The government’s cash for clunkers program finally came to an end at 8 p.m. last night, netting 690,114 transactions valued at $2.88 billion. The program was originally funded for $1 billion, but was extended by another $2 billion after funds dried up during the program’s first week.
However, those figures could climb higher in the next few days as the U.S. Transportation Department has not accounted for dealer reapplications. The National Automobile Dealers Association says the clunkers’ rejection rate climbed as high as 80 percent, forcing many dealers to file claims multiple times. The U.S. Department of Transportation says it will continue to accept applications past the expired deadline.
Although hailed by the Obama administration as a success, the program did not run as smoothly as planned. The clunkers’ Web site crashed several times, resulting in a bottleneck of applications. Moreover, as of just a week ago, only about a third of dealers had received their first clunkers check, leaving many dealerships with cash flow problems.
The agency setup to handle the cash for clunkers program was originally staffed with fewer than 350 workers, but now has more than 2,000 people working around the clock. The government has declined to estimate the total cost of the CARS program, but the final tally is well over the $3 billion mark.
