Jophiel wrote:
catwho the Mundane wrote:
So, in theory, you could turn in a clunker with 15 MPG, get one with 19 MPG, and save $3500. It's not really helping the environment that much but it's certainly helping out the car dealerships.
Not quite.
Quote:
The requirements for trade-in vehicle.
It has to be 18 mpg or less, built in 1984 or after and be in drivable condition. The trade-in vehicle must be registered in purchaser's name and owned for 1 year.
Cash for Clunkers program details for cars bought with the trade ins have the following requirements.
The new car has to have at least 22 mpg and cost under $45,000. There will be $3,500 subsidy for car with 4 mpg improvement and $4,500 for 5 mpg improvement.
That said, there's plenty of suitable vehicles. If you go hybrid, you can even get a variety of SUVs.
That quote is wrong.
I believe the 5 mpg limit only applies to larger trucks.
From the cars.gov rules website:
http://www.cars.gov/files/TheRule.pdf wrote:
in a transaction involving a trade-in vehicle that is a passenger automobile, a category 1 truck, or a category 2 truck and a new vehicle that is a passenger automobile, each meeting the eligibility criteria discussed in the last section, if the new vehicle has a combined fuel economy that is 4 to 9 miles per gallon higher than the tradein vehicle, the credit is $3,500. If the new vehicle has a combined fuel economy that is at least 10 miles per gallon higher than the trade-in vehicle, the credit is $4,500.
It also appears that dealerships only keep 50 dollars of the scrap value to cover "administrative costs".
Edited, Aug 2nd 2009 7:01pm by TirithRR____________________________
Can't sleep, clown will eat me.
