Cash4Clunkers (a.k.a. CARS): Bait and Switch?

Last night, I watched a Flood Automotive Group TV ad touting “Cash for Clunkers.” The message was simple: Uncle Sam’s got $1 billion for clunkers. Come get $4500 for your clunker. Not a single word about which vehicles qualify for the money. It didn’t even refer viewers to a website for details— like this ad for C4C “designated” dealer Phil Fitts Ford. A quick ring ’round twenty dealers nationwide shows a definite “reluctance” to discuss the particulars of the CARS program over the phone. “I’m sure your vehicle will qualify,” a Chrysler dealer told me re: my theoretical 2005 Chrysler 300. “Bring it down and we’ll have a look.”

“We haven’t received the guidelines yet,” a Chevy dealer said, in response to “how much money can I get for my 2002 Honda Civic?” Only one dealer said my non-applicable vehicle was non-applicable. In other words, thousands of car dealers are ready, willing and able to commit the sin of omission; luring old cars owners to the dealership with the prospect of “free” government cash—for which the customer’s vehicle doesn’t qualify.

Then there’s the other “danger.” What’s to stop dealers from saying “Well, your wreck doesn’t qualify for the government program, but I tell you what, WE’LL give you $5000 towards a new Enclave”? I heard those very words from the mouth of a mid-Western Buick dealer.

The DOT is making sure that traded-in clunkers qualify for the federal rebate. They’re doing their level best to ensure that the culled clunkers are disabled. But who’s watching dealers at the sharp end, protecting consumers against the same old fraud and misrepresentation? The same people doing it now. And look what a great job they’re doing.

While I applaud the DOT for their Herculean efforts to create a new, effective, efficient and ethically-administered federal program, and I’m a firm believer in Caveat emptor, CARS puts some of America’s most economically challenged consumers in the dealer crosshairs. Again.