Any car dealers reading this, we hope you are reaping the benefits of the Cash for Clunkers program.   Please share in the comments your stories and opinions on Cash for Clunkers as it relates to your dealership.

Here are a two top 10 lists you will definitely want to pay attention to:

The Ten Most Traded-In Vehicles (vehicle’s EPA mileage)
1. 1998 Ford Explorer (14-17 mpg)
2. 1997 Ford Explorer (14-18 mpg)
3. 1996 Ford Explorer (14-18 mpg)
4. 1999 Ford Explorer (14-18 mpg)
5. Jeep Grand Cherokee
6. Jeep Cherokee
7. 1995 Ford Explorer (15-18 mpg)
8. 1994 Ford Explorer (15-18 mpg)
9. 1997 Ford Windstar (18 mpg)
10. 1999 Dodge Caravan (16-18 mpg)

The Ten Most Purchased Vehicles (vehicle’s EPA mileage)
1. Ford Focus (27-28 mpg)
2. Honda Civic (24-42 mpg)
3. Toyota Corolla (25-30 mpg)
4. Toyota Prius (46 mpg)
5. Ford Escape (20-32 mpg)
6. Toyota Camry (23-34 mpg)
7. Dodge Caliber (22-27 mpg)
8. Hyundai Elantra (26-28 mpg)
9. Honda Fit (29-31 mpg)
10. Chevy Cobalt (25-30 mpg)

(via Jalopnik)

As of Friday Jun 19, 2009 5:00pm, the controversial Cash for Clunkers has just passed Congress and is now heading to President Barack Obama for signature as a piece of legislation meant to help get gas guzzlers off U.S. roads and replace them with new, more efficient vehicles. Many say the act is too lenient and is merely being pushed through as a measure to help get Detroit’s unsold inventory off dealer lots.

Called the “Consumer Assistance Recycle and Save Act of 2009″, or more commonly, “Cash for Clunkers,” the $1 billion program will provide a voucher of up to $4,500 (effectively just knocking that much off the price tag — dealers will get electronic payments from the feds) to help offset the cost of new car purchases or leases over the next five months. The cars that you’re limited to must cost no more than $45,000. So that means I can’t trade in my old 1998 Dodge Caravan (MPG rating of 18) for a 2009 Lotus Elise (MPG rating of 26) because the MSRP is too high ($47,500). However, that awesome new 208HP 2009 Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works (MSRP of $29,200) would not only get me the basic $3,500, but it’s combined cycle of 28 MPG (10 more than my current car) will get me an additional $1,000 for a total of $4,500 off the price of the car! Not a bad deal, in my humble opinion. This rebate also works with other rebates from the manufacturer or hybrid car rebates offered from the Federal Government.

So what is going to happen to all these old cars now that they are off the road? Most will have their engines taken out and destroyed (to ensure these “high polution” drivetrains stay off the road). However, miscellaneous parts like doors, bumpers and other non-drivetrain parts will still be around to make sure those cars that are running can be repairs and made roadworthy.

The House bill would go into effect within 30 days of enactment but it is not retroactive for new purchases made earlier this year. For a more complete description of all the applicable situations, see the chart below:

Passenger Car		Light-Duty Truck		Large Light-Duty Truck (6,000-8,500 lbs.)		Work Truck (8,500-15,000 lbs.)
Minimum fuel economy for new vehicle		22 mpg (EPA combined)		18 mpg (EPA combined)		15 mpg (EPA combined)		Not applicable
$3,500 voucher		Mileage improvement of at least 4 mpg.		Mileage improvement of at least 2 mpg.		Mileage improvement of at least 1 mpg or trade-in of a work truck.		Trade-in must be at least pre-2002.
$4,500 voucher		Mileage improvement of at least 10 mpg.		Mileage improvement of at least 5 mpg.		Mileage improvement of at least 2 mpg.		NA
Source: House Committee on Energy and Commerce

Well, after weeks of fretting and worry, dealers are finally upon the June 9th deadline to sell all their inventory off or be stuck with cars they can no longer sell (due to franchise revocation). We reported a number of days ago about a dealer, Pohanka Chrysler-Dodge, that had dozens of cars to be sold before today or they would have to eat the cost of the cars. Well, originally we were in completely support to help them sell of their inventory and try to keep the dealer losses to a minimum. However, a number of days ago Chrysler had brought to the attention of many that they weren’t going to just leave these dealers to suffer. Afterall, there are still over 2000 Chrysler dealers in the USA keeping their franchising. As such, Chrysler’s plan is to help dealers to redistribute these cars to other dealers and help both the old franchises and the current ones.

“We think we can redistribute any vehicles that any dealer wants us to,” spokeswoman Kathy Graham said. “Dealers are not going to be stuck with cars. We have dealerships that want the vehicles.”

Since Chrysler plants have recently stopped production due to the bankruptcy filing, dealers still want and need new cars. As of the end of last month, there were over 44,000 cars. We currently have no estimates left, but this does show a light at the end of the tunnel for dealers looking to unload their extra inventory as well as consumers who are looking for a great deal and want to buy a Chrysler car during this lull in their operations while they go through bankruptcy court.

