Auto Dealers Call for More Time to Submit CARS Transactions

Website Crashes Have Stalled Submission Process

ALEXANDRIA, VA (August 24, 2009; The American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA) today asked the Department of Transportation to extend its Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) deadline, so that dealers will have time to submit all of their Cash for Clunkers transactions. The program is slated to end tonight at 8 p.m. EST, at which point all transactions must be submitted through the government's official CARS.gov website. Unfortunately, the dealer portion of that website has experienced outages since last Thursday night, when the deadline was first announced.

"Dealers are not asking for time to make more sales," said AIADA President Cody Lusk. "They just want time to input the sales they have already made. At the very least, we need the hours back that we lost during the three website crashes since last Thursday. Imagine the frustration of being asked to submit all your forms or take a huge financial loss, and then not having access to the website through which those forms must be submitted. "

Dealers paid the $3,500 and $4,500 CARS vouchers upfront to consumers, and are working to complete and submit the forms needed for government reimbursement. Due to the CARS.gov website's problems, countless dealers have been unable to submit their transactions, and face a serious financial blow if they are not given the extra time to do so. AIADA is calling for more time to submit, not transact deals. The deadline for completing a clunkers sale should remain 8 p.m. tonight.