I just got in...and actually finished one deal. I've been trying for hours also.

SUPER COOL!!

it was up for a few moments then crashed again.

I've been unable to log on for 3 1/2 hours. has anyone had any luck??

I was in the same situation in July. We waited over two weeks. You should call the dealer and tell them that you want to schedule a pick up date today OR you will be calling the hotline number immediately. He is sure to have more than your deal to lose and there are fines he could incur.

My dealer scheduled our pick up within 30 minutes of my call to him. We picked up our car mid-August

hi liz,
this is from the CARS website:
IF THE DEALER HAS THE NEW CAR IN STOCK, THE DEALER MUST ALLOW YOU TO TAKE POSSESSION OF THE NEW CAR BEFORE THE DEALER MAY SUBMIT THE CREDIT APPLICATION TO THE GOVERNMENT. PLEASE REPORT ANY DEALER TO NHTSA THAT DOES NOT ALLOW YOU TO TAKE POSSESSION OF A NEW CAR PURCHASED UNDER THE CARS PROGRAM. PLEASE CALL THE CARS HOTLINE AT (866)-CAR-7891.

The dealer says that I should take my trade-in car home after I sign the purchase agreement for a new car under the CARS program, and that I can pick up my new car after the dealer is paid by the government. Can I do this?

NO. The dealer must take title to and possession of your trade-in vehicle in order to submit a credit for reimbursement under the CARS program. You may not keep possession of your old car.
You have rights under the program. If the dealer is registered, they are supposed to play by the rules. I would suggest letting the dealr know (nicely) that you know your rights, and the rules, and suggest to them that all the other people waiting for their cars know the law too. Let them know that you are bringing your clunker back in and taking your car home so the dealer doesn't get into trouble.

JEFF,
THATS EXACTLY WHAT MY FATHER TOLD THEM WHEN WE WENT DOWN TO THE DEALERSHIP BUT THE GUY WHO IS DOIGN THE PAPERWORK ON THE CASH FOR CLUNKER DEALS TOLD US THAT IT REALLY IS UP TO THE DEALERSHIP SINCE THEY ARE THE ONES WHO ARE PAYING MONTHLY ON THERE INVENTORY THAT THEY WOULD BE LOSING ALOT OF MONEY IF THEY LET THE CARS GO AND THEN THEY COME BACK REJECTED. AND EVERYTIME I CALL THEY ALWAYS SAY THEY HAVENT GOTTEN ANY REFUNDS BACK YET BUT EVEYTIME I PASS BY THE DEALERSHIP THERE ARE MORE AND MORE CARS GONE. WHAT SHOULD I DO?

liz
the dealer is required to let you take possession of your new vehicle. they cannot send you home without it. if you signed all of your paperwork and you are positive you meet the requirements they have to give you your vehicle.
also, if they sent you home in your "clunker", they are in violation of the rules of the program and you can report them. they have to have the "clunker" in their possession before thay can submit the application.

I WENT TO MY LOCAL DEALERSHIP ON SUN. AUG 2ND TO TRADE IN MY 1994 FORD EXPLORER UNDER THE CARS PROGRAM. THE DEALERSHIP SUBMITTED ALL MY PAPERWORK ON MON. AUG 3RD AND IM STILL WAITING TO HEAR IF I WAS APPROVED. I HAD MY DAD COME WITH ME TO TALK TO THE DEALER THAT FOLLOWING WEEK TO SEE WHAT WAS TAKING SO LONG AND THEY SAID THERE STILL WAITING. THIS DEALERSHIP ALSO WILL NOT LET YOU LEAVE WITH THE NEW CAR UNTIL YOU ARE APPROVED AND THE REFUND IS AT THE DEALERSHIP. MY FEAR IS THAT I WAIT ALL THIS TIME AND THEY REJECT ME AND I DONT GET THE NEW CAR. I KNOW ALL MY DOCUMENTS THAT I SENT IN WERE ALL SET AND I HAVE NO LAPSE ON ANYTHING. BUT I NEED THIS NEW CAR BEFORE THE SNOW COMES BECAUSE MY 94' FORD EXPLORER WILL NOT BE SAFE TO KEEP DRIVING. LITTLE THINGS ARE STARTING TO BREAK DOWN AND I HAVE 2 SMALL CHILDREN AND I NEED THEM IN A SAFER CAR. IS THERE ANY OTHER CUSTOMERS WHO ARE STILL WAITING TO GET THERE NEW CAR. PLEASE LET ME KNOW I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE.

