Dealers Frustrated About Cash for Clunkers Dealer Registration Process

Car dealers across the country have expressed their early frustration with trying to register their dealer for the NHTSA Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) also known as the Cash for Clunkers program. Due to online registration problems and recently announced dealer requirements the NHTSA has moved the official start date of the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) to July 27th.

Car dealers have been trying to register for since early this morning with no success. Many have been unsuccessful given the sheer volume of traffic being directed to the NHTSA website. Slow response times and error pages are all most dealers have received so far.

Although many dealers are expressing frustration, some seemed prepared for the hassle. Kevin Frye of the Jeff Wyler Automotive Family seemed to take it all in stride. According to Frye, “With 25,000 dealers all attempting to register at the same time, this is certainly not unexpected.”

Preston Auto Group in Maryland had begun accepting trade-ins in the beginning of July. Brent Durham, Internet Sales Manager, said the delay was disappointing. “Being that we started accepting trade-ins in the beginning of July, we were really looking forward to getting registered today so we could start the process of getting our refunds on Monday. Right now it looks like we will have to wait a few more days.”

Hagen Durant, General Manager of Classic Chevrolet in Texas also commented on his experience trying to register his dealership, “It seemed like the website couldn’t handle the volume of traffic it received or perhaps they just weren’t fully prepared. Now that we have the official guidelines, we can at least start accepting deals even though we couldn’t get registered. It’s a little bit of a burden on dealers, but I do believe once this gets going we will get the benefit from it.”

Many dealers across the nation are undoubtedly experiencing the same frustration as thousands try to register. There was concern over how the NHTSA would register the thousands of dealerships across the country in one day. Right now, there is no other choice for dealers who have been unsuccessful at registering to keep trying.

The NHTSA has indicated to the automotive industry that on Friday night at midnight the website would be taken down to undergo a server upgrade. The new web server is designed to handle the high need to accommodate thousands of simultaneous connections.


Car dealers and consumers are invited to follow the real-time Cash for Clunkers blog updated from the Pasch Consulting Group (PCG) on Twitter: http://twitter.com/cashclunkers. PCG operates a popular consumer to consumer blog that has been covering the Cash for Clunkers bill since May. Consumers can access the Cash for Clunkers consumer blog at www.cashforclunkersfacts.com

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