Department of Transportation Announces Orderly
Wind Down of Successful CARS Program
Nearly a month into operation, the CARS program—commonly known as ‘Cash for Clunkers’—
has been a wild success. It has not only helped tens of thousands of consumers purchase new
more fuel efficient vehicles, but has provided a boost to our economy and is helping create jobs
at dealers and automakers across the country. Because of the sales already completed,
automakers including Ford and General Motors have announced increases in their North
American production, putting more people to work building more fuel-efficient vehicles. And the
program has provided a lift to America’s automakers by not only helping clear inventory from
CARS transactions but also driving up showroom traffic to levels not seen in well over a year.
The Department of Transportation is committing enormous resources to meet the overwhelming
and unexpected success of this program.
In order to ensure that this program continues to be a success, DOT is today announcing an
orderly wind down of the CARS program:
• The CARS program will remain open until the close of business on Monday, August 24
(8:00pm EST). This period provides ample opportunity for dealers to complete and submit
all outstanding transactions into the DOT system. As of 6 AM on Thursday, more than
450,000 transactions have been submitted by dealers, representing a total of about $1.9
billion. This represents approximately 2/3rds of the $3 billion allocated to the Department of
Transportation to operate the CARS program. Based on conservative estimates of valid deals
transacted under the program, DOT has projected that the program will be able to continue to
accept new submissions until the Monday deadline, consistent with the statutory authority of
the program.
• After the program closes, DOT will not allow dealers to submit additional applications.
Therefore, in order to ensure an orderly wind down, the Department of Transportation
urges dealers to focus today on getting pending deals completed and submitted. Dealers
are strongly encouraged to follow the checklist provided on the cars.gov website and submit
the completed checklist with their deal to ensure that all required information is present.
• Dealers are also advised not to agree to any more sales in the coming days unless the
dealer has received from the consumer all necessary paperwork, so that the dealer can
submit the transaction immediately.
• Dealers are strongly advised not to submit applications with incomplete information. Any
submitted applications with significant missing or incomplete information will risk rejection.
Department of Transportation Announces Orderly
Wind Down of Successful CARS Program
Nearly a month into operation, the CARS program—commonly known as ‘Cash for Clunkers’—
has been a wild success. It has not only helped tens of thousands of consumers purchase new
more fuel efficient vehicles, but has provided a boost to our economy and is helping create jobs
at dealers and automakers across the country. Because of the sales already completed,
automakers including Ford and General Motors have announced increases in their North
American production, putting more people to work building more fuel-efficient vehicles. And the
program has provided a lift to America’s automakers by not only helping clear inventory from
CARS transactions but also driving up showroom traffic to levels not seen in well over a year.
The Department of Transportation is committing enormous resources to meet the overwhelming
and unexpected success of this program.
In order to ensure that this program continues to be a success, DOT is today announcing an
orderly wind down of the CARS program:
• The CARS program will remain open until the close of business on Monday, August 24
(8:00pm EST). This period provides ample opportunity for dealers to complete and submit
all outstanding transactions into the DOT system. As of 6 AM on Thursday, more than
450,000 transactions have been submitted by dealers, representing a total of about $1.9
billion. This represents approximately 2/3rds of the $3 billion allocated to the Department of
Transportation to operate the CARS program. Based on conservative estimates of valid deals
transacted under the program, DOT has projected that the program will be able to continue to
accept new submissions until the Monday deadline, consistent with the statutory authority of
the program.
• After the program closes, DOT will not allow dealers to submit additional applications.
Therefore, in order to ensure an orderly wind down, the Department of Transportation
urges dealers to focus today on getting pending deals completed and submitted. Dealers
are strongly encouraged to follow the checklist provided on the cars.gov website and submit
the completed checklist with their deal to ensure that all required information is present.
• Dealers are also advised not to agree to any more sales in the coming days unless the
dealer has received from the consumer all necessary paperwork, so that the dealer can
submit the transaction immediately.
• Dealers are strongly advised not to submit applications with incomplete information. Any
submitted applications with significant missing or incomplete information will risk rejection.
