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GREENSBORO — Rust-buckets. Gas guzzlers. Oldies but not-so-goodies. All heading for the auto graveyard.

A fleet of dingy rolling steel began descending on Triad auto dealerships Monday as the “Cash for Clunkers” stimulus program kicked off.

The federal effort aims to spur demand at dealerships while taking guzzlers off the road and replacing them with more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Consumers can receive credits of up to $4,500 toward a lease or purchase in exchange for bringing in old beaters — ultimately destined to become so many chunks of metal in a scrapyard.

At Terry Labonte Chevrolet in Greensboro, Billy Stafford of Thomasville marveled at the compensation he got for his 1997 Mercury Cougar.

“Thirty-five hundred for a ’97 model car with 246,000 miles,” he said. “It’s a pretty good deal.”

In its place, he drove off with a gleaming red 2009 Impala that gets 29 miles per gallon on the highway.

Stafford praised the Mercury — “It runs super good,” he said — but it’s the end of the road for that car.”

“It’s going to D.H. Griffin,” salesman Jeff Ballou said, referring to the demolition and scrap metal Goliath.

For their part, dealerships, with sales lagging below last year’s welcomed the boost provided by the program.

Rodney Vorwald, general sales manager at the dealership, said it seems to be bringing in potential customers.

“Our traffic this weekend was double what it was the weekend before,” he said.

While dealers generally praised the program, they weren’t thrilled about the paperwork. Among other things, the process involves verifying that the vehicles have been registered and insured — as a way to make sure that the cars haven’t just been rusting in someone’s yard for the past decade.

“You have to jump through so many hoops,” said Elmon Dale, general sales manager at Rice Toyota. Still, “I’m sure it’s going to improve sales.”

Another obstacle has been eligibility, including an upper limit on miles per gallon for the cars being scrapped. And the billion dollars allotted to the program won’t go as far as it sounds, dealers say.

At Bill Black Chevrolet Cadillac, general sales manager Jerry McPherson said some hopeful customers haven’t fit the criteria, including one with a Thunderbird one mile per gallon over the limit.

Still, there’s a benefit to simply bringing people into the dealership.

“It’s certainly creating traffic,” McPherson said. “That’s what we need. If we have traffic, we can make something of it.”
 

Contact Jason Hardin at 373-7021 or jason.hardin@news-record.com