This isn’t a post about a new trend being chronicled on the front page of a major newspaper – at least I hope it’s not a trend – but my personal cautionary tale about looking for a new vehicle using the “cash for clunkers” government rebate and dealing with a sleazy car dealership.
When the CARS program first kicked off, my wife and I strongly considered shopping around and seeing what kind of rebate (either $3,500 or $4,500) we could get for my gas-guzzling 2002 Ford F-150. When it was announced shortly after that the program had used all of its funding we were more than a little disappointed.
That disappointment grew when my 100,000-mile truck started to break down again – this would be the third time in two months. So, we watched the headlines and waited with our fingers crossed as a second round of funding went through the approval process. By the time another $2 billion was pumped into the program, we were what any salesperson would call “very motivated buyers.”
We narrowed down our search to a fuel-efficient car we thought we’d like and then headed to a local Toyota dealership (John Eagle Sport City Toyota in Garland) to take a test drive and trade in our clunker.
After a quick test drive and discussion we narrowed down our selection to a model we knew we could get a $4,500 rebate for because of the difference in mpg (the new model got 34 mpg and my old truck got 16). At this point we began our negotiations with the salesperson. After assuring us that my truck qualified, he began to lay out some financing options. All of the figures he gave us were way too high.
We were probably an-hour-and-a-half into haggling – which was already a nerve-racking process because every deal we said we liked had to be walked back to the “manager’s office” for a lengthy approval and inevitable denial – when we decided to shop elsewhere.
This is when the guy tried to jack with our heads: When the sales guy realized we were about to leave he asked us for the dozenth time what year my truck was. I told him 2002. Then he gets this surprised look on his face as he proceeds to tell us that he “just remembered” that only the 2001 and older Ford F-150s qualify for the program. But if we take the “deal” in front of us he would give us $4,500 for the truck as a trade-in without even evaluating it.
It was getting late and I think we both had a case of tired head because my wife and I just sat there and stared at each other for about a minute before we told the guy we were pretty sure it qualified for the rebate program. Again he said it didn’t and reminded us that this offer was for one night only and that he was doing us a favor by offering us $4,500.
After mulling it over, we decided to just walk away. If we couldn’t participate in cash for clunkers then we would go the used-car route. The next morning I decided to call the CARS hotline (866-CAR-7891) to see, if in fact, my truck was ineligible. It took about 5 minutes to verify that my truck was eligible after all and that the sleazy car salesman had been telling us a bold-faced lie.
We eventually got the (34 mpg) car we were looking for at another dealership with a deal we were satisfied with and without most of the games – there were still some, but it mostly involved really long sales pitches about “extras” we didn’t need. If you are looking for a new or used vehicle I’d recommend reading this article published by Car and Driver which outlines some of the shady games car dealers play.
I guess the moral of the story in car buying is “know before you go.” But it just seems all kinds of wrong to tell someone their gas-guzzling car doesn’t qualify for a government program designed to get more energy-efficient vehicles on the road.
