"Cash for Clunkers" offers owners of old cars and trucks rebates of up to $4,500.00 to put towards new, more fuel-efficient vehicles.
It officially started on Monday, but dealers started offering those rebates as early as July first. That backlog has the white house worried that the program's one-billion-dollar budget has already been exhausted.
What the feds will do next is unclear. Brian Loyd of Hedrick's Chevrolet in Clovis hopes the program will be suspended. Brian said, "I think it's a smart idea because it will give us a chance to get all of our paperwork into them to try and get played for the vouchers we've already spent."
Hedrick's Chevrolet has stopped accepting clunkers, so has Future Ford of Clovis. They have 41 clunkers collecting dust in their lot and haven't been reimbursed for any of them. James Cagle of Future Ford said, "Well, I can't say that I'm gonna have a baby's night sleep tonight but truthfully no, I'm not worried. I think it's going to take longer for it to happen then we originally thought, but it will happen."
But not all dealers are as optimistic. Which is why people like Dennis Hollenbeck will either have to wait to see what happens or get rid of his clunker some other way. Dennis said, "Everybody is kinda leery about the government and their deals but we're trying to take advantage of it."
A white house official said that dealers will be reimbursed for those rebates. They are reviewing the program but have not officially declared it over. But again, most dealerships across the country have stopped offering "Cash for Clunkers."
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