Cash For Clunkers

The U.S. Government's program of paying $3500 or $4500 per car turned in for the purchase of a new car was taken advantage of. There was an initial budget of $1 billion and that was spent in a week or two. Then Congress appropriated an additional $2 billion. This lasted for about 2 more weeks.
There have been over 400,000 vehicles that were traded for this program. Most of the vehicles I have seen redeemed were SUVs, full-size pickups, and vans. The program is ending on Monday.
There are dealers complaining. What are they complaining about. They are complaining that they are not being reimbursed for the money they put up front for pay $3500 to $4500. Just like typical government red tape! Dealers are also complaining that it has depleted their supplies. Today, I saw GM, Toyota, Ford, and Chrysler dealerships without any new cars and just a handful of trucks. It is true that some factories were shut down or put on hiatus this summer. But the factories have been able to supply the dealerships with 2010s yet. It is going to take several weeks to get the dealerships back up to typical supply. Hopefully the dealerships will be able to sell cars once this program is over.
Also, others are complaining because there will be less access to used parts. Those Cash for Clunkers (C4C) cars that are in dealer lots are going to be scrapped. No parts will be stripped from them and the engine is disabled. The cars will be crushed. I have seen many lots in the area and there was one car that was a rarity. It was a 1986 Merkur XR4Ti. That was a car that has some history in the United States as it was built in Germany to be a sports competitor to BMW in the Mid-1980s. Some others are complaining that in our recession with a credit crunch, people are extending their credit to buy a new car that they may not be able to afford. I hope that this isn't true as I'm hoping people were looking for a good time to trade in their old vehicles.

Country Club Chrysler - Dodge, Clarksburg, West Virginia

Country Club Chrysler-Dodge is located on U.S. Route 19 South of Clarksburg. This dealership formerly sold Plymouth prior to the phaseout of that brand. This dealership is different from other Chrysler dealerships as they are a Sprinter and a BusinessLink dealership. Much of their service is devoted to fleets needing repair. This is the only Sprinter dealership in the area. This dealership has not changed much in past 30 years except for some signage. There is currently a body shop on the hill adjacent to the main showroom. This dealership changed hands in the past couple of years as Jack Stewart is the current owner of this dealership.
This dealership in the past had local print and television advertisement with spokesmen being West Virginia University Football coaches Don Nehlen and Rich Rodriguez.

PS 12-27-09 In November 2009, Country Club added Jeep to their lineup following Chrysler pulling Jeep from Harry Green in Clarksburg during the summer. At this point, much the advertising in print and TV is focussing on the Jeep brand as well as placement of Jeep vehicles close to the showroom.

Star Motor Company - Clarksburg, West Virginia

Star Motor Company is an Audi-Volkwagen-Saturn dealership near United Hospital Center in Clarksburg. This dealership has been in existence since at least 1990. They used to sell Mercedes-Benz until the late 1990s. This dealership had been operated by another operator prior to Star taking over. Star Motor Company had been a used car dealer that had a location at the current Eat n' Park at Eastpointe II in Clarksburg. After Eat n' Park purchased that lot, they moved their used car lot to Eastpointe Shopping Center to the location where Enterprise Car Rental and Sales is now. They had a sales trailer at this location that has since been moved to Bridgeport Hill Road and operated by another used car dealer.
Back to the location near United Hospital Center, the Saturn dealership was added around 1995. A couple of years ago, the hill in back of the dealership has been leveled to create more storage for vehicles. Around the same time they took over the former Stoneybrooke Medical building and converted it to an Enterprise car rental agency. That building has since been leveled and the lot is being used for used car sales.
Star Motor Company services vehicles in the service bays at the rear of the main showroom and they also have a body shop. The Saturn showroom will be empty by 2011 with the demise of the Saturn brand. It will be interesting to see if another brand will replace it in that location.

Al Schoroeth Oldsmobile - Subaru - Isuzu Clarksburg, West Virginia

Al Schoroeth (sic) was an Oldsmobile and Subaru dealership in Clarksburg near the United Hospital Center. It was taken over by Cowan and added an Isuzu franchise in 1987. About 1993, L & S from southern West Virginia took over the dealership and it had finished up as Mountaineer before it closed in the late 1990s. The facility had a showroom and service bays as well as a body shop. Cowan had invested in a new Isuzu showroom out of former service bays in the rear of the main showroom. Cowan had painted on the side of the service bays "The Service Professionals" whose signage still exists today. The building is in miserable shape and had been emtpy for several years before a trailer sales company moved in (they also rent U-Haul).

Chenoweth Ford - Clarksburg, West Virginia

Chenoweth Ford is located on Bridgeport Hill Road in the former Wilson Ford location. Wilson Ford had moved to Fairmont in 1978. Chenoweth currently has Ford-Lincoln-Mercury franchises in one location. They had the Lincoln-Mercury franchises at a separate location until the mid-1990s. This former location was located at Park Boulevard in Clarksburg. The fomer location is now a Vito's Pizzaria and a used car lot. The current Chenoweth dealersip has a showroom with a parts and service department in the rear. The the 1990s, a separate truck sales building was build (now being used for used car sales). Also inthe 1990s, a service waiting area/reception area was added to the showroom building.
Across Bridgpeort Hill Road is where Chenoweth's body shop and prep facility is located up the hill. there are stairs for easy access up the hill. Chenoweth's dealership displays their vehicles over a couple of hundred yards on either side of Bridgeport Hill Road.
This dealership formerly sold heavy duty Ford Trucks and transitioned to Sterling. They had dropped Sterling a couple of years ago when a truck equipment company up the hill took over the franchise. Daimler had announced in recent months that the Sterling brand with disappear after the 2009 model year.

Exit 132 Buick-Pontiac-GMC - Fairmont, West Virginia

This facility was originally a RV dealership until Astro Buick-Pontiac-GMC relocated here from downtown Fairmont to get close proximity to Interstate 79. Astro had renovated the facility to make it into its current iteration. The dealership changed hands approximately 2005 and changed its name to Exit 132 B-P-G to reflect its location of Exit 132 of Interstate 79. They have a body shop located about 2 miles away.

Wilson Ford - Fairmont, West Virginia

Wilson Ford has been located in Fairmont since 1978. It had been in Clarksburg prior to that (now Chenoweth Ford). Wilson also has a Mercury and Lincoln franchises.