Cash For Clunkers Rolls On

Len Yonge is trying to finagle a better deal on his old truck since he heard “Cash for Clunkers” was running out of money.

“Figured I'd better come down and talk to them, not sure if I'm going to make the deal, depends on depends on if they make a good deal,” says the savvy shopper. Clunkers like the ones lining a small plot of land near Eastern Shore Toyota in Spanish Fort have been netting customers $3,500 to $4,500 on their trade-in. However, upstairs in the accounting office, it's been a struggle to get the paperwork to the federal government for reimbursement.

“It's taking anywhere from six to eight hours per voucher to get submitted, I know dealers that have been trying for days and have got two,” says Eastern Shore Toyota General Manager Terry Bell. The website Cars.gov apparently keeps crashing because it's overwhelmed with workers like these to process order after order.

“[There’s a] lot of confusion with the government on this program there, I think they weren't prepared for the amount of business coming their way,” says Bell. Some managers say they're worried about getting reimbursed from the government with so few orders processed at this time

“We've done the deals based on all the data in, delivered to use correctly, delivered the cars and now we're out the money,” says Bell. Bell his dealership has made more than 50 Cash for Clunkers deals--but only had a couple submitted. He says the program, while frustrating, has brought more people in the door.

“Because the trade's so much more than what we could get for them on the market if we tried to outright sell them,” says Linda Robertson. She’s a customer sitting with her husband. Both were looking to unload their two vehicles today, Friday, July 31, 2009. Officials aren’t exactly sure how much longer the program will last. Eastern Shore Toyota Owner Shawn Esfahani says he thinks the additional money may last for another two weeks. He says they’ll stop when the government tells them the program is over.