Cash for Clunkers, also know as the CARS bill was passed by congress recently and is now implemented at most dealers nationwide, from Toyota to BMW, almost all dealers are participating in yet another attempt to help revitalize the car industry by boosting sales. Despite the sales strategy, the deal is also supposed to help with Obama’s global warming promise to reduce emissions on all cars by 2015.
What is the CARS program?
Well it is simply a $4500 tax credit to help you get into a new car that gets better gas mileage. The program is intended to get rid of old gas guzzling cars that are still on the road and provide an extra incentive to all to act on their purchase between July 1st and November 1st 2009.
The cash for clunkers program has many rules and laws but is simpler than you think. If you own a car worth less than $4,500 and want to buy a new car under $45,000, then the program will benefit you. If neither apply, then it will not so you should not waste your time reading on it as it will not do anything for you. If you do on the other hand own a car worth $4,500 or less and wish to trade it in for a better car that must get better gas mileage, then this is the time.
How do I qualify?
You do not have to do anything to qualify other than take the car to a participating dealer and purchase your new car, used cars do not qualify and purchases done before July 1st cannot qualify as well. Once there, the dealer will guide you through their transaction and it is no different than the regular transaction you would go through when buying a car except for the fact that you will entitled to getting an extra discount of $4,500 on your new car immediately if you qualify.
You will not be required to claim the discount as income on your taxes but the dealer will have to pay it for you on their own.
Remember that the Miles Per Gallon (MPG) of your car must be a significant improvement over the old car you are trading in. Make sure to check out http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/sbs.htm for the full details around the MPG of your old car and new car. The idea is to improve fuel consumption while helping the ozone and the car industry.
Well for those of you that want more info about the program make sure to check out cars.gov as it is the only official website of the program.
Feel free to ask any questions by leaving a comment.
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July 5th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
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