Car dealers see boost

Local auto dealers are still recovering from the unexpected smash hit known as the Cash for Clunkers program.

After the last rush of customers flooded local dealers for the $3-billion federal automotive rebate program’s Monday evening deadline, dealers were faced with a deluge of paperwork and a crashed federal website.

But despite the curses and unexpected overtime hours, they were pleased at the shot in the arm the program seems to have given the automotive industry.

“It’s been a tremendous boost of business for us,” said Hugh Adams, the general sales manager at Huntington Beach Dodge.

“Not only has it brought out people that took advantage of the Cash for Clunkers money from the government, but it’s also brought out people who were hesitant about buying cars, because our used car business has probably tripled in the past six weeks.”

He estimated that the dealership saw a 300% rise in sales for July and August, compared with the prior year.

Customers primarily brought in trucks and SUVs such as the Ford Explorer and Expedition, and Dodge pickup trucks. The most popular models they left the dealer in included the Dodge Caliber, Nitro and Journey, which sold out some time ago.

A mile and a half south on the Beach Boulevard of Cars, at DeLillo Chevrolet, Sales Manager Dale Schoof said there was zero interest in used cars — thanks in part to tremendous additional incentives for new vehicles given by General Motors, from supplier pricing to 0% financing for 72 months.

“It was a brilliant program, totally mismanaged by the Feds,” Schoof said. “But we sold a lot of vehicles, and people loved it. I think that we sold cars that would not have been sold. Now we’re just waiting for our payments from the government.”

Many dealers are waiting for millions of dollars to come in. The government website on which dealers were required to submit their sales crashed Monday, as many dealers anticipated; the government then extended the submittal deadline until Tuesday afternoon for those who were unable to access the site.

Schoof said he saw a wide range of vehicles being driven in for the program, from 30-year-old vans to virtually new SUVs.

“Some were absolutely ready for the scrap heap, but people were still driving ‘em,” he said.

Jeep vehicles were the most popular brand to be traded in at his dealership, Schoof said.

Those who tried to bring in vehicles that were too new to qualify for the program opted for the dealership’s other bargains, Schoof said.

Dealers estimated that the new vehicles driven off their lots gained an average of four and 10 miles per gallon in fuel efficiency.

Buyers opted to take “anything with a four-cylinder engine” in exchange for their clunkers, Schoof said.

The Chevrolet HHR model was so popular that it sold out, so DeLillo had to get more of the crossover vehicles from other dealers.

“It was an extremely large amount of work, and there wasn’t a tremendous amount of profit, but it got the excitement up,” Schoof said.