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Federal plan pays drivers thousands to trade in their older models and purchase new, more environmentally friendly vehicles

‘Clunkers’ program revving up business

For mechanics who spend most of their days fixing broken cars, the idea is a bit counterintuitive: Take an older clunker that’s running, albeit somewhat dirtily, and break it beyond repair.

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Devon Foster, Service Advisor, and Lead Technician at Motor World, pours "Clunker Bomb" a solution of sodium silicate into the engine of a 1992 Chevrolet, 1500 pickup truck with 105,000 miles on it. The truck, traded in on the governments Cash for Clunkers program was the first at the dealership to be disabled. S.John Wilkin/The Times Leader

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After a few seconds of running with no oil and the "Clunker Bomb" solution, Devon Foster, Service Advisor, and Lead Technician at Motor World, declares a 1992 Chevrolet 1500 pickup truck dead. S.John Wilkin/The Times Leader

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“We have to disable the engine, which is we have to drain the oil and we put a sodium-silicate solution in the engine, and then you run it basically until the motor freezes,” said Steve Ubaldini of Wyoming Valley Motors in Larksville. “There have been some vehicles that have a lot of life in them, and it’s really a shame to have to destroy the engines in these cars.”

Still, the federal government’s “Cash for Clunkers” rebate program has been pretty good for business, he said.

“Overall, I think it’s been a good program. It’s been good for business,” he said. “For the people who took advantage of it, the timing was good.”

The idea itself is pretty straightforward: Bring in an old gas guzzler; get several thousand dollars toward a new, more efficient ride. It’s so popular that in the two weeks it’s been available, consumers have already sucked up the $1 billion allotted to the program.

Or at least the government estimates that. It won’t know for sure until dealers file all the applications they have so far, and dealers like Ubaldini have been having a tough time doing that. It takes about 1� hours to draw up and fill out the paperwork, he said, and they’ve already sold 50. Add in sporadic crashes of the government Web site and “We’re so far behind on trying to get them in. I’ve got three people that that’s all they do.”

Depending on how inefficient the trade-in is and how much more efficient the new vehicle is, customers can get up to $4,500 off. The dealer then has to kill it and ship it to a scrap yard. Ubaldini said he’s got a “sea” of cars that haven’t been destroyed yet because dealers are supposed to wait until they’ve received payment from the government.

And they haven’t received any yet. “It kind of hurts your cash flow,” he said.

However, MotorWorld in Plains Township has been disabling cars, said John Quinn, the “Czar of Clunkers” as President Gerry O’Donnell calls him. “Basically, you’ve removed any type of lubricant from the engine and replaced it with a non-lubricant, which will seize the engine,” he said. The substance used is used to clog radiator leaks and is “very environmentally friendly,” he said. “It is clear that the intent of the program is to get these vehicles off the road permanently,” he said.

The vehicles are then sold to salvage yards, which have six months to strip the parts they’re planning to resell and scrap the rest. “We’re waiting on the dealers, actually, for them to get paid,” said Jerome Lech of J-L Used Auto Parts Inc. in Larksville.

The program is based on a similar one in Germany, he said, but avoids one of its pitfalls. “They found out that in Germany, they were sending the cars to Africa. So where’s the potential benefit (in emissions reductions) in that?”

The program has had its troubles: Ubaldini noted fuel-efficiency ratings from the government sometimes change daily so that some cars’ eligibility changes from day to day, and some fairly nice cars are destroyed while true clunkers remain on the streets.

However, it also has its benefits: a glut of parts for older models should make repairs easier and cheaper to make, plus it adds some vigor to the otherwise flagging auto industry.

“Our clunker business has been pretty strong,” said Ubaldini, who said it had added perhaps 50 percent to his sales since it began. “For the people who took advantage of it, the timing was good.”

Rory Sweeney, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7418.

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