Cash for Clunkers moves cars at West Volusia lots

BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
Done deal — Kurt Vroman, left, with his 12-year-old daughter, Anna, and his wife, Brenda, accepts the family’s brand-new Pontiac Vibe from salesman Jimmy Hanlon, at Kaiser Pontiac-Buick-GMC Truck in DeLand. Kurt Vroman is a Deltona firefighter, and Brenda Vroman is an unemployed teacher. Without Cash for Clunkers, they would not have been able to afford a new car, they said. The Vromans traded their 1998 Jeep Cherokee, which got a combined city/highway mileage of 16 miles per gallon. The Vibe gets a combined 28 miles per gallon.

BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
The sign says it all — Traffic whizzes by DeLand Nissan on South Woodland Boulevard, where the banner invites people to trade their clunkers. The federal government is hoping Cash for Clunkers will not only remove millions of old, environmentally unfriendly gas-guzzlers from the road, but will help consumers and the auto industry. Both are struggling during the recession.

BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
New dealer making new-car deals — Starling Chevrolet-Cadillac in DeLand, one of DeLand's newest dealers, reports brisk sales through the Cash for Clunkers program.

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Aug 13, 2009 - 9:14:13am

DeLand-area auto dealers and customers are putting the federal Car Allowance Rebate System, better known as “Cash for Clunkers,” to work.

The Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) was designed to breathe a whiff of fresh life into the ailing auto industry, and stimulate the economy with auto sales. At the same time, it is supposed to remove emission-producing gas hogs from the road.

It was such a hit, the $1 billion put into the program July 24 was gone in the first week. Also gone were around 245,000 gas-guzzlers, according to a Reuters report. Clunkers traded under CARS cannot be resold; they must be scrapped.

On Aug. 6, the U.S. Senate voted to approve an additional $2 billion, which had already been approved by the U.S. House. President Barack Obama signed off on the second infusion of cash the next morning.

In a White House press release, Obama stated, “‘Cash for Clunkers’ has been a proven success: the initial transactions are generating a more than 50% increase in fuel economy; they are generating $700 to $1000 in annual savings for consumers in reduced gas costs alone; and they are getting the oldest, dirtiest and most air polluting trucks and SUVs off the road for good.”

Happy dealers

DeLand Nissan General Manager Kurt Dye is happy with the program.

“It’s doing phenomenally,” Dye said.

As of Aug. 10, DeLand Nissan had moved almost 50 cars off the lot using Cash for Clunkers incentives. In July, Dye made sure he had a good inventory of fuel-efficient vehicles.

This month, Dye expects to sell another 155 new cars under Cash for Clunkers. That’s compared to an average of 65 or 70 new cars sold per month in recent months.

He hopes the funding will last until Labor Day. Program officials believe it will last into September.

Only 10 percent of the population owns cars that qualify for Cash for Clunkers, Dye said. He’s offering other incentives to people who can’t qualify.

The second infusion of CARS cash came not a moment too soon for Kaiser Pontiac-Buick-GMC Truck in DeLand.

President Fred “Rocky” Kaiser said the dealership approached the program cautiously. The dealership sold two vehicles; then came the July 31 announcement that the $1 billion had already been spent.

Kaiser suspended Cash-for-Clunkers sales, not wanting customers to get caught without the assistance they were expecting.

On Aug. 7, as soon as the extension went into effect, “We started calling people that had been waiting,” he said. By noon Aug. 10, five new cars had been picked up.

GMC has targeted Kaiser as one of the dealerships it will close, in October 2010. Kaiser will become a Mahindra dealer, selling vehicles made in India.

Farther south on Woodland Boulevard, a newcomer to DeLand’s motor mile is also happy with Cash for Clunkers.

The Starling family, which already owned a dealership in St. Cloud, took a big gamble last year, buying DeLand’s Chevrolet dealership at 2800 S. Woodland Blvd., then spending millions and building a new showroom for Starling Chevrolet-Cadillac.

This was when the economy and car sales were both in a decline.

“This is a tough business, and always has been,” General Manager Jack Starling said.

On Aug. 7, Starling was satisfied with the 20-30 cars that had already been sold under CARS, between the two locations.

“It benefits everybody,” he said. “It enables people to drive new cars and spend less money for gas. For consumers, it’s been a very good program.”

At Hurley Chrysler-Jeep in DeLand, sales manager Tom Bowes said, “We’ve sold nine under the program. It’s definitely drawing in traffic. We’re selling cars.”

Customers have been excited about the program, Bowes said.

General Sales Manager Chuck Golden at DeLand Toyota/Scion reported the dealership had sold 24 Cash for Clunkers vehicles.

Like Bowes, Golden said the program has spurred other kinds of sales, as well.

“When people come on the showroom and there’s activity going on, it’s contagious,” he said.

Goodbye, gas-guzzlers

According to the U.S. Transportation Department, the top three vehicles turned in under the program were 1996, 1997 and 1998 Ford Explorer sport utility vehicles (SUVs). Eight of the Top 10 were SUVs. The other two were minivans.

The top seller under the program? The Ford Focus.

Coggin DeLand Ford-Lincoln Sales Manager Jeff Barnett confirmed the popularity of the Focus at the local dealership.

Barnett said DeLand Coggin Ford has been “swamped” with CARS deals.

Other top-selling clunker replacements are the Honda Civic and Fit; Toyota models, including the Corolla, Prius and Camry; the Dodge Caliber; and the Chevy Cobalt.

How it works

According to the government’s Web site, www.cars.gov, these are the rules:

• The amount of the credit is $3,500 when the new vehicle gets four to 10 more miles per gallon (mpg) than the old car. The credit goes up to $4,500 if the difference is 10 miles per gallon or better.

• Domestic and foreign vehicles can be purchased.

• Different requirements apply for work trucks.

Vehicles purchased July 1 or later are eligible, though the program didn’t formally begin until the last week in July. Check with the dealer if you purchased a vehicle that might be eligible for the credit.

Your trade must:

• have been manufactured less than 25 years before the date you trade it

• have a “new” combined city/highway fuel economy of 18 miles per gallon or less (find your vehicle’s rating at www.cars.gov)

• be drivable

• have been continuously insured and registered to the same owner for the full year preceding the trade-in.

The new vehicle must:

• have a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $45,000 or less, whether new or leased

• be new, not used

• get a combined mileage of at least 22 mpg for passenger vehicles, and 18 mpg for most pickups and SUVs. See the Web site for more information on trucks.

No voucher is required. The dealer will deduct the credit from the purchase price and get reimbursed by the government.

The law requires the traded vehicle to be scrapped, so it cannot be resold and end up back on the streets.

That means the trade-in value for your old vehicle probably won’t be more than its scrap value, which the dealer is obliged to disclose to you.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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