Government Screws Up "Cash for Clunkers"
Car buyers who are serious about saving money prepare ahead of time. We've been telling you about the "cash for clunkers" program for months now and most of you have checked the fueleconomy.gov site to see if your car qualifies for the program.
Now we find out the EPA decided to review the mileage ratings of 30,000 models from the past 25 years and changed the mileage ratings of some eligible models.
Under the "cash for clunkers" program, you can only trade in vehicles that get 18 mpg or less.
The EPA changed the ratings so that about 50 vehicles that didn't qualify before now do.
The bad part: they changed about 50 vehicles which used to qualify but now don't!
So for those of you who prepared ahead of time and checked your fuel ratings, you better check again to make sure your trade-in still qualifies.
There have been many angry car shoppers who only found out about the change at the dealership when they were ready to buy.
Some popular models that no longer qualify are:
- 1989 Mazda 929
- 1998 Toyota Camry
- 1988 Toyota 4Runner
- 1992 Saab 900S
As if this wasn't bad enough, the program didn't launch on time because dealers couldn't login to register the trade-ins. Apparently, some knucklehead decided to put the online registration on the same server as the cars.gov web site (which went down due to heavy traffic).
Everything seems to be working now, but again, we recommend you double check the fuel ratings before buying a new car.
Each week, I'll keep you up-to-date on the latest car deals and news that might affect your purchase. This includes...
- Best Rebates, Incentives, and Lease Deals
- Latest Car Buying Scams and Tricks
- The Best & Worst Time to Buy a Car
- Which Cars You Should Avoid
About The Author
Gregg Fidan is the founder of RealCarTips. After being ripped off on his first car purchase, he devoted several years to figuring out the best ways to avoid scams and negotiate the best car deals. He has written hundreds of articles on the subject of car buying and taught thousands of car shoppers how to get the best deals.Latest Weekly Car Buying Tips
March 2024
- Real Prices of Midsize SUVs Mar 28, 2024
- Which Cars Better to Lease or Buy Mar 28, 2024
- Nissan Rogue Special Deals Alert Mar 28, 2024
- Cheapest Luxury Lease Deals Mar 28, 2024
- New Cars with the Most Available Inventory Mar 21, 2024
- Best Car Deals by Category Mar 21, 2024
- Top 100 Cheapest New Cars for 2024 Mar 21, 2024
- Real Prices of Compact Cars Mar 21, 2024
- Top 100 Cheapest Lease Deals Mar 14, 2024
- Best Car Deals Around the Country Mar 14, 2024
- Cars With the Largest Rebates Mar 14, 2024
- Real Prices of Pickup Trucks Mar 14, 2024
- Best 0% Finance Deals March 2024 Mar 07, 2024
- Best Bang for Your Buck Lease Deals Mar 07, 2024
- Best Electric, Hybrid Lease Deals Mar 07, 2024
- Biggest Discounts on New Cars Mar 07, 2024
- Real Prices of New Compact SUVs Mar 07, 2024
February 2024
- Worst Cars to Lease Right Now Feb 29, 2024
- Price Comparison of Subcompact SUVs Feb 29, 2024
- Real Prices of Large SUVs Feb 22, 2024
- New Cars You Should Wait to Buy Feb 22, 2024
- Real Prices of Midsize Cars Feb 15, 2024
- Largest Hidden Dealer Rebates Feb 01, 2024