Congress Passes "Cash for Clunkers" Bill 
A provision in the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009 gives a cash incentive for trading in older gas-hogging qualifying vehicles for newer more fuel-efficient ones. Popularly called the "cash for clunkers" law, an owner of a qualifying vehicle may trade in their "clunker" for a new vehicle purchased between July 1 and November 1 of 2009, and receive up to $4,500 towards the purchase of a new passenger car or truck in the form of a voucher to be issued by the Treasury to the dealer. The President is expected to sign the Bill, which would go into effect on July 1.
Qualifying vehicles must meet the following requirements:
- The vehicle must be less than 25 years old on the trade-in date
- Only purchase or lease of new vehicles qualify
- The trade-in vehicle must be registered and insured continuously for the full year preceding the trade-in date
- Generally, trade-in vehicles must get 18 or less combined city/highway MPG
- The trade-in vehicle must be in drivable condition
- The new vehicles' MSRP cannot exceed $45,000
The vehicles must meet certain MPG standards. See the table below.
|
|
Passenger Car |
Light Truck/SUV |
|
Maximum MPG for "Clunker" |
18 |
18 |
|
Minimum MPG for New Vehicle |
22 |
20 |
|
$3,500 Voucher |
4 MPG Better |
2 MPG Better |
|
$4,500 Voucher |
10 MPG Better |
5 MPG Better |
The Government has established a website covering the new program at www.cars.gov which is hosted by the NHTSA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Anyone interested in taking advantage of this program is strongly encouraged to visit this site. The NHTSA has renamed the program from "Cash for Clunkers" to Car Allowance Rebate System, or CARS for short. |
