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Auto News and Reviews
Once in awhile I get through to my readers or, in the case of talking directly with my sister about cars, I pass along some important news which others are glad to receive.

Passing Along Helpful News

My sister works in the jewelry department of a large department store and mentioned to a friend about the “cash for clunkers” program that I had told her about a few days earlier. Rosemary Delgado, my sister’s co-worker, hadn’t heard about the program but was interested in what my sister shared. It turns out that Rosemary’s 1994 Mercury Grand Marquis was ready to be traded in, a car that she purchased new. I later learned that Rosemary typically keeps cars for ten years, but she loved her Mercury so much that she didn’t want to part with it. Until “clunkers” came along, however.

“Tell your brother ‘thank you’ for sharing his information. I brought my old car to the Toyota dealership and drove out in a brand new Camry a few hours later. The money from the federal government was a help but I’m especially glad that I didn’t have to bother with the hassle of negotiating a trade – the salesman was happy to take my car as is.”

No Hassle Trade In

One of the things that has concerned some people about “clunkers” is worry that the dealer won’t accept their trade in. Under normal deals, some dealers are picky when it comes to what car is traded in, low-balling the amount offered which means that the customer has to either take it or leave it. In the case of the CARS program, your car needs to be running and registered/insured for the past year, but it doesn’t matter what sort of condition that it is in. Effectively, a sticking point in the new car transaction has been lifted, allowing eligible people to trade their clunker in and leave with a new car without much of a hassle.

As for my sister, she ended up buying a new car too – a 2009 Ford Escape. However, she didn’t have a clunker to turn in, striking best possible deal on her new car without a government program weighing in.

Oh, by the way, if you ended up taking advantage of “cash for clunkers” then feel free to share your story here by hitting the reply button. Let us know what car you traded in and what car you got under the CARS program.