KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana |Time running out for ‘Cash for Clunkers'

Time running out for ‘Cash for Clunkers'

By Jeff Ferrell - bio|email

SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) - ‘Cash for Clunkers' enters its final weekend running on empty.  It's expected to run out of money by Monday, going through $3-billion in less than a month, in what began as a 3-month, $1 billion dollar program, aimed at stimulating the U.S. economy. 

All this means it's going to be a busy weekend for car dealerships, because It will be the final chance for some families to get into a new car.  "I'm in nursing school and I live in Grand Cane and I take my daughter to school each morning and I drive to Shreveport you know every day back and forth," said car buyer Toni Cato. 

We caught up with Cato at the Jimmy Granger Ford dealership in Stonewall, Louisiana on Friday (08/21/09) morning.   Her '91 Lincoln Town Car has 200-thousand miles on it and is no longer reliable.  "And I've broke down three, four times in my Lincoln.  So, it's just, you know, the clock's ticking on when it was just going to leave me stranded," explained Cato as she awaited the final numbers on a new car deal.

And the clock is ticking for other customers as well, "because this thing cuts off Monday and everything has to be in by Monday at 7pm our time," explained Jud Hodge.  He should know about paperwork.  As the sales manager for new cars at Yokem Toyota in the Shreveport Auto Mall, their 'Cash for Clunkers' effort is about to eclipse the triple-digit mark.  "We are probably going to pass that today as far as processing over a hundred units in 'Cash for Clunkers.'" 

The downside for Yokem and thousands of other dealerships across the country:  The government has been extremely slow in reimbursing them.  Such a drain in cash flow can cripple smaller dealerships.  And that development even prompted some automakers to offer dealers help, if necessary, until the reimbursement finally arrives. 

"It's just red tape dealing with the government, you know," lamented dealership owner Jimmy Granger.  He told us that ‘Uncle Sam' has yet to reimburse him for a single clunker in 21-deals.  That means he's on the hook for about 80-grand at the moment.

But with the program ending so soon, Granger said he'll ride it out and take part through Monday's deadline.  His message to potential customers:  Be ready.  "You need to get in here before Monday.  You need to have all your stuff, you need to have your title, your registration showing that you've owned it for a year continuously."  And, you need 'proof' of insurance during that full year or you could get stuck having to drive home that old clunker.

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