Cash-for-Clunkers Bill Becomes Law
Now called Car Allowance Rebate System
President Obama signed the Cash for Clunkers bill into law on June 25, which the NHTSA is now calling the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS).
The program was designed to get millions of gas guzzlers off the road by helping people to pay for a new, more fuel efficient car or truck with the trade-in of an older vehicle.
The official government website cars.gov lists these 5 Important Things to Know about the program:
- Your vehicle must be less than 25 years old on the trade-in date
- Only purchases or leases of new vehicles qualify
- Generally, trade-in vehicles must get 18 or less MPG (some very large pick-up trucks and cargo vans have different requirements)
- Trade-in vehicles must be registered and insured continuously for the full year preceding the trade-in
- You don’t need a voucher; dealers will apply a credit at purchase
If you’re interested in taking advantage of in CARS, take a moment to sift through site’s well-organized, easy-to-understand FAQ section for some important particulars, such as:
- There is a cap on your purchase. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price cannot exceed $45,000.
- The program includes leases provided the period for the new vehicle is at least for five years.
- The amount of the credit is $3,500 or $4,500, and generally depends on the type of vehicle you purchase and the difference in fuel economy between the purchased vehicle and the trade-in vehicle. Different requirements apply for work trucks.
- The program ends November 1, 2009
If you plan on participating, let us know how it goes, what kind of “clunker” you’re trading in and what you purchase in exchange.
Tags: Car Allowance Rebate System, CARS, cars.gov, NHTSA, president obama
This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 1:32 pm and is filed under Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
