NEW YORK, July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The recent passage of the "Cash For Clunkers" bill has sparked a nationwide wave of interest in the program, which provides up to $4,500 to car-owners who trade in their old "clunker" for a new, more fuel efficient alternative. However, the flood of enthusiasm for the program has led to the emergence of scams targeting car owners looking to benefit from the program. www.CashForClunkersInformation.org, a consumer information site that has educated the public about the new program since its inception, has issued a warning to consumers and is providing specific instructions on how to avoid scams on their websites.
Because the C.A.R.S. legislation was fast tracked as a part of the war supplemental bill there was not a lot of information available to the public. As a result, a few information sites (like www.cashforclunkersinformation.org) provided important information that encouraged the public to support the bill. As thousands of these online visitors already know, their support of this legislation is a big reason this bill was signed into law. This is a perfect example of the public using the Internet to have a collective voice to influence government policy. Unfortunately, some other websites emerged online and apparently used this tool to attempt to fraudulently capture personal information to be used illegally.
While there are a lot of legitimate sites that have been around well before the bill was signed into law, you should be wary of any site that says you have to "register" to participate in the program, or asks you for any personal financial information. Some consumer information sites will offer a service that allows consumers to get price quotes or pre-approved financing from dealers so they can avoid wasting gas money driving around town. If you intend to use such services make sure they have a clearly defined privacy policy and visitor agreement (located at bottom of site) that assures you that your contact information will remain private and secure. However, if any websites ask for your personal information to "register" you or to "issue a voucher," do not give any information to them because NHTSA reminds consumers, "You do not need a voucher and you are not required to sign up or enroll in this program. Participating new car dealers will apply a credit, reducing the price you pay at the time of your purchase or lease, provided the vehicle you buy or lease and the vehicle you trade in meet the program requirements. The dealer will then obtain reimbursement from the government." For this reason, www.cashforclunkersinformation.org is connecting consumers directly with licensed new car dealers so they can follow the process the NHTSA is establishing with licensed dealers. To protect our visitors we will continue to report on any online scams on the home page of our website.
New Government Website
Prospective car-buyers can qualify their cars at the www.cars.gov website, which is the only official government portal to the program. Once qualified, car buyers need only visit a participating dealer to purchase a voucher-eligible vehicle. The dealer will handle all official government documentation to secure and deliver the appropriate funds towards the purchase of the vehicle for the car buyer. The website provides detailed information about the bill and simple steps you can take to determine if you qualify and for how much. Since the program has just been signed into law by Obama the NHTSA has 30 days to post final details of the program on their website. The NHTSA is encouraging consumers and retailers to wait for them to release the final rules on or around July 23rd. If you qualify we encourage you to visit their site and click on "Sign up for Updates" to give your personal information so you can receive program information as it's released. As stated before, this website is ok to provide "personal information" because it is secure and protected by their privacy policy and visitor agreements.
Also, here is a list of non-government independent consumer websites that provide consumers with information about this program and who can connect consumers with dealers:
www.CashForClunkersInformation.org
Edmunds.com
Kbb.com
Cars.com
Manufacturer sites
Celebrities Support www.CashForClunkersInformation.org
www.CashForClunkersInformation.org has also been receiving an important push from celebrities like Dancing With The Stars' Cristian de la Fuente and Ugly Betty star Angelica Vale to educate consumers about the program. In addition, Alfonso Aguilar, the former Chief of the U.S. Office of Citizenship, is also a spokesperson for the organization due to the large impact the bill has on the Latino community and other immigrant groups. The Spanish language website for www.CashForClunkersInformation.org is www.DineroPorSuCarcacha.com.
"This government subsidy will make it easy for people to get a new car that is a lot less expensive to operate and maintain because of the great gas mileage and lack of repair costs," said Cristian de la Fuente. "It is great to see the government funded automotive bailout helping hard working people who need the financial support." Angelica Vale added, "Finally consumers are getting a bailout, because they are benefiting by up to $4,500 a person." Since a large number of the clunkers on the road are owned by minorities and immigrants, these communities will benefit significantly from this legislation. "We have passionately supported Cash For Clunkers because of its positive impact on the environment, economy, consumers and its benefits for hundreds of Hispanic American communities whose livelihoods are tied to the auto industry," said Alfonso Aguilar, the previous U.S. Chief of Citizenship and Immigration. "This legislation will create thousands of new jobs for all Americans who work in the many businesses that serve the automotive industry." This is obviously resonating with the Latino community because the organization's website was flooded with visitors after Telemundo's top TV news host, Maria Celeste, explained the program with Alfonso Aguilar and Angelica Vale on the air. "The site temporarily shut down due to the flood of traffic," said Mike Degan, the Chief Technology Officer of the organization that owns and operates the websites and who offers communication services for dealers to educate their local consumers about the benefits of getting a new, more fuel efficient vehicle that helps the environment and them at the same time.
CashForClunkersInformation.org Encourages Manufactures and Dealers to Offer More
www.CashForClunkersInformation.org continues to encourage dealers to create dealer funded Cash For Clunkers programs to offer additional incentives to consumers above and beyond the government program. We believe that the winning formula is to have the dealers contribute to the government funded program to maximize the positive effect on the economy and the environment. We will continue to promote a blended strategy of the public and private sectors working together to maximize the impact of the program.
