More Workers Hired to Speed Cash for Clunker Reimbursements to Dealers

SEE ALSO: Cash for Clunkers Consumer Guide-Qualifying Vehicles

Washington DC August 18, 2009; The AIADA newsletter reported that the Obama administration is tripling the number of workers processing Cash for Clunkers transactions as some dealers complain the government has been slow to reimburse them for the incentives of up to $4,500 a vehicle.

According to the New York Times, an administration official said on Monday that the Transportation Department hoped to have 1,100 public and private sector workers processing the vouchers by the end of the week, up from a work force of about 350 through the end of last week.

Employees at a department service center in Oklahoma City have taken the lead in processing the vouchers, and workers have responded to calls for voluntary overtime to process the forms. Some dealers have reported submitting tens of thousands of dollars — in some cases more — worth of rebates to the federal government for repayment that are still outstanding.

Many dealers report they have been repaid for only a small fraction of the deals they made under the program, creating a strain on cash flows. The government said on Monday that dealers have submitted requests for rebates that total $1.6 billion — more than half of the money provided to the program — through the online system set up to process and pay the claims.

The program has led to more than 390,000 vehicle sales. Click here for more on the administration's plans to speed Cash for Clunkers reimbursements.