totally understood, but i'm just stressing the facts. The govt is not holding dealers liable for non-compliant paperwork. and if you didn't sign a sale summary form, you don't have a cars deal anyway. sounds like the dealer will have to take your car in trade for market value or nobody wins.

Yes, I am working closely VERY with my dealer. I am not looking to screw anyone over and am just trying to make sure everyone is happy with the outcome. They did indicate that they were also working with DMV and will supply me a "hotline" number to call. I did not sign any "Summary of Sale and Certification" so it sounds like that is an issue that will prevent them from submitting even if the registration is cleared up! Not good! I guess all of this then becomes a moot point and we will have to work towards a mutually acceptable outcome. Really, the difference between the book value of my trade and the $4,500 isn't THAT much, so the gap is all we will have to agree on handling, I would think. As for FRAUD, there is nothing that I did that would qualify. All documents I supplied were original. I did not sign anything that was not accurate either. The only reason I even checked with a lawyer is to know where I stand IF things get very ugly. It is NOT my intention to use any potential loophole of how this deal transpired to "pull a fast one". I just subscribe to the principal of "hope for the best, plan for the worst". Just like dealers are pointing out that they are not the bad guy, please understand that not all consumers are bad guys either.

amen kp

368 Deals in...1 to go. Waiting for the stupid site to get back up and running so I can submit our last deal and go home.

only two left to do, but no website is frightening...

West Herr Auto Group in Buffalo, stopped taking deals at midnight on Saturday.
Full Staff Sunday and Today, just to register the deals.
Government Site Down again for registration since 11:30am.. No Stress!!!!!

DealerRefresh realizes that a whole lot of consumers (more than the those who are leaving comments here) are finding this thread. We just want to say that you should not be confused by the NHTSA's claim that the program ends at 8:00 PM EST today because that does not mean dealers will be taking your Clunker deal till that time. 8:00 PM EST is the time dealers have to have everything reported in order to make sure you receive your rebate. It takes time to process these transactions and we are already seeing the system crash again. Most dealers ARE NOT accepting anymore deals at this time - be sure to check with yours before visiting.

Within the Checkered Flag Auto Group our mileage varies by store:

BMW, MINI, smart, Jaguar, Audi, Porsche: not accepting anymore.

Hyundai & Volkswagen: only accepting till 2:00 PM EST.

Toyota, Scion, and Honda: accepting till 5:00 PM EST.

can anyone get on the submission site?

Chris-
without a signed certification form the dealer cannot submit for reimbursement. the form is called a Summary of Sale and Certification form. If you signed it, you are certifying under penalty for fraud that you meet all the criteria for the program. You may want to bring that up to your lawyer. The dealer is not required to verify all docs are compliant, they are only required to submit your documents to the govt for review and hopefully approval. Not only is the dealer within their right to cancel or reverse your sale, they are REQUIRED to report any and all fraud. I would talk to the dealer and forward the entire law, which is available on the cars website, to your attorney.

"Finally Got Mine" is absultely spot-on, as is Lori Finney. But now it's a question of "time." Dealers have until 8:00PM Eastern tonight to submit valid claims. If the dealership spotted and lapse in registration and could not submit the original voucher, and the issue cannot be corrected in the next couple of hours, then there's little hope a voucher will be granted.

