Dealers Want Cash For Clunkers Money

ATLANTA -- With almost 500,000 gas guzzlers off the road, the government's $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program is winding down. It officially ends Monday.

But while drivers are trading in the old cars for fuel efficient new ones, the program has a lot of dealers worried.

For Atlanta Smart car dealer Greg Baranco, Cash for Clunkers has been a car selling bonanza. Fifty Smart cars will be sold by Monday.

In the lots, hundreds of clunkers are now waiting for the crusher. For customers the lure is the refund.

"We were motivated by the fact that we could get $4,500 for our tradin and get a great deal on a Smart car," said Jeffrey Wages, who was about to trade his clunker.

But that's only half the story. For dealers it's "Show me the money."

"The dealers are at risk. I am at risk. But right n own it's the right thing to do. We need the business, so I have to borrow money to fund my checking account right now to make sure we can get through it," Baranco said.

And Baranco is not alone. Mark Frost of Jim Ellis Chevrolet is in the same boat.

"The ultimate success is will all the dealers get reimbursed for all the money that they have put out there. You have to come back in a month and we'll tell you then," he said.

With the Cash for Clunkers program just about to wind down and dealers quite anxious about getting their money, many drivers want to go from the very big to the very small.
Jeffrey Wages had 175,000 miles on his 2002 Astro Van and will go from 16 miles per gallon to the Smart's 41 MPG.

"We're going the whole distance. We're downsizing trying to help a little with a little gas mileage and be a little more environmentally friendly with our choice here," he said.

But before you race to a dealership to trade in that clunker, go online and check out the best deals so you can negotiate and know that you can afford the terms of your financing package.

And be flexible -- many models are already sold out.