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Maryland Car Dealer Inspired Cash for Clunkers Coverage
We have many dealers from around the country that have supported our blog with updates from the field but we have to give credit to the one dealer that encouraged us to create this website. Back in April, I drove from New Jersey to Preston Maryland and shared stories and a cold beer with two men pictured above.
David Wilson, CEO of the Preston Motors in Maryland, told me that night that I should cover the Cash for Clunkers bill that was working its way through the House. There were two versions of a the bill; one was called “Cash for Guzzlers” and the other is the name we know today: ”Cash for Clunkers“.
Not knowing what to do, I created two blogs. This one and another at www.cashforguzzlers.net. When the guzzler bill was killed in favor of the clunker bill, we focused most of our energies on this blog. To date we have helped thousands of consumers by answering emails, phone calls and most importantly, allowing consumers to help consumers.
Watching the vote today in the Senate was like a vote on this project. For now, we still have a reason to exist.
David Wilson Was Inspirational
So thank you David Wilson for encouraging me to stay with the project which has resulted in over 100,000 unique consumer visitors a day. Our peak this week was 125,000 unique visitors with over 300,000 page views. If you have appreciated this website, you can thank David Wilson.
If you live in the Maryland area or have friends that do, tell them to visit www.prestonmotor.com for a great selection of Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Nissan, Mazda, Suzuki, Hyundai and Chevrolet cars and trucks. If you visit their Autoplex, ask for David and tell him you read about him on this blog.
David has been preparing for this program for months and has AMPLE cars to sell. He did his homework too and too the risk to stock up in advance.
David has setup an entire building for the Cash for Clunkers program. This is one car dealer that is fired up and ready to help consumers in Maryland and Delaware.
Consumer Volunteers Are Amazing
I am very grateful for the hundreds of consumers who are reading our news posts and taking their time to help other consumers. Our SPEAK-UP forum is an example of this as you can see consumers reaching out to others who are confused, discouraged or angry.
This blog has attempted to let everyone have a voice. There are opinions that some people may consider extreme. This bill has polarized consumers in America and we are glad that we have provided a forum to express their freedom of speech.
It is great to see that most news stories have active and intelligent comments. Keep it up and tell others about the blog.
With the $2 billion in funding today, it is great to see that we have a few more months of usefulness ahead. I hope that you have enjoyed the ride as much as I have. Two months of very little sleep has taken its toll. I’m beat!
Tomorrow is another day…
Brian Pasch,CEO
Pasch Consulting Group
16 responses on “Maryland Car Dealer Inspired Cash for Clunkers Coverage”
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How can I tell IF a dealer has submitted my application for a C.A.R.S. rebate? I don’t mind being patient if the dealer has properly submitted the application but if not, I’d like to find out so I can move on.
Brian Smith,
It is sad that you are in the car business and have never seen a deal with more than $4500 gross profit in it. They do exist, but they are definitely harder to come by these days. The single make dealership I am with has processed over 100 CARS transactions, so I most definitely have something to do with the car business.
My husband and I were prepared to turn in our l997 Chevy Suburban for a Honda Civic yesterday and because he paid our tabs one month late last October, we do not qualify. I believe per the rule that we were the “registered owners of the trade in vechicle continuously for the past year”, we paid for 12 months in October, not 11. Is there any way around this rule or someone we can talk to about petitioning?
@Brian Smith: THANK YOU for your post! It’s good to see a DEALER on this site giving a report from the front!
I believe this process has been hard on dealers and that though they are being helped, it’s not without tremendous cost and headache.
All I’ve ever been advocating for on this site and in these forums is HONESTY and FAIRNESS from the dealers who CHOOSE to take part in these transactions.
I get that you are floating the money but that’s YOUR choice. Once you have taken that clunker, it’s YOURS, not the consumers.
To me, all negotiations and paperwork checks should happen BEFORE you, the dealer, takes a clunker. Once you take it, I can’t see why a consumer should still be involved (assuming they acted FAIRLY and HONESTLY as well).
I hope you are one of the honest-broker dealers and not one of the hostage-taker dealers, my friend!
@Brian: GREAT JOB!!! Will do. You deserve it. Would love to see this get picked up.
@Stanley..here is the story that you requested we cover. Please encourage everyone you know to click on the Digg link at the bottom of the story to make this go viral and get the attention of the NHTSA.
http://www.cashforclunkersfacts.com/bill/car-dealers-who-break-the-nhtsa-rules
For those of you who are down on the dealers involved with this,
First of all, anyone who thinks there is $4500 profit in any car deal has obviously never had anything to do with the car business. Dealers are on the hook for the full $4500 until the govt decides to pay them. Secondly, I cannot be upset with a dealer holding a deal until they get funded. Please understand that the best Ford Focus on the planet has about $1000 markup, The best Fusion and Escape about $1500-$1700. So lets say the dealer give a $500 discount on a focus. At the point, we are handling somewhere around 18-19000 dollars for $500 in profit. Now take into consideration that the paperwork involved in this process is a nightmare. On a good deal, you are going to burn at least an hour and 10-15 sheets of paper just to protect yourself. Now you have to pay someone to enter all the ifoe into the govt site and hope that they decide to pay you. We have 2 small store(approx 100 cars on both lots) and we have 24 or 25 deals out right now just for CARS. Until the govt deems it fit to pay us, we basically have $100k floating out there in the internet.Keep in mind that payroll for our two stores averages $40k week. Don’t get me wrong, this program has definately driven business to us and we have moved alot of inventory. But please don’t think this is a cakewalk and a massive money maker for most dealers.
