CARS program for (or by) Dummies
 

If our authorization letter received from the US Dept of Transportation is any indication of how this program will be run it is going to be one huge Mongolian Cluster $#*&.

We are a new car dealer for the following brands: Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep and Chevrolet (wind down). Well, today we got an authorization letter giving us instructions to sign up for the program for PONTIAC only!

We are not, and never have been a Pontiac dealer. We did not receive a letter for any of the other 4 brands that we sell. :thumbsdown_old:

Typical Government operation.

That's classic. :)

Sadly, it's probably an indication of how the program will be launched. My bet is there will be a lot of confusion and conflicting answers for the first couple of weeks until the rules get sorted out.

Maybe it's a government conspiracy to bring Pontiac back!

From cars.gov flow chart.
“OEM provides basic information. NHTSA CARS Program Staff Generate
Dealer List.”

Any Washington state dealers know what to do about the sales Tax issue?

I called department of revenue and asked. The person I spoke with said if the 4500 came from the goverment then you pay tax on it. I then stated that there was a trade involved and it may not have 4500 in value but there would be some value there how about that? He told me you would not have to pay tax on the value of the trade.
I asked who determines the Value?
He laughed and said the dealer did.
I said it could be anything then? He laughed again.
I said so there is no official policy for this situation.
He said there is not.
Anyone got any ideas?

From what I know you can estimate the amount you are getting from the scrap yard. You are allowed to keep $50 of that as administrative cost. So if the estimated scrap value is 300, you show them 250 for the trade which is non taxable. The 4500 is a rebate and is taxable, just like all other rebates. In Fla at least. Glad I'm not in this program.

*&$&#@@*$*$&#& !!!!
 

Anyone else having problems registering on the CARS website as a dealer?

I've been trying to register all morning. As soon as I hit the "I AGREE" button I get a "HTTP 500 Internal Server Error" message.

:mad:

An on another note:

If I read correctly the dealer is only allowed to keep $50 of the salvage value. The remainder is to be given to the customer. Am I reading this correct?

The closest apporved crusher to us is 60 miles away. No way I can transport a car to them for anywhere close to $50. What a mess!!!!

Same here! Been trying for last hour and figured I'd check here to see if anyone had luck... guess not.:mad: I'll let you know when I can get in & sign up.

$50 is correct. Surprised no Yards have called you... they're knocking my doors down, they'll pick up, handle paper work and work with me on shifting dollars from one unit to another to help put my deals together. The CARS/DEALERSUPPORT site has a list of approved salvage yards in each state. Check it out... I'd bet you'll get more help than you need from them.

That's where I determined the closest one was 60 miles away. Haven't gotten calls from any of them yet. I guess I'll start them if any eligible customers show up.

So far, all but one of the customers who have shown up wanting to trade their clunker have not qualified for one reason or another. The one that did qualify couldn't afford to buy anything priced over $8000 - even with their $3500 allowance.

If they’re having this much problem w/ the dealer registration process I can only imagine what it will be like to upload a deal w/ a dozen scanned documents in a monster file. Welcome to government motors.:mad:

Yep, this has got the making of one monumental FUBAR. I'm thankful for the press and bit of traffic that will be generated, but will probably do anything I can to push customers towards trading their car vs. crushing it.