The biggest supporters of the Cash For Clunkers bill has been manufacturers and local car dealers who see it as an opportunity to boost their own businesses and regional economies which are heavily dependent on car sales. One of the leaders behind the cash-for-clunker concept in the dealer world is Paragon Cars (http://www.paragoncars.com/) , one of the largest dealers in the country. "While Paragon's cash-for-clunker program can help our area, the country needed government support to make the serious economic and environmental impact we need," said Brian Benstock, one of the partners of Paragon. New York's Paragon Cars (www.ParagonCars.com) has taken a lead in educating the public about the bill by hosting a regional information site for New York residents (www.CashForClunkersNY.com). In addition, Paragon has announced their program to offer additional incentives above the government vouchers to car buyers who trade up into a more fuel efficient vehicle. As a part of Paragon's Cash For Clunkers program, the dealership agreed to provide discounts towards the purchase of a pre-owned vehicle, which the government's program does not cover. Details are at www.ParagonHonda.com and www.ParagonAcura.com. Since a large number of consumers who own clunkers may not be able to afford a new vehicle, retailers like www.ParagonCars.com and www.RickCase.com are offering to provide similar incentives on nearly new certified pre-owned vehicles that are within closer reach of some consumer's budgets.
Bill Stimulates Economy Before Program Begins
Despite the many related questions and complexities, the bill has already begun to make an important economic impact. NHTSA's communication efforts combined with the enthusiasm of local dealers are leading to the beginning of a projected upswing in the auto industry. "After hearing about the Cash For Clunkers program we decided to buy new inventory, hire additional salespeople and negotiate additional media buys before the program was officially announced," added Scott Grewell, from www.CourtesyChev.com . Grewell, who has contributed auto industry analysis to Reuters and the Wall Street Journal and other news outlets, further explained that, "Automotive dealers stimulate the local and national economy by spending the most of any sector in advertising, hiring the most in many local markets, generating enormous state tax revenues and often being amongst the most prolific local philanthropists."
The Clunker List
Since the government's new website, www.Cars.gov, is now providing updated information about the program, www.CashForClunkersInformation.org is focusing on helping dealers educate consumers in their local markets. To this end, the organization has created a Clunker List, a comprehensive listing of car makers, models and years which may qualify for government funding based on program guidelines. The Clunker List can be accessed for free at www.ClunkerList.com. Dealers are using a more detailed mailing list organized by market to target their communication campaigns to local consumers. This "Clunker List" identifies consumers who have a higher probability of qualifying for the program based the vehicle they are driving.
Dealers are also using the organization's "Qualified Clunkers List" which takes into account criteria like, households, income levels, purchase histories, and other key factors that have a higher probability of qualifying for financing a new vehicle.
"We are using the 'Qualified Clunker List' to avoid being flooded with unqualified consumers who could end up unnecessarily disappointed with us when they discover they cannot make use of the program because banks won't approve the financing," said Brian Benstock from www.ParagonCars.com.
www.CashForClunkersInformation.org has published the "Clunker Report" at www.ClunkerList.com, which identifies the number of potentially qualified consumers in the top 150 markets. This is not a list that guarantees qualification; it is a list of the number of probable candidates in each market based on the rules of the program.
www.CashForClunkersInformation.org Thanks the People for Efforts to Pass Bill
The organization wants to thank its army of supporters who helped www.CashForClunkersInformation.org inform thousands of people about the program before it reached the senate so the public could influence their local representatives to get it approved. The organization is proud to have been an important advocate of the congressional bill and now continues to serve as a voice for the public to encourage retailers and manufacturers to offer additional incentives to consumers to get into more fuel efficient vehicles that will help the environment, the economy and their industry.
Before the government website was live, thousands of consumers visited many of our websites and some thought we were the official government. For this reason we have redesigned our sites to include a clear notice at the top that directs our visitors to visit the only official government website, cars.gov. At the same time, www.cashforclunkersinformation.org will continue to provide unique information and functionality, like our MPG calculator, which helps consumers determine if their vehicle meets the MPG requirements in only 3 clicks and a convenient service that helps consumers get pricing information from licensed dealers from the comfort of their home.
www.cashforclunkersinformation.org is also encouraging and equipping dealers to offer additional incentives to consumers who upgrade into a more fuel efficient vehicle as a part of their own "cash for clunkers program." The organization provides communication services to retailers to help them identify and educate consumers in their local area about the Cash For Clunkers program.
About the Name - Cash For Clunkers
There are many Automotive Scrappage programs throughout the world which generally have the dual aim of stimulating the automobile industry and removing inefficient, high emissions vehicles from the road. Many European countries have introduced large-scale scrappage programs, like the United States C.A.R.S. program, as an economic stimulus to increase market demand in the industry while helping the environment. Scrappage programs have been touted with many different names in different countries around the world. While making its way through congress there were many of these types of "scrappage" bills with many different names so the public and the press commonly referred to them as the "Cash For Clunkers" program. For this reason many consumer information sites, including ours, have utilized this publicly understood term to make it easier for consumers to understand. For this same reason, Some of the consumer information websites we host use the name "Cash For Clunkers" because of the popular name given to the concept by the press. Due to the unexpected popularity of our websites we want to make it very clear that these sites are not the official websites for the government (www.cars.gov) nor are they in any way endorsed or affiliated with the government. Also, the name "Cash For Clunkers" is not the name of the government's program, it is just a name that the press and the public have used throughout the legislative process to explain this and other scrappage programs. Now that the NHTSA has a website with up to date information about the official C.A.R.S. program, you should visit Cars.gov to get up to date official information.
SOURCE Cash For Clunkers
