More Exhaust from 'Cash for Clunkers' Program

By Jon Jordan, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The 'Cash for Clunkers' federal program praised by President Obama for stimulating the economy is running into a cash flow problem, which has put a financial burden on many car dealers.

David Hudiburg with Hudiburg Chevrolet has sold more than 200 cars under the federal program, but so far he said he has only been reimbursed back for a handful of them.

Part of the problems dealers like Hudiburg have is the lengthy process to approve customers under "Cash for Clunkers." Currently the process requires the consumer to provide pages of documents while the dealer is left to make sense of 126 pages of guidelines.

"They were slow to accept the applications. Now they're accepting them but that's only part of the process. The other process is getting them approved," Hudiburg said.

President Obama has praised the program, but admitted there have been a few bumps in the road.

"We're now slightly victims of successes because the thing happened so quick. There was so much more demand than anyone expected," Hudiburg said.

While President Obama assures dealers they will get paid, The National Automobile Dealers Association issued a release urging local dealers to rethink the program.

The release stated "dealers who accept additional 'clunker' deals face a growing risk that they may not be reimbursed."

Hudiburg said if that's the case, he could be out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"It's very tough, very tough," Hudiburg said.

While some dealers have already ended the program, the "Cash for Clunkers" program will end Monday at 7 p.m.

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