Cash for Clunkers--Out of gas?

By: Michelle Carolla | SCNow
Published: July 31, 2009

A national campaign to get people to trade in their old clunkers worked so well, it ran out of gas. Hundreds of thousands of people took advantage of the program in its first official week and the program burned through nearly a billion dollars.

The Cash for Clunkers program might turn out as a great example of how the stimulus package is to work. Congress allocated one billion dollars for the program, thinking it would last through October. Car dealers didn’t think it would last that long, but nobody expected it to run out in a week.

Just one week ago, Russ Boykin, General Manager of Hyatt Buick in Myrtle Beach, said he thought it would last through the end of August. "We laugh and cut up in the car industry,” said Boykin. “You just give some money to the car dealers and they know how to put it out,” laughed Boykin.

The original intent of the program was to remove one million old cars off the road and replace them with new, energy-efficient models. Nearly 750,000 people bought cars in just one week.

Hyatt is getting their fair share. 17 clunkers were traded in so far. But late Thursday night, an announcement came saying the program was out of money. Early Friday, the House voted to refill the program's tank with 2 billion dollars of additional funding. The White House announced they expect the Senate to pass it early next week.

Boykin said this is best stimulus package out of Washington because of the trickle down effect in the struggling auto industry.

"Just think all these new cars that are being sold, all the workers that were laid off in the last 3-6 weeks, all of them can go back to work,” said Boykin. “All dealers need cars right now. So, this is going to be a ripple down for the next 2-3 months."

The program definitely extends through the weekend. If you'd like to take advantage of it, here's how it works.

You can check with a certified dealer on the eligibility requirements...but here are a few...
Your current car must be less than 25 years old.
You must buy a new car, either lease or purchase
Your current car must run a combined city/highway fuel economy of 18 miles per gallon or less.
The car must be registered and insured to the same owner for the full-year preceding the trade-in.
The car must also be in drivable condition.

You can find the program specifics on: http://www.cars.gov/