Although a federal program that gives rebates for trading in old gas guzzlers for new fuel-efficient vehicles doesn’t start until this weekend, some L.A.-area dealers have jumped the green flag.
Hyundai Motor Corp. has asked all its dealers to offer cash-for-clunkers rebates to its customers even though it’s not 100 percent certain the company will be refunded the money by the government.
In addition, individual dealers such as Galpin Ford and Keyes Automotive are taking even bigger risks by starting up the program even though manufacturers such as Ford haven’t made promises to pay them back, like Hyundai has to its dealers. But with auto sales down, dealers feel they have little choice.
“We’re using the cash-for-clunkers incentive in our advertising campaigns and hoping that it will draw in more people who need that cushion with the rebate to be able to buy their car,” said Terry Miller, general sales manager for Galpin Ford in North Hills. “We think it’s worth the risk because the majority of the guidelines have already been set.”
The federal government’s Car Allowance Rebate System, better known as the cash-for-clunkers program, offers credits of as much as $4,500 to buy a new vehicle in return for handing in an older model with lower gas mileage to be scrapped.
In order to qualify, the trade-in vehicle must get 18 miles or less to the gallon, be less than 25 years old on the trade-in date, be in running condition, and titled and insured in the owner’s name for at least a year.
While those broad parameters of the program are known, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has yet to release the fine print, which is expected no later than Friday. Until those detailed regulations are out, companies and dealers bear the risks of handing out rebates to customers that don’t qualify for federal funding, the NHTSA said on the program’s Web site.
Still, dealers such as Galpin Ford have begun offering the incentive to customers since July 1. Miller estimated that at least 15 cars have been traded in the first 15 days of the clunkers offer.
Hyundai USA officials are touting that the incentive boosted sales by 7 percent in its first week, with July sales expected to be up by as much as 10 percent.
Howard Tenenbaum, vice president of Keyes Automotive, which has a Hyundai dealership in Van Nuys, said that so far the incentive hasn’t caused sales to jump much for the South Korean brand. But he added that people are coming in to their Toyota and Honda dealerships asking to trade-in clunkers.
“I think more people are becoming aware as the date approaches, but right now we are doing our best in the dark,” Tenenbaum said.
New Truck Funding
Licensed motor carriers working at the local ports hoping to get some government aid to replace their old trucks have until Friday to apply for $50 million in subsidies.
The program, funded by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District will provide motor carriers up to $100,000 per vehicle toward the purchase of alternative fuel trucks.
Truckers have been waiting months for the funding, which includes Proposition 1B money frozen for almost a year amid the state budget crisis.
The $50 million is expected to put a minimum of 500 new low-emission vehicles on the road by year’s end, when trucks made before 1994 will be prevented from entering port terminals. The prohibition is part of the twin ports’ Clean Truck Program, which aims to cut truck pollution 80 percent by 2012.
The AQMD plans to release the list of approved grant candidates in early September with funding contracts completed by the end of October. This timeline supports the delivery of new trucks by the end of this year, said Geraldine Knatz, Port of Los Angeles director, in a statement.
Details on eligibility and program requirements are available at www.aqmd.gov. Further information and assistance is available at (866) 721-5686, or the Clean Trucks Center at Pier S Avenue and New Dock Street on Terminal Island.
Google Meets Metro
Anyone who has Google Maps on their mobile phone or computer can now find out the latest schedule information for Metro bus and rail lines, thanks to a public/private partnership between the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Google Inc.
Following other agencies in New York and Orange County, Metro is the latest major transit agency to enter the Google Transit Partner Program. Google will have access to transit route and schedule data for the nearly 200 bus and five rail lines Metro operates within Los Angeles County.
Staff reporter Francisco Vara-Orta can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 241.
