CARS, like every other government program to date, is grossly inefficient.
Instead of helping dealers financially, it's screwing them over.
This just in........
WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood assured car dealers Wednesday that they will be reimbursed for sales made under the Cash for Clunkers program and said the department would soon offer plans to wind down the popular car incentives.
LaHood said the department will announce by Friday how it intends to discontinue the program that offers car buyers rebates of $3,500 to $4,500 for trading in older vehicles and buying new, more fuel-efficient models. Department officials met with car dealer trade groups on Wednesday to discuss complaints over a backlog of rebate payments to dealers and how the program will eventually end.
"I know dealers are frustrated. They're going to get their money," LaHood told reporters.
Many dealers have expressed concerns about the program. The Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, which represents dealerships in the New York metro area, said about half its 425 members have left the program because they cannot afford to offer more rebates.
"(The government) needs to move the system forward and they need to start paying these dealers," said Mark Schienberg, the group's president. "This is a cash-dependent business." Schienberg said the group's dealers have been repaid for only about 2 percent of the clunkers deals they've made so far.
LaHood acknowledged the Transportation Department did not have enough people to process the paperwork but said the DOT was ramping up staff.
DOT said earlier this week it was tripling its work force to handle the rebates and expected to have 1,100 workers dealing with the paperwork by the end of the week.
In California, which tops the list of states in terms of clunker transactions, most dealerships appear to be sticking with the program. The frenzy of buyer interest that greeted the program when it kicked off July 24 has dropped considerably, partly because of shortages of popular cars such as the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic and Ford Focus.
"The gold rush is over," said Eric Choi, fleet manager at Hollywood Ford. "We're still getting some business from it, but like every other dealer, we're pretty much out of cars."
Fritz Hitchcock, who owns Toyota dealerships in City of Industry, Santa Barbara and Northridge, said his inventory had plummeted since the program began. His Santa Barbara dealership, for instance, normally has about 120 vehicles on the lot. Wednesday it had 12.
Hitchcock said he had submitted claims for about $1.3 million in clunker reimbursements but had yet to receive a dime from the government.
"I agree with the guy who said this is the most successful, worst-run program ever," he said.
Wow! Who saw that coming!? :doh:
In addition, you and I will be paying for the salaries of the additional 733 Government employees (1100 total) that have been hired just to process the paperwork.
Will Obama be including these numbers in "newly created jobs"?
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