The federal cash-for-clunkers program starts Monday.
Before Monday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has a lot of work to do -- including signing up dealers, posting a list of eligible cars and dealers on its
Web site, and answering some of the oddball and tricky questions it has received about the program.
Such as: Can a dead person get cash for a clunker?
Can you still participate if your car was not registered because you're stationed in Iraq?
Can I turn in my clunker's insides and keep the carcass as a doghouse?The NHTSA has received more than 4,000 questions about the program, officially called the Car Allowance Rebate System. It has posted answers to common ones at
www.cars.gov Starting Friday, consumers can trade in an eligible used vehicle to an eligible dealer and get a credit toward the purchase of a new one.
The used vehicle must have been manufactured less than 25 years before the trade-in date and continuously insured and registered to the same owner for the full year preceding the trade-in. It also must be drivable and have a combined city/highway fuel economy of 18 miles per gallon or less.
The new vehicle must be purchased or leased between July 1 and Nov. 1. It must get better mileage than the trade-in. How much better depends on the type of vehicle. The credit is $3,500 or $4,500 depending on the mileage improvement.
Death of owner.
Last week, I called the NHTSA to ask a question from a reader named Morrie.
His dad had two cars registered in his name that would have qualified for trade-in under the program, but he died last month. Morrie wonders if his mom, who is having the cars transferred to her name, could get the credit.
"It doesn't sound as though they are going to meet the eligibility requirements, but that's not an official interpretation," NHTSA spokesman Ray Tyson says.
The law says the car must have been registered the previous 12 months to the person who trades it in. If Morrie's dad were the sole owner, and it passes to his wife, "she won't be able to prove a year's ownership," he says.
Tyson says NHTSA has received "dozens and dozens" of similar questions involving cars that are owned by one family member but driven by another. For answers, people should check the cars.gov Web site or visit a participating dealer starting Friday.
Minivan as doghouse.
What's the most unusual question the NHTSA has received?
It might be one from a guy who wanted to trade in his "engine, title, wipers, whatever," but keep the shell of his "guzzler minivan" in his carport.
"I live in a tiny condo with two rambunctious Siberian huskies who occasionally have to be banished to their crates, like when I have guests for dinner," he wrote. The van is the only "safe place" to keep the crates.
Tyson says you must turn in the whole car. The dealer must make sure the engine and drive train are scrapped but can salvage the rest.
The guy could try buying back the shell from the salvage yard.
"Or he could get a doghouse," Tyson says.
NHTSA is still trying to answer this question:
"What if a customer is in Iraq and insurance (on his car) is continuous but registration has lapsed. Would he qualify?"
Tyson says, "I'm guessing not, but it has to be determined."
Another consumer wanted to know if NHTSA would provide a "tracking system" so consumers know when credits are about to run out. Congress only allocated $1 billion for the program.
"We are trying to figure out how to provide online updates," Tyson says.