I think dealers will be more than willing to assume all of the risk of whether the transaction is reimbursed by the NHTSA or not, as long as there is more than $4500 gross profit in the deal. If not, then there is the possiblity of huge exposure for the dealer without some protections in place.
Also, don’t forget that this website’s revenue comes from lead generation. The dealers pay for leads generated from this website. The only true “customers” of this website are auto dealers. If you think otherwise, you are seriously delusional.
My thanks to all who contributed to keeping CARS info current. My dealer submitted my transaction Monday(8/3), has my clunker, still has my new car and has cashed my check. I am comfortable with my dealer but curious when he might expect to receive some confirmation that he will receive his rebate. Any estimates now that CARS program has officially received additional funding?
Brian,
I would like to thank you. Your site kept me sane through this whole thing.
Brian et al…
This site made the whole ordeal bearable. I thank you for your efforts. I spent a month, 100% of my shopping was done online, covering 3 states. I became quite informed on product and also documentation needed so when I finally went to the brick & mortar dealer it went quickly. Kindest regards.
@Brian: Thanks for your responses, interest and hard work.
To be clear, I feel for dealers who are afraid of “floating” the cash on these deals, I really do.
But I keep coming back to: that’s what the rules require of the dealers and rules are rules. If you don’t like the risk of taking CARS trade-ins, you shouldn’t do so.
And dealers who are bending or downright breaking the rules to try to cover the liability that is — again, like it or not — required of them are behaving incredibly unethically, and frankly, short-sightedly.
The dealers that are following the rules are creating CUSTOMERS. The dealers trying to take advantage are creating ENEMIES.
There’s your angle with dealers: which are you doing?
@Stanley
This is a great story and I have been reading the commentary and seeing both sides and was thinking…what a bad place for everyone…but as you point out, dealers should not be breaking the law to limit their financial liability.
I will definitely ask around and see what is happening in the field.
Brian
@Brian: You are a stand-up guy for responding so positively and quickly. I’m happy to help you understand the issue as it’s being portrayed in the SPEAK UP forum if it will help you get to the bottom of what’s going on in some dealerships in regards to the CARS program.
Multiple people in your SPEAK UP forum are reporting the following:
*Dealers are accepting all requisite CARS paperwork — including signed-over titles — and are taking full payments (in some cases even cashing checks for full amounts) but are NOT releasing new (fully purchased/financed) vehicles to consumers.
*Dealers are holding these consumers and their new vehicles hostage pending what they are calling “government approval”.
*In some cases, dealers are not keeping consumers in this situation up-to-date. In all cases, consumers do not have any recourse because they have signed over the title to their clunker and the dealer has cashed their check.
*Consumers do not have any access to the information dealers do, nor do consumers have any way of knowing how or when — let alone how accurately — dealers are submitting consumers’ paperwork.
Other issues that have grown out of this dubious behavior:
*Dealers are sending people home in their clunkers pending “approval”, which is explicitly forbidden in the amendment to the Final Rule which says clunkers must remain in dealer control/possession.
*Dealers are creating waivers which are NOT part of CARS Final Rule material that say something to the effect of “If we don’t get the rebate, you pay it to us” and strong-arming consumers into signing the waiver.
*Dealers who have accepted clunkers and released new vehicles are calling consumers and demanding money or car back when the transactin is denied. Again, problem here is that consumer has ZERO idea if dealer is doing things right or even telling the truth but is expected to capitulate to dealer.
SO WHAT’S THE STORY YOU NEED TO GET?
Please find out how many dealers are behaving in this way and are shifting the obvious onus of responsibility CARS places on them to the consumer versus honest-broker dealers who are accepting clunkers as trade-ins and are accepting the FULL responsibility for the clunker and for getting their money. It would also be good to know WHY hostage-taker dealers feel they are right to do this. Similarly, it would be nice to hear from honest-broker dealers who are following the law and rule properly and are releasing vehicles immediately upon receiving payment from the consumer.
MY BOTTOM LINE:
Both the law and rule clearly call clunkers “trade-ins” and the rule clearly intends a dealer to take FULL responsibility if they accept a clunker as part of a new car purchase. Everything in the rule puts the onus to get the reimbursement squarely on the dealer both by getting everything right BEFORE selling a new vehicle and by submitting the materials properly and appropriately.
But dealers are subverting this process in ways that are neither in the law or rule nor are fair to the consumer.
Neither dealers nor consumers should be allowed to make up new rules; both should play the game as it’s written or not at all.
Thanks for reading, hope it helps, let me know if you want more.
Stanley,
I have no issue reporting on the dealer hostage issue its just that there has been some many moving parts to the program that I’ve been overwhelmed.
Can you frame for me what the story should be and I can reach out and do a dealer survey indeed. I’m all for collaboration but as the only writer on the blog, time is very tight to cover everything.
Brian
@Brian: You guys are doing truly great work on here. I appreciate the site and your allowing consumers to speak bluntly and honestly about the program. I’ve taken advantage of that, in case you haven’t noticed…
Also, thanks to your guy David who, by the looks of the picture above, is playing by the rules and keeping clunkers on his lot.
My one gripe about your site is that you seem loathe to speak out against (or even report on) the dealer practice of holding fully paid for new cars hostage while CARS reimbursement is pending.
I sure wish you would consider using your dealer connections to find out which dealers and how many are using this practice, versus dealers who are being honest brokers and accepting clunkers as the trade-ins they are supposed to be.
Seems to me that honest-broker dealers who are playing by the rules would have an interest in letting people know they aren’t using the hostage-taking strategy that others are. Maybe you could help the hostage-takers see the light?
Either way, thanks for what you’re doing.
Stan