF??????????????????
There was a lot of erroneous information out there re the program. The most troubling was whether the program was “on” or “off”. I am a care-taker for my mom. The program was to last until Labor Day. I gathered all my paperwork, submitted it, and by that time, lots of dealerships no longer accepting deals. Some of us, have to wait for pay days to get money together to buy a car even with a government $3500 or $4500 voucher. By the time I got my paperwork and money together, I could not find a dealership honoring the program. I now have a car that I can’t trade in, I tried to trade it in the day the dealers (Mon) we bailing from the program. I brought a cashiers check to buy a car. The dealer said no more cash for clunker deals after noon on Monday 8/24, then would not EVEN make a deal (come off sticker price AT ALL) when I tried to trade in my car without the clunker program. Now I will need to buy a used car, and I have heard the prices have gone up. No deal for a new car, and now higher prices for used cars. We are middle-class but have been challenged due to no medical insurance. My mom is 80 with medical problems and I also have big medical bills. Now, we not only have medical problems, but now we have transportation problems too, not able to keep clunker running and no car deals. Please consider revamping program and trying it again. Help!
To Congress,
Because through various devices, like holding cars hostage, not finalizing sales, holding titles, contingency agreements and the like, numerous dealers have shifted the CARS credit burden to the consumer, with no way for the consumer to know for certain the status or ultimate outcome of the dealer’s re-imbursement application;
the consumer needs notification from NHTSA that a credit has been issued to a dealer for their clunker.
Please ask NHTSA implement a mailed notification to the consumer letting them know that a credit, in what amount, was issued on what date.
This will protect the consumer from a variety of scams that could easily be perpetrated on them by the dealer, and would also add protection to the government from dealers that might try to double-dip the credit amount, collecting from both the government and the consumer. (Provide the consumer with a way to return a notice to NHTSA if the dealer represented to the consumer that they did not receive the credit or the credit amount they extended was not the same as that received by the dealer.)
Please do this immediately so CARS consumers will not remain in the dark and vulnerable.
Thank you.
I personally entered 83 deals just since Sunday; I could do it in my sleep now. I probably will tonight, as a matter of fact.I normally don’t do that type of work for the dealership, but I stepped in to help because we only really had ONE person who had a clue how all this was supposed to work. And she is great, but she was slammed.
The risks that remain are many. For the dealerships and the consumers, the first risk is that dealerships didn’t get their deals into the gov’t system–it was better, actually, to put in a deal as fast as you could and correct it later if you had to. A correction is a delay in the money; missing the deadline is MISSING the money. At $4500 a pop, that’s a lot.
The biggest risk is, however, that you have an “uncorrectable” situation. I wager that the biggest one is that the consumer’s trade didn’t really qualify, and everybody thought it did. That is easy to imagine, for things like outstanding liens that were missed or the wrong model on the side-by-side gets the MPG difference on the “qual” side when it isn’t. And others.
“Unwinding” deals like that isn’t always possible, and this will–inevitably–cause lawsuits in all directions. As will other aspects of this program such as dealers not delivering cars when the law directed them to.
There is assuredly some fraud, as well, on the parts of some dealers and some consumers. A shame, but ID theft and such is inevitable on a program like this at some percentage.
For those of you with cars you’re happy with, and for dealers that rolled lots of iron you’re confident meets the program and you’ll get paid, be thankful. Very thankful. For the rest, “it’s going to be a bumpy night” on the road that Congress sent everyone down.
Thanks.
I believe dealerships that did not follow the rules should be punished in some meaningful manner. There are dealers who did not release the purchased car at time of signing. There are dealers who required buyers to sign an addendum stating they would be responsible for the government rebate amount if the paperwork should be denied. There are dealers who deliberately held up CARS applications in order to keep shoppers from going to other dealerships. These dealers would claim to have submitted the CARS applications, but they could not have done so.
We as buyers had to meet a standard set of requirements. We had to be able to qualify to buy a new car. We had to have been using the vehicle we traded in (i.e., proof of insurance, registration) for at least one year prior to the transaction. We had to have proper identification, clear title, and the “clunker” had to qualify by government standards.
