Cash for Clunkers ends quietly in the Springs

The federal government’s wildly successful Cash for Clunkers program went out with a whimper, not a bang, Monday in Colorado Springs, with sedate morning traffic in some showrooms while other dealerships decided not to do any more deals on the last day of the program.

Nationally, the Washington Post reported that dealers across the country who did do last-minute deals experienced problems submitting reimbursement paperwork to a government Web site. Late in the day, the U.S. Department of Transportation said the program would still end at 8 p.m. Eastern time Monday, but dealers would have until noon Eastern time Tuesday to submit paperwork.

Dealers have complained that it has taken more than an hour to submit each deal to the government Web site, and even then some deals have been inexplicably denied and had to be resubmitted. Dealers also complained that the government has been slow to reimburse them the $3,500 or $4,500 they deducted from the price of qualified new vehicles before selling them to folks who turned in clunkers.

Brent Hall, general manager at Phil Long Ford in Motor City seemed to express the love/hate feeling many dealers have had with the program. He said late last week the Ford dealership had sold 69 cars under the program. Most of those buyers were new customers who may develop a loyalty to the Ford brand, and those sales will be good for the service part of the business in the coming years, Hall said.

But, he said, the dealership had yet to be paid by the government for any of those deals. He said that represented about $300,000 owed the dealership — one of 17 dealerships owned by the Colorado Springs-based Phil Long auto group.

He said some dealers chose not to participate or cut off  their participation early because of the government’s slowness in paying.

 “Some dealers can’t afford to float that kind of money anymore,” he said.

At least three Colorado Springs dealerships, selling Mazda, Suzuki and Nissan, decided not to do any Cash for Clunkers deals Monday, said employees.

Still, many dealers and customers have said the program, funded by $3 billion in taxpayer money, did what it was intended to do: stimulate business for beleaguered auto manufacturers and dealers and take older, less fuel-efficient vehicles off the roads.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has reported it has processed more than 625,000 Cash for Clunkers applications worth $2.58 billion. The New York Times reported Monday that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood expects 700,000 to 800,000 cars will have been sold under the program once the paperwork is finalized.

One of those cars was purchased by David Hopkins and JoAnn Carpenter of Florissant. The couple purchased their Hyundai Elantra on Aug. 10 but were in the showroom of Phil Long Hyundai in Motor City on Monday morning to complete some paperwork.

 The couple traded in a 1996 Chevy Blazer for their new Elantra and said they couldn’t be happier with their car or the program. The couple had just one concern about stepping away from an SUV with nearly 200,000 miles into a smaller sedan: “We’ll have to wait until we take the dogs with us to see how that works out,” said Carpenter.

The couple said they probably wouldn’t have been in the market for a new car without the substantial discount offered under the program.

Hopkins, who had surgery for a new hip just days after buying his Elantra, said he’s now hoping for a new government rebate program – one that replaces old, creaky body parts with new high-tech implants.

“I could really use a new elbow,” he said.