'Cash for Clunkers' stays busy down to the wire

Screaming phones and choking computers marked the final, wild day of the Cash for Clunkers program for the few intrepid car dealers that still offered such deals Monday.

Mark Zimmerman Ford BMW Hyundai Mitsubishi in Cedar Rapids opened Monday morning with the telephone numbers of 30 prospective customers that had called Saturday, and the phone was already “ringing off the hook,” dealer Mark Zimmerman said.

Most car dealers, playing it safe, had already stopped making deals under the $3 billion program, but Zimmerman figured he had to file only the initial application for each deal by the 7 p.m. government deadline and still get reimbursed.

By 11:15 a.m., though, the Web site that dealers use to submit contracts under the program was so congested it had to be taken offline.

“It's dead; it's like it crashed,” said Zimmerman, whose dealership has so far been reimbursed for only eight of the 91 deals it's done under the program.

The Web site problems affected every dealer still trying to do clunker deals and those still trying to submit paperwork on deals done earlier.

“We've got customers in our showroom right now that want to purchase cars,” said frustrated sales manager Chad Ohly of Chezik-Bell Ford in Iowa City. “We've got people sitting at computers waiting to do it.”

Because of the technical issues, late Monday the Transportation Department pushed back the paperwork deadline for dealers to noon Tuesday.

Buyers who got in under the deadline count themselves lucky.

Ted Brokel of Mount Vernon took a day off Monday from his job as a waterproofer to trade in his clunker, an 18-year-old Chevrolet pickup with 200,000 miles on the odometer. Brokel said he'd been wanting to make a trade under the program since it began about three weeks ago, but events kept throwing him off course.

First, the program was so successful it nearly ran out of money, and when funding was extended, car dealer inventories ran so low he couldn't find anything he liked. Then his local dealer stopped offering the program. Brokel wound up getting $3,500 toward a new black Hyundai Sonata at Zimmerman's.

Bill Grovert of Grovert Chevrolet in Newhall was among the many dealers who decided to sit out the final days of the program.

“It isn't just waiting for your money,” said Grovert, who did about eight deals. He said it's not knowing “whether they are ultimately going to approve it.”

Coming soon: 'Clunkers' program for appliances

Cash for Clunkers is over. Some rushed to car lots to take advantage of the popular program before it ended Monday night. Now a similar program is ready to start up for your home.

Cash for Clunkers offered government rebates to trade in old cars for new cars with better gas mileage.

But a new government rebate program will give you cash to trade out old appliances and you could also save money on your energy bill.

Barb Himmelsbach has thought about it for years. "Oh, I could upgrade,” she said. But, she just can't get rid of her aging washer and dryer set. "It still works,” she said.

Thousands of people have similar machines that have somehow survived for decades. Now, a new government program could cut the cord on those clunkers.

"They're going to get rid of those old appliances that might be sitting in the garage or the basement,” Lyle Bischof, manager of Amana General Store Appliances said.

The state of Iowa will receive $2.88 million dollars later this year. When someone buys certain “Energy Star” appliances, they'll qualify for a rebate.

"I think that would be a great idea,” Himmelsbach said.

This program is still in the beginning stages. No one's really sure yet how much of a rebate or which appliances will qualify.

It will begin near the end of this year or the beginning of next year.

-- Mark Geary, KCRG-TV9