Cash for Clunkers Sold More Cars Than Previously Thought
The Cash for Clunkers program sold far more cars than even the government thought at first, according to an analysis conducted by the automotive market research company Maritz Research.
Martiz says Clunkers was responsible for 765,000 new vehicles sold. Some skeptics of the program said it simply robbed car sales from future months, but Maritz maintains that this prediction has not materialized and the cars sold never would have left dealer lots without the program.
This goes well beyond previous estimates: The Department of Transportation said the program was responsible for 346,000 vehicles that otherwise wouldn’t have been sold, while Edmunds.com put the number at 125,000.
About 542,000 of the 677,000 vehicles sold under the program were purchased by people who hadn’t planned on buying a new car. An additional 223,000 people who went to dealerships to check out the incentive bought a car even after finding out they didn’t qualify.
Martiz arrived at these figures based on a survey of 36,000 people who bought a new car or truck between July and August 2009, when Cash for Clunkers was under way. The survey points to data that showed nearly 80% of Clunkers customers were long-term car owners trading in vehicles with more than 100,000 miles on them, and half of the trade-ins were more than 10 years old.
In other words, these were people lured strictly by the well-publicized incentive and not those looking for the typical summer cash-back rebate from the automaker.
Cash for Clunkers: Better Than We Thought (CNNMoney)
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Now where are the numbers showing the people who are now defaulting on their car loans because they were enticed into buying a car they didn't plan to buy in the first place because of the incentive?
Shame so many foreign brands were in the top 10 sellers.If only Japan would allow US vehicles be sold under their C4C programs.
Keep it an level playing field.
No offense but I can't believe anyone is crazy enough to buy a new car right now in this economy. Considering that a healthy chunk of 2010 Cash 4 Clunkers cars have already been repossessed (i.e. http://repofinder.com) why not just go to local banks and credit unions and buy these repo cars back for half the retail price? If you're going to buy junk at least don't over pay.
You know, I went to a Jeep dealer in Freehold, New Jersey and supposedly had brought a car using the cash for clunkers program, however, I was duped. I was approved for the loan, and signed all the documents via the Finance manager, then took the car home. I came without my car, and was going to take the car to them for the Clunkers Program. However, they didn't seem interested in possession of the vehicle. Approximately, 2 1/2 weeks later, I was told that my income wasn't enough, although, it was $2800 per month. However, I had given my title to my car to them. I went up to take the car back to them, then asked for the down payment that I had given them. They gave my money back, but told me that my title was given to the state. I assume the state gave them money via the Cash for Clunkers Program. Now, I have no title for my car, and did not receive a car from them…How can this be possible?