If we did not meet our obligations, we did not get a car under the CARS program.
However, if the dealer did not follow their guidelines… nothing. They still made their sale. They still are holding vehicles that buyers are already liable for. They are not honoring the intent of the CARS legislation.
Please help. Many of us qualified without question for this program, yet we still did not get a CARS deal. Dealerships were not honest and that kept us from shopping elsewhere, because we thought we were getting our CARS deal through them.
This is not right.
Thank you for the program – it was brilliant. If the original amount requested ($4 billion) had been allocated, I think it would have been better from the start. However, without holding dealerships responsible, they have no reason to follow the program rules and guidelines.
Respectfully submitted,
Annette L. Kucksdorf
I would like Congress to understand that the next time they put a program like this into affect they must let the consumer know exactly what to expect right from the beginning! The problems consumers had with dealerships who did not go by the rules, problems which still exist to this day with non-delivery of vehicles that they are holding hostage is unbelievable. To try to unwind your deal out of the system was impossible because you would be rejected at another dealership for duplicate vins in the system.
There should have been published or handed out to consumers exactly what they needed to bring, how it would work when you purchased the car (ie, vehicle delivered immediately if in stock and financing in place). There should have been more information given to the consumer to know exactly what was to happen and when, including the scrap value, which most people did not get or received less than what they should have minus the $50 administrative fee.
Lessons learned, but at what cost to consumers who are left without vehicles still waiting (as we are), making payments on vehicles they don’t have or being duped into signing a waiver which basically leaves no liability to the dealership for doing things right in the first place. Those waivers that are out there (and they just tried to get us to sign one last saturday) are stating that if rejected for ANY reason, including the dealer submitting things wrong in the first place, that the consumer is left holding the bag for the $3500-$4500. That is just unacceptable and any dealer who required this should be fined for each and every one they had a customer sign.
What proof would a consumer have that it was rejected? The consumer has no way at all of knowing this, there is no way for the consumer to know if they are telling the truth or not.
So please, if you have signed a waiver, make sure you talk to an attorney or your attorney general regarding this. There is no way anyone should have to sign a waiver to cover the Dealerships butt for their mistakes.
This is my 2nd car from this dealership. We purchased the car with trade in, and everything went well, except the registration which I had the newest one (like all of us we get the new one in the mail and tag our car and remove/throwout the old one. So I had to go to DMV which they printed me a sheet readable to only them that the car had been registered for 11 years (which I was told that this sheet from DMV would not work). I then went to AAA and the manager looked in the computer and verified that I had indeed had the car registed since I owned it and signed my DMV sheet to verify with their signiture. The dealer said all my paperwork was in order. I had paid cash for the car, and then I get a phone call that I needed to come in and sign the gov document that stated I was given the money for the deal $4500.00 and told that they had done the paperwork incorrectly that they were supposed to deduct the $4500.00 from the price of the car not the total and that I would be getting tax money back as I had overpaid $$$ (approx 300+ ). The general manager said the checks were cut but they would not send them out till they got paid. I said what you do with the gov is none of my business. I paid you too much money for my taxes in cash. I am in full compliance with what was needed and whether you get paid depends on when and how you do the paperwork which is not my issue.
Tell me what to do in this situation Please.
So I drive a vehicle for the last 8 years that is fuel efficient (since it does not qualify), yet the people who have been driving gas hogs get rewarded with $4,000.
I benefit zero. I drove the more fuel efficient vehicle. And the people who are least responsible get a huge reward.
This is a scam to those who have been responsible and individuals who have been driving fuel efficient cars and thus were not eligible for this should ban together. It’s a travesty.
So were starting a new government program, “Cash for Appliances”. Maybe the government should pay for the first stimulus program before starting a second one. If I’m not mistaken only about eight percent of the dealers have been paid for the “Cash for Clunkers” program. So wait until Christmas when all the dealers have received their money, then start the appliance program.
@ njdealgirl…
To answer your question – yes, the dealers can do that. This is a voluntary program. As a dealer, we too stopped on the 22nd. We knew the website would be backlogged (which it was) and would be too difficult to submit the transaction (which it is).
