Clunkers Program Ends Monday Night

Clunker junkers need to get busy. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Thursday that the popular cash for clunkers program will end at 8 p.m. Monday. LaHood said that the government is working toward "an orderly wind down" of the program after its success surprised even its biggest boosters.

Consumers blew through the $1 billion set aside for the rebate program so quickly that Congress moved weeks ago to add an additional $2 billion to extend it through its original November deadline. But nearly 500,000 cars and trucks later, the cash for clunkers is poised to end.

Under the program, owners of gas guzzlers can receive a $3,500 to $4,500 credit toward the purchase of a more fuel-efficient vehicle.

Several car dealers had already decided to stop participating because of the length of time it has taken to be reimbursed. For every customer who came in for the program, dealers had to absorb the credit on their own balance sheets until they're paid by the government.

President Obama Thursday called the early end to cash for clunkers a "high-class problem," saying, "It has been successful beyond anybody's imagination. And we're now slightly victims of success because the thing happened so quick, there was so much more demand than anybody expected, that dealers were overwhelmed with applications."

Obama said that the government has tripled its hiring to process cash for clunkers claims to repay dealers as soon as possible. "They will get their money, but we've got to process it properly," the president said. "It is getting fixed."