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What is Cash for Clunkers (C.A.R.S.) Doing for YOU?

Pennsylvania Auto Dealers just sent this bulletin to me... just passing it along case it is helpful...

To: PAA Members

From: J. Paul McMillen

Date: August 24, 2009 (4:00 PM)

RE: CARS Program Computer System Is Down

Dealers nationwide are reporting that the CARS computer system has either crashed or been shut down, again, for the third time since the federal Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that the Cash for Clunkers Program will end at 8 p.m. (EDT) tonight.

NADA has requested that dealerships that have been unable to successfully submit "clunkers" transactions for whatever reason should immediately e-mail NADA at clunkers@nada.org, with the subject line "Unable to Submit."
A copy of the e-mail should also be sent to NHTSA at help@cars.gov.
Provide details in the e-mail of the number of transactions you are attempting to transmit, and it might be helpful to include each customer's name, the VIN of their clunker, and the VIN of the new vehicle purchased, as well as the date of sale or lease of the new vehicle. Note in your e-mail that you have been unable to log on to the CARS computer system today to transmit the transactions.

NADA has again called on the Obama Administration to extend the deadline for submitting "cash for clunkers" applications to August 31, while keeping the August 24 deadline for consummating clunkers transactions.

PAA will continue to provide updated information to membership as soon as it becomes available.
 
We only got in for about five minutes. I waited on the hotline for 2 hours to see if they could reject a deal that was logged under the wrong brand for us. He said to send an email that they would get to it in a timely manner. I told we sent the email on Friday morning "How timely are you talking about?" Of course he couldn't help that's another department etc etc, i selected to asked someone about a deal prompt. This is insane.
 
Started putting deals in at 1:30 am..
Wife is mad at me, dog is mad at me, I am mad at me.... ARG... only a government run program could leave this many people with a bad taste in their mouths.... they prove the free money always costs someone...
 

✨ AI Highlights

Dealers and consumers collide in this Cash for Clunkers (C.A.R.S.) program thread, covering payment delays from NHTSA, document submission headaches, and the financial risk dealers absorbed by fronting rebate money. A key tension emerges between frustrated consumers who felt misled by dealerships and dealers defending the operational complexity of processing nearly 700,000 government-backed transactions while waiting months for reimbursement.

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