Cash for Clunkers to End on Monday

When I flew into Cleveland, Ohio a little over a week ago my mom was waiting to meet me at the airport.  As we walked into the airport parking lot I started looking around for either our Volkswagen Passat (it's diesel!) or our tried and true mini-van.  Well all my looking was in vain because unknown to me my parents had got rid of our gas guzzling mini-van and purchased a brand new Toyota Prius!

They were able to get the Prius because of Cash for Clunkers (4,500 dollars off) and an online deal (another 1,200 off).  They mini-van they traded in was only getting 18 miles per gallon and the Prius gets tons more than that (I think my parents are averaging something like 50+ right now..).

I have to say the Prius is pretty great and if you ask my parents so is Cash for Clunkers.    According to the numbers a lot of people feel the same way (or took advantage of the program regardless):

"Through Thursday, auto dealers have made deals worth $1.9 billion and are on pace to exhaust the program's $3 billion in early September. The incentives have generated more than 457,000 vehicle sales. Administration officials said they have reviewed nearly 40 percent of the transactions and have already paid out $145 million to dealers." [NPR]

However, the fun stops on Monday night at 8pm EDT.  Consumers have until then to make their Cash for Clunkers purchase and take advantage of the government incentives.

It seems like this has been pretty great, both for the auto industry and potentially for people.  Unfortunately I am sure that most people did not make such a huge MPG leap as my parents. I have a feeling most folks got a car that is a little bit better than their old one but that is still a gas guzzler.   My parents told me that when they were looking at the Prius at one dealership that the salesman seemed to be discouraging them from getting it.

And despite the fact that scientists have said that Cash for Clunkers isn't going to have a tremendous environmental impact I think it is still a good thing.  People need to start to change their mind-set about how we live and the more hybrid and smaller cars people see on the road, the more people will get used to a world without gas guzzlers.  Or so I hope.

But whether the program is good or bad and whether it has been environmentally effective it does end on Monday night - so if you've got a car you don't want with a low MPG number trade it in now! Take Action See if your car is eligible for the Cash for Clunkers program!