@ray j
To just give you an idea – we did not trade for any Hummers, fancy cars/etc for the program. The car first has to be less than $3500 to $4500 – which most of these clunkers were true blue clunkers. If someone had a nice car – they would be crazy to take ONLY the clunker money.
Believe it or not – I do not know ONE deal we did where the consumer had to “stretch” to make this deal work for them. Most of the customers had great credit or were paying cash.
I have talked to MANY dealers and even though we have loved the traffic this has brought, the paperwork and redtape is a nightmare! I made sure we had every “i” dotted and “t” crossed. We cannot afford to “make it work.”
The program was supposed to end 8/24. I got all my paperwork together and was ready 8/24. All the dealers said they made their last deal 8/22 and I was too late. Could they do that? If the deadline was 8/24, consumers should have had until 8/24 to buy. I want my deal.
Cash for clunkers is a biased program. Only certain individuals benefit from it but all taxpayers pay it’s final price. Of course most of the government giveaway programs are the same way. I am 42 years old. I work 2 jobs when one job is not enough. It chaps my hide that people get for doing nothing. I would like to see how many Hummers, H2′s, and other fancy/sporty SUV’s got traded in by people who are just looking to trade up. And how many people traded in true “clunkers” for something better only to find themselves in a pickle later for getting in over their head to take advantage of the program. How many of the dealers “made it work” for people to boost numbers. I think time will show how mucked up this program really is. We have a bankrupt government- why are we still letting them use our money foolishly?
The Feds have to get their eligibility requirements together!
I, too, am an OR driver who…following the state law…reregistered my 11 yr old Ford Explorer last month. Result: I cannot purhase using the Cash-for Clunkers program, because I do not have the requisite 1 yr worth of registration. I tossed the old one & kept the new. It seems to matter little that my name is on the original deed, that I have yrs worth of insurance on the vehicle, a current registartion…as well as my final MA registration from 7 years ago (before I moved to OR.) I guess common sense & government are mutually exclusive terms!
Oh, well…I’ll continue to drive my gas guzzling, polluting vehicle until it croaks…
Dear Congress,
I think the program Cash for Clunkers was great but it ended a week before you said it would, and that is what SCARES me about Government programs. If this was health care………………… would you end my coverage!
I could see this being said,” O sorry patient we ran out of money to continue your treatment, good luck in HEAVEN/HELL. Think about why people are so upset with the Government. Best Regards, You have a hard job but you have to EARN the TRUST of the People Again. Ann Costanzo
I have a clunker, which I wanted to trade in under the program. Problem was that I won’t have owned the car for a year until September 10th 2009. Obviously the program ran out before that time. Since it is likely that anywhere between 20% and 50% of the transactions will be fraudulent in some way or another (my opinionated estimates). Will the program funds that would have gone to fraudulent transactions, be made available to those in my situation who could not take advantage of the program due to circumstances of time, ownership? Also will the government consider making this or some sort of incentive based recycling program more permanent? In my opinion, this sort of bum rush the dealers now! program attracts too many people who don’t really need the car or the discount, but join the fray for the sake of taking something away from someone else who may have actually needed the program, and more realistically benefited from it. Without the program, my gas guzzling clunker now remains on the road, and no dealer is even considering matching the kbb trade in value, if they are willing to take the car at all, meaning I am now stuck driving my highly uncomfortable clunker. With the entry-mid level job market being the way it is it is unlikely that I will be able to even afford a new more fuel efficient car for quite awhile, and because the program took many of the would be cheaper used cars off the road, my options for my next car have been limited by a reduction of 250,000 some odd choices.
jerry-nomics
I estimated last week, that it will take 18.5 business days from today August 24th before all cars transactions are looked at, making the day September 17th for those who are waiting with hostage cars at dealers. (Including DOT’s tripled up staff)
Adding in another 30 business days for resubmitting, October 30 **Its finally OVER!!!**
Is the average consumer willing to wait that long? Is that OK with DOT or does DOT have a better plan?