Cash for Clunkers is Finally Ending

Posted by Lorren on August 22, 2009

The Cash for Clunkers program is finally ending. Although it initially gave many promises, it wasn’t really the great program that everybody originally thought it would be.

Cash for Clunkers hasn’t been the wonder program that the dealers initially thought it would be. Many of the dealers have complained that they haven’t gotten their rebates back yet. Then there was that whole problem where the dealers seemingly had to sign over their computers as government property when signing up for the rebate (it was probably a very poorly worded disclaimer, which was later changed, but it did freak some people out).

Cash for Clunkers was a pretty good program for the automobile dealers, which saw increased sales and had to step up production, as it ran out of cars. It might have been a good deal for banks, as they signed a lot of loans. It may be a good deal for the repo man as well… in a few months, when people realize that the car payment is too high, and they should have bought a nice used car instead. For people that are in the market for a slightly-used car, this could be a good deal in about six months as well, as these cars make their way through the repo process and are available to purchase again. It wasn’t such a good deal for people that pay cash for their cars, and are in the market for a cheap used car. Fortunately, with the program ending now, maybe there will be a few clunkers left for the rest of us to buy.