The Cash for Clunker’s program, so popular that it was running out of funding less than a week after launch, will get more money to continue, according to Nichole Francis Reynolds, chief of staff for Rep. Betty Sutton, D-Ohio, the original sponsor of the bill.
“The program is not suspended,” Reynolds said. “It will continue until further notice.”
Sutton, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and White House officials were working early Friday on an appropriations bill that is expected to be introduced early today. In the meantime, they’re instructing auto dealers to continue making agreements to trade in old gas guzzlers for government credits worth $3,500 to $4,500 for the purchase of new vehicles, Reynolds said.
The program, which officially launched last week, was expected to run through October, but so many Americans limped their junkers into auto dealerships in the first week that the $1 billion that had been appropriated for the program was committed by Thursday night.
You qualify for the program only if the vehicle you plan on trading in is in drivable condition, is less than 25 years old, has been continuously insured and registered under your name for at least one year at the time of trade-in.
The vehicle also must have had a combined city/highway mileage of 18 miles per gallon or less when new, as determined by the federal goverment. To find your cars combined mileage go to www.fueleconomy.gov. Click on the green “Cars” link and then on the fuel economy link. From there, select the year, make and model of your car. If the combined mileage is 18 or lower, the car qualifies for the program.
The size of your voucher, which can only be used to buy or lease a new car (not used), is based on the difference between the old’s car’s mileage and the mileage of the new car. You’ll get $3,500 if the new car’s mileage is at least 4 miles per gallon better than the old. You get $4,500 if the car you’re buying gets 10 miles to gallon more in combined mileage than the one you traded in.
The program was designed to spur the economy by boosting moribund auto sales and help the environment by getting old fuel-inefficient cars off the road. But no one anticipated the wild popularity that would cause the program’s computer to crash as thousands of dealers attempted to sign on in the initial hours, nor the outrage of thousands of consumers whose cars were ripped out of the program at the last minute because the EPA revamped mileage ratings to conform with the strict standards of the law. Reynolds said Sutton is aware of those glitches and is discussing how to fix them, but the priority is on getting more funding so the program can continue.
If they’re successful, you can consider it a present for Congresswoman Betty Sutton, whose birthday is today. Happy Birthday, Rep. Sutton. Thanks for the CARS. Betty Sutton on CARS
UPDATE: This just in from the Wall Street Journal:
The House voted 316-109 to approve the transfer of $2 billion in emergency funding from the $787 billion economic-stimulus plan to the “Cash for Clunkers” program, ensuring it has sufficient funds to continue. The Senate won’t consider an extension until next week. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124903908261696593.html#mod=djemalertNEWS
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