Chris - I used the CARS program to purchase a new car. I'm not a dealer, but I agree with everything the dealers have said here. You must submit all of the paperwork and it must meet the requirements OR you DO NOT qualify.

You may be able to clear this this up with a call to your DMV. The dealer CAN'T do this for you. I had my 2007 & 2009 registration card, but not my 2008 card. I had read all of the CARS info and knew it would be a problem when a dealer submitted the paperwork. I proactively called the DMV [at the state level] and they were more than happed to fax me a letter stating that my registration was in effort for the full time with no lapses. Problem solved - both for the dealer and for myself.

You are responsible for ensuring the paperwork is correct. If you are sure there was no lapse (I was positive of it) YOU can probably correct this with a phone call and make both yourself and the dealer very happy.

I did not sign any certification. The dealer looked at all of my original paperwork and said everything was fine. They then later said they thoguht there was a problem since my last registration showed it started less than 2 years before the expiration date (registrations are 2 years here). I have a cancelled check showing I paid DMV well before expiration of the prior but that is still about 6 months before the "start date" they printed on the new one. The dealer said that this would cause CFC denial. I do not know why the discrepancy but also don't know why this was brought up after they closed the deal and had me drive away. Again, I am NOT saying the dealers are assholes (just using the term from a post above), just that they said everything was fine, and that if any issue arose that I would absolutley not be involved - then changed their story. I do want things to work out and hope this is all in error. If not, as I said above, I will try to seek a mutually acceptable solution. In the event the car does go back, I will do everything in my power to make sure there are no scratches, dings or stains (also from a post above).

What customers are not realizing is they are in fact signing paperwork that states that they have provided correct paperwork and they qualify for the program. It is not the dealers responsibilty alone to determine that. All consumers should have been asked to signed a certification sheet provided by the cars programs (not made up the dealer) when the deal is done. This paperwork states you agree UNDER PENALTY OF LAW that you have met the qualifications including the 12 months of insurance and registration. If the consumer signs this paperwork and doesn't have the 12 months of registration how is that the dealers fault?
The dealer REALLY would prefer to have the deal done and each consumer driving the new cars but if they can not get the money because of a fact that they did not know when the deal was done then the consumer must take responsiblity for the paperwork they signed.
Did you signed the deal certification from the CARS system? If so, you stated that you had 12 months insurance and registration. If you didn't and it was not on the paperwork you provided how was the dealer to know...?

I am glad the government is out of the car business tomorrow, I wonder what kind of losses the dealers will be left with when this is all over. I am sure everybody on the car business side has noticed how all the customers feel the dealers are the assholes in all this, when most of the problems are on the government end or from lack of truthfulness from customers.

Customers need to realize the dealer is on their side in all of this, if there is any way possible to keep them in the car they will bend over backwards to make it happen. I can assure you they don't want a new car back with miles on it, scratches, dings, or stains.

btw- when I say "what he heard" I mean what he heard from me as to the facts, not that he is basing his opinion on "what he heard" elsewhere as to the law.

Thanks! I did call an attorney just to see where I stand. He said that since I had a signed contract, and loan contract, with no mention of contingency and I had signed no paper saying I was guaranteeing that I was eligible it was very bad on the dealership's part (for them) to make the deal, and sign all paperwork. And since there is a registration fee on there he said they could not refuse to register it. He did say that to be sure he wanted to see the paperwork but that based on what he heard, in CT the car is mine if I choose to force the issue. The documents I submitted were all original and the fact that they missed what the DMV claims is the renewal date is their ultimate responsibility (because they went ahead and finalized the deal, including delivery). I do have a cancelled check showing renewal on time but, per the dealership, that does not count - only what is on the registration and what DMV says. That said, I am not trying to be a jerk about this. If I really did have a laps (still TBD) I think the right thing to do would be to work out a deal in which it is fair for all parties, as opposed to "punishing" the dealership for less than quality practices. Maybe that the $4,500 minus the blue book value of my trade and then split that with them? Justlooking to find a way we can all live with this mess.