How desperate are some dealers in this time of crisis? How about half price cars? It may sound silly, but that’s what Pohanka Chrysler-Dodge has to do in the next week to empty out their inventory according to CNN. On June 9, Pohanka’s franchise to sell new Chryslers and Dodges will be terminated, along with those of almost 800 other Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealers nationwide. Ray O’Bryhim, the owner,  cannot legally sell any new cars he has left after June 9 — and because the manufacturer is in bankruptcy protection it isn’t obligated to take them back. Hundreds of dealers are in the same place as them. It sounds like some cheap commercial, but EVERY car really must go by the time June 9th comes around. Ever car that isn’t is lost money.

With this said, until June 9th, EasyAutoSales is going to help out Pohanka by displaying a new car for sale that they still must get rid of every day. We’ll even Twitter about it, in hopes the right person may see the car and Ray will get some his inventory out the door! So, let’s start out with the inventory:

Pohanka Chrysler-Dodge Inventory

Remember, Pohanka needs to get rid of their new car inventory. They can still sell used cars after the 9th. So, let’s pick out a first car to feature:
Let’s be honest, the truck is a legend. With a 5.7L Hemi and some healthy design updates, this is one sharp truck and one that can haul anything you can throw at it. Not only does it look good, but sounds pretty sweet too:

So let’s visit Pohanka and see what kind of deal Ray and his team can make for you on this new Dodge Ram 1500.

If you read our previous post outlining 10 reasons why car dealers need to engage car buyers online , than your next logical question would be, “Where is the best place online to engage these car buyers?”  We’ve crafted a list of where we believe are the 10 best places to engage car buyers online.  Depending on the make and model your selling, one online community may make more sense than another, but this list should at least get you started on finding where the relevant conversations are taking place.

10. Edmunds Carspace – “The Car Enthusiasts Automotive Lifestyle Social Networking Site”. Edmunds Carspace is one of the most popular forums on the web. As such, finding what you want can be a bit daunting and the conversations can be long. However, there’s a lot of great advice to be had and a wealth of information in archive. The interface is clean, but there are a lot of ads.

9. AutoMedia – “Car Advice You Can Trust”. Whereas Edmunds does forums by car, AutoMedia does it by topics. From car care to automotive performance, AutoMedia displays all sorts of information about making the car you already have, better. There’s lists on proper driving techniques, restoring tired cars, how to get better gas mileage, amateur motorsports and hundreds of other topics in addition to a simple buying guide for new cars.

8. Yahoo Answers – A specific section for questions about buying and selling vehicles. Yahoo Answers gives you the opportunity to ask questions to an entire community at once through their main page. Not only will members of their community answer your question, other members will rate the answers to give you a “best answer”. The incentive to give the best possible answer means there’s a lot less “noise” in Yahoo’s forums.

7. Ask.Cars.com – “Our Experts Answer Your Questions” Ask.Cars.com has one of the best interfaces of any forum out there. A simple “Question of the Day” takes up a majority of the homepage and subsequent answers are at the bottom of the page as “Recent Questions”. The unfortunate problem is that most questions only have a few answers. The questions jump between tax issues, new cars, problems with cars and hundreds of other things.

6. Cargurus – “Got a question about your car? Ask the CarGurus community and get a response within hours!” CarGurus is a sort of car rating site. It’s not so much a way to ask and answer questions as it is a “raves” vs. “rants” site. If you’re looking for what people who actually own cars think of them, this is a good place to go. Though, there is a very large gap in the models actually reviewed and those still awaiting reviews.

5. DealerRater – Allows dealers to promote their quality customer service. When searching for a new car, that moment comes when you finally say, “Yes. That’s the car I want.” Who are you going to buy from? DealerRater helps you decide by letting users comment on the quality of service they receive. Consumer Reports has noted that new car shoppers rate quality second only to safety as the aspect of owning a car most important to them. DealerRater helps you make sure you get quality service.

4. EasyAutoSales - The first and only social classifieds for cars! EasyAutoSales ties community to car classified listings with Facebook Connect. This allows questions and comments to be broadcast and interesting cars and topics to be shared with your network of friends on Facebook and beyond. EasyAutoSales’ free platform connects car buyers, car sellers and car experts to create one of the most exciting and fastest growing car communities.

3. MySpace – 62,192 automotive related groups. Most people know MySpace as merely a social network for communicating with friends, but MySpace also has one of the largest car communities too! With over 126 million users, MySpace can be a huge ally in discussing cars and, if utilized properly, selling cars.

2. Twitter – People talking and asking questions about cars in 140 characters or less. Twitter allows you to talk about cars in a very real-time, open forum with people who you know or associate with. As opinions on a car, where to get the best deal or what’s popular. Twitter is a great place to discuss cars as well as taking advantage of ancillary sites like TwitPic, where you can share pictures from your cell phone real-time.

1. Facebook.com – With over 500 groups related to “car buying” alone and 175 million users, Facebook is the final frontier in social networking. The combination of fan pages, applications, media sharing and a simple way to interface with all your friends and family on a daily basis, Facebook is a powerful marketing tool. Whether is be via Facebook Connect and sites like EasyAutoSales that use their technology or simply sharing a story or a picture, Facebook has the power to make your car buying or selling experience much easier and more fulfilling.

If you’ve had experience interacting with potential car buyers on any of these sites, or feel like we are missing one, please share in the comments below.  Remember, be helpful, be transparent, and be authentic.  Good luck engaging!