Cash For Clunkers

We went last night to talk to salesman at Chrysler dealership to find out about the "Cash for Clunkers" program. We went to Chrysler because we heard they giving matching funds in the amount of $ 4,500, so we wanted to find out how to get $ 9,000 towards a new car since we have no money.

The answer is- you can't. Only people who already have money to buy a new car can use the program.

The rules are:

1. The "clunker" must have been registered to you for the last 2 years. It must belong to you. We had a clunker owned by my daughter's in-laws- so my daughter and her husband couldn't use that car to get the $ 4,500.

2. You must have had insurance on the clunker for the past year. Ok- we insure all of our cars whenever we have the money. So our clunkers would have qualified under that rule.

3. You must "own" your car- so if it has a loan on it- the lender owns it and you don't and it doesn't qualify. So my clunker didn't qualify.

4. The Chrysler $ 4,500 only applies if you buy a PT Cruiser. That's not what we were interested in- so it wouldn't have helped us.

5. You only get $ 4,500 from the government if it's a truck you are giving in as a clunker. Cars only get $ 3,500.

So again- we have a program that only helps people who already have enough money to have no car loan, have their insurance paid up to date on a clunker they don't usually drive to help them buy another brand new car that they have enough cash to be able to put an additional 10 to 20 grand down payment on!

Another great government program! Thanks for the help!