Barbe Roberts figured she had the perfect car for the fledgling Cash for Clunkers program. Her 1993 Toyota runs, but is slowly falling apart. She figures it has more value as scrap than wheels, so when the government launched its voucher program, promising to pay between $3,500 and $4,500 to those trading in their gas guzzlers for more fuel-efficient cars, she immediately checked to see if it qualified. Bingo. With a mileage rating of 18, she just slipped under the wire.
But when federal officials issued the program’s final rules on Friday (7/24), she discovered that the mileage on her car had been boosted to 19, making it ineligible for a government voucher. Roberts figures its a rip-off designed to cut out eligible buyers.
“I was so mad that I sent off a note to my representative last Saturday,” said Roberts. “It appears that I’m not the only one having this problem.’
She’s right. The Environmental Protection Agency apparently refigured the mileage on more than 100 vehicles, pushing 78 vehicles out of the program and adding 86. The agency just supplied me with a list of the changes, which notes that the 1987 Chevy Blazer, Lincoln Continental and Town Car are off the list, as is the Mazda 929 and Plymouth Voyager and Grand Voyager. The agency added the Chevrolet Caprice, the Mercury Cougar and a later model of the Chevy Blazer.
“Unlike previously available mileage data, which was solely intended to guide consumers’ vehicle purchases, more precise data is required by the new CARS legislation,” the agency said in a press release.
To qualify for CARS, you must have a car that’s less than 25 years old with an EPA “combined” mileage rating of 18 or less; buy or lease a new car that gets at least 4 miles per gallon more (although the rules are different for trucks and vans) than the old car; and the car must be owned and continuously insured by you.
One of the huge frustrations, even prior to this wrinkle, was that the EPA mileage ratings are based on the mileage that the cars were supposed to get when they were new. Actual mileage doesn’t matter. In reality, owners say their cars get far worse mileage than the estimates.
If you’re one of the people, like Roberts, who have been suddenly and inexplicably locked out, I’d like to hear from you. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is apparently looking into the complaints, but has not said whether it will reevaluate the mileage ratings again. In the meantime, the agency’s 136 page CARS rulebook says the EPA mileage ratings rule. If you don’t fall under their 18 mpg cut-off, you don’t get a voucher.
“I don’t ask for help from the government, I don’t even ask for help from my mother,” said Roberts. ” However if something is out there that I could use and means the difference between a new care & a used one, I like to take advantage of the program. Changing the rules at the end stinks.”
More on MoneyWatch:
Rip-off Alert: Who Gets the Cash for Your Clunker? - http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/family-finance/who-gets-the-cash-for-your-clunker/875/
Cash for Clunkers: 5 Things No One Is Saying - http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/article/cash-for-clunkers-5-secrets-and-3-smart-tips/322848/
Cash for Clunkers: How to Make It Work for You - http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/video/cash-for-clunkers-how-to-make-it-work-for-you/324243/
