Best Cash For Clunkers Trade-ins

The House has passed the Cash for Clunkers legislation and the Senate should vote sometime this week or next, and owners of low gas mileage cars and trucks will soon be able to trade their gas guzzlers in for a higher mileage vehicle and get a guaranteed $3,500 for it.  To qualify, the trade-in needs to be rated at less than 18 mpg combined (you can check your vehicle’s fuel economy rating at www.fueleconomy.gov ) and the new vehicle must get at least four mpg more than the trade-in.  Buyers who’s new cars get more than 10 mpg better fuel economy than their trade in will receive $4,500.

Consumer Reports has compiled a list of the cars they think make sense as Cash for Clunkers trade-ins. All the cars on the list qualify as trade-ins based on their gas mileage, and are currently worth less than the $3,500 minimum paid by Cash for Clunkers.  The list is heavy on American made cars and trucks mostly because of the poor resale values U.S. vehicles made in the early 1990s have had.

One thing you should be aware of if you’re considering taking advantage of the Cash for Clunkers trade-in is that Congress cut the funding for the initiative down to $1 billion, from the originally planned $4 billion. If Cash for Clunkers is popular, you’ll have to act fast to take advantage of it before the funding runs out.

Table via Consumer Reports.