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After the government’s $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program began, people started flooding the Glenbrook Hyundai dealership looking for deals.
Bringing with them a mix of cars and trucks, they took advantage of big rebates on inexpensive cars and left with more gas-mileage-friendly Accents, Elantras and Sonatas, according to Mark McKibben, the north-side Fort Wayne dealership’s general manager.
“They got them for next to nothing,” said McKibben, who estimated the dealership accounted for more than 160 Cash for Clunkers transactions. “We sold a boatload of cars.”
Federal data updated through Oct. 16 show that the overwhelming majority – 85 percent – of northeast Indiana residents traded in trucks, sport utility vehicles and vans during the government’s program formally called the Car Allowance Rebate System. And most northeast Indiana residents who used the program – 66 percent – left dealer lots in passenger cars.
For some, the mileage difference was minimal. Of the 1,360 northeast Indiana clunker transactions, 92, or 6 percent, were for new vehicles that get only 1 or 2 miles per gallon better than the trade-ins.
The $3 billion program ran from July 27 to Aug. 25 and generally required that new vehicles get better mileage.
For passenger cars, buyers received a $3,500 rebate if their new vehicle got at least 4 mpg higher than the trade-in, $4,500 for a 10 mpg difference or better.
For light trucks, the $3,500 rebate required buying a new vehicle that got at least 2 mpg higher than the trade-in or at least 4 mpg higher for a $4,500 rebate.
In Fort Wayne, there were 1,005 transactions through the program with 83 percent of people turning in trucks, sports utility vehicles and vans, according to data released by the government.
“We had a lot of people who brought in very large cars and trucks and got very small cars, things completely different than they were driving,” said Sara Ayres, vice president of Don Ayres Pontiac-GMC in Fort Wayne, adding the dealership sold 139 units over the course of the program.
At the Dimension Ford-Lincoln Mercury dealership on the north side of Fort Wayne, the Ford Focus was a hot item for consumers. Whereas three or four are usually sold a month, the dealership sold all 50 that were available during the program, according to General Manager Lance Lombrana.
The program was designed to get older, less fuel-efficient cars off the street.
In northeast Indiana, the average mileage for a trade-in was 16 mpg, with the new car getting 26 mpg. Both were above the state averages of 15.7 mpg on trade-ins and 24.6 mpg on new cars.
Still, not everyone changed from truck to car. Nationwide, the most common trade-in was a Ford F-150. But those trading in the popular pickup truck were 17 times more likely to buy a new F-150 than a car, The Associated Press reported.
The F-150 was also the most common trade-in in Indiana, but newer models of the truck also sold well. Lombrana said his dealership sold many Ford F-150s through the program. Ayres said a good portion of customers traded in large sport utility vehicles for the smaller Honda CRV, also a sport utility vehicle.
Bob Huffman used the program to trade in a clunker van for a new Dodge Stow and Go Caravan for the Region 8 Education Service Center.
The center in Columbia City helps various schools with teacher development and student tutoring, said Huffman, its executive director.
A van was needed to transport supplies to the schools it helps, and Huffman said one was found at Glenbrook Dodge on Coliseum Boulevard.
“We needed to get rid of a big old box van we had,” Huffman said. “It didn’t run real well, was a real gas guzzler. (The new one) is pretty plain Jane, but it does what we need it to do.”
Lombrana, McKibben and Ayres said the program proved a success for their respective dealerships.
That view is backed by recent analysis at Ball State University that shows Cash for Clunkers increased car sales over the summer.
The study shows that of the 690,000 autos sold under the program, all but 3,000 to 5,000 would not have been exchanged without rebates.
And though dealerships saw a decline in new-car sales the month after the program ended – Ayres called it a “September hangover” – sales are getting back to normal at many dealerships.
“We’ve seen it come back around,” McKibben said. “It’s heading back in the right direction.”
For others, it might have created a new customer base. Lombrana said he noticed people coming in who never have bought a Ford.
He said part of that might be because among the Detroit automakers, Ford is the only one that hasn’t taken bailout money from the government.
“I don’t speak for every manufacturer, but we also have other consumers who don’t have a Ford, who are coming to take another look because Ford has not filed for bankruptcy or taken any bailout money,” Lombrano said.
“We’re gaining customers we didn’t have in the past.”
Ron Shawgo of The Journal Gazette contributed to this story.
