Published: August 29, 2009 01:14 am      

Clunkers program was local success

EFFINGHAM — With the recession still in full swing, much has been written about efforts to stimulate the economy through government and taxpayer funded programs.

While programs like the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or stimulus package, and First Time Home Buyer program have seen smaller success in a slow market, the recent conclusion of the Cash for Clunkers program has car dealers singing its praises.

“It was definitely a huge success,” said Jim Hecht, general manager at Dan Hecht Chevrolet Toyota. “We had over 50 clunkers traded in for new vehicles.”

Nationwide, the $3 billion program created more than half a million car sales. Through that success, government repayment remains as a focal point after the program’s conclusion.

“We sold a lot of cars but we haven’t seen any money,” said Mark Goeckner, owner of Goeckner Bros. Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Sprinter “I’ve talked to a couple of dealers that have gotten money back, but we haven’t seen any yet.”

With Goeckner Bros. selling over 20 vehicles, the widespread surge in sales has dealerships with several empty spaces.

“The cash for clunkers definitely cleared out a lot of our inventory,” said Goeckner. “In our case, Chrysler had its plant closed for a couple of months.”

“They are back and running and we have a bunch of 2010’s coming in,” he said.

According to Hecht, the Cash for Clunkers program has people interested in buying vehicles, and sales are up. At his dealership, they have been continuously selling highly rated mile per gallon vehicles like the Chevy Cobalt and Malibu, along with the Toyota Corolla and Camry.

As for disposing of the clunkers, both dealerships are taking the same approach. Until money starts coming in on the traded vehicles, the clunkers are sitting on their lots.

Now that the program has ended, dealers remain hopeful they will receive their money. According to The Associated Press, recent information indicates the U.S. Transportation Department has “reviewed and processed more than 150,000 applications and approved just $140 million in payments to dealers, a fraction of the program’s funding.”

“Overall, I think this went very well,” said Goeckner. “Now we would like our money.”

Tony Huffman can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 135 or tony.huffman@

effinghamdailynews.com.