Cash for Clunkers

[WDWorBUST]

Does anyone know if you can take in a truck with this program towards a car? I can't find that information.....I can find where it talks about for truck purchases.....but if it's there I'm just missing it!
Thanks!

 

[Darcy03231]

While the official site is www.cars.gov, I got this off another site:

Cash For Clunkers – Car Allowance Rebate System Overview

Passenger Car 22 mpg * Mileage improvement of at least 4 mpg Mileage ($3500) improvement of at least 10 mpg ($4500)

Light-Duty Truck ** 18 mpg * Mileage improvement of at least 2 mpg ($3500)Mileage improvement of at least 5 mpg ($4500)

Large Light-Duty Trucks *** 15 mpg * Mileage improvement of at least 1 mpg ($3500) or trade-in of a work truck Mileage improvement of at least 2 mpg ($4500)

Commercial trucks **** Trade-in must be at least pre-2002

* EPA Combined MPG ** under 6,000 lbs. ***6,000 lbs. – 8,500 lbs. **** 8,500 – 10,000 lbs.

To get your fuel economy go to www.fueleconomy.gov

 

[java]

? if our current car is 18 city and 26 highway would it qualify? Confused by what constitutes.

 

[WDWorBUST]

I think it's the "average" MPG, but I'm not sure. I "think" that I can trade a truck in for a car since it meets the mileage improvement EASILY and get the credit. I put in the vehicle I wanted to trade in a calculator at Ford.com and they said it would be eligible for the $4500 credit. You can go to the ford website and put your vehicle information in and it can tell you if it's eligible or not. I'm not sure if we'll take advantage of it or not yet. We are wanting to sell our truck and our car....and we can get more in credit than the truck is worth with the cash for clunkers deal. But we have a Jeep my DH wants to keep and he'll be getting a company car so I'm not sure if it makes sense to buy a new car right now or not. We don't "need" it, but I'd love one with better gas mileage for every day driving than the Jeep. But does it make sense to take on a car payment for better gas mileage right now....HMMMMM that is the question

 

[java]

Thanks for the Ford site- and nope our 94 Volvo doesn't qualify- although if you saw it you would think clunker!

 

[heartbeeps]

I think it's the "average" MPG, but I'm not sure. I "think" that I can trade a truck in for a car since it meets the mileage improvement EASILY and get the credit. I put in the vehicle I wanted to trade in a calculator at Ford.com and they said it would be eligible for the $4500 credit. You can go to the ford website and put your vehicle information in and it can tell you if it's eligible or not. I'm not sure if we'll take advantage of it or not yet. We are wanting to sell our truck and our car....and we can get more in credit than the truck is worth with the cash for clunkers deal. But we have a Jeep my DH wants to keep and he'll be getting a company car so I'm not sure if it makes sense to buy a new car right now or not. We don't "need" it, but I'd love one with better gas mileage for every day driving than the Jeep. But does it make sense to take on a car payment for better gas mileage right now....HMMMMM that is the question

yep, especially since we know what's available THIS YEAR but don't know how much improvement there will be in next year's models! Might be worth the wait if they do something dramatic to improve gas mileage and/or emissions! what to do, what to do......

 

[IDoDis]

? if our current car is 18 city and 26 highway would it qualify? Confused by what constitutes.

It's an average of both. You have to get 18mpg or lower on your clunker to qualify. Go to this website:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm

Go to the year, make and model of your "clunker" and find the average mpg rating for your vehicle. These ratings are what is being used to determine your average mpg.

Yes, you can trade in a truck and buy a car. Say your truck has an average of 15mpg. You'd have to buy a car with an average of at least 25mpg to get the $4500.00 or 20mpg to get $3500. I hope that makes sense.

 

[Cindy B]

? if our current car is 18 city and 26 highway would it qualify? Confused by what constitutes.

No it wouldn't. It would have to be a lot less fuel efficient.


I used my 1999 V6 4.2 Jeep Cherokee and used it towards a 2010 Toyota Camry and got the full $4500. My Jeep on the Cash for Clunkers sit is considered a Category 1 truck-- and it gets about 15-18 mpg. My Camry (well, I haven't gotten it yet) gets 22-32 mpg.

I wanted something smaller than my Jeep. I never really used the Jeep for offroad or anything like that.

 

[Darcy03231]

It's an average of both. You have to get 18mpg or lower on your clunker to qualify. Go to this website:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm

Go to the year, make and model of your "clunker" and find the average mpg rating for your vehicle. These ratings are what is being used to determine your average mpg.

Yes, you can trade in a truck and buy a car. Say your truck has an average of 15mpg. You'd have to buy a car with an average of at least 25mpg to get the $4500.00 or 20mpg to get $3500. I hope that makes sense.

Actually, if you trade in a truck (or SUV) and buy a car the mileage requirements are different. You need to get 2 mpg better for the $3500 and 5 mpg better for the $4500.

 

[WDWorBUST]

No it wouldn't. It would have to be a lot less fuel efficient.


I used my 1999 V6 4.2 Jeep Cherokee and used it towards a 2010 Toyota Camry and got the full $4500. My Jeep on the Cash for Clunkers sit is considered a Category 1 truck-- and it gets about 15-18 mpg. My Camry (well, I haven't gotten it yet) gets 22-32 mpg.

I wanted something smaller than my Jeep. I never really used the Jeep for offroad or anything like that.

How much did they estimate your "scrap" rate on your Jeep? I thought that was interesting too that you would get paid for the "scrap" value of the vehicle you were trading in for the credit. I'm still debating taking advantage of this.

 

[Darcy03231]

Average scrap value is $200-$250/per ton. The dealer I went to told me that the government contracted with Greenleaf Salvage for the scrap. The dealer is required to disable the transmission and motor and then Greenleaf will come and tow it away. Depending on the distance from the salvage yard to the dealer & back, depends on what you get as they can deduct the towing fees. Since the scrapyard is quite a distance from the dealer I went to the scrap value zeroed out the towing fees. Since I got a great price on the car ($2500 less than the other lowest dealer) I wasn't going to quibble.

 

[brota]

I found an error in the website that you can check your mpg.
My wife has a 2000 Grand Caravan. The site does not seperate a Grand vs a regular Caravan so the MPG comes out to be 19 and does not qualify.
If I look at a 2000 Chrysler Town and Country which is the same car as a Grand Caravan it shows up at 18 and would qualify. Very Dumb

 

[Belle5]

My DH is under the impression that our state is not participating in this. Does anyone know if certain states have opted out of the money for this?

 

[Traveliz]

My DH is under the impression that our state is not participating in this. Does anyone know if certain states have opted out of the money for this?

I believe this is a Federal program - not a State one - but individual dealerships have to sign up to be part of the program.

Liz