Auto Dealers Swamped as Trade-in Rebate Ends

PHOENIX (Reuters) - Americans swamped auto dealerships on Monday during the final hours of the government's popular "cash-for-clunkers" program, which offered rebates of up to $4,500 to trade in older gas guzzlers.

Dealers from California to Texas saw lots empty of cars, pickups and SUVs over the weekend, as once-reluctant customers were lured back into the market by the $3-billion rebate program that ended at 8 p.m. EDT Monday (0000 GMT Tuesday).

The White House Council of Economic Advisers forecast the program would boost the U.S. economy by 0.3 to 0.4 percentage points in the third quarter.

"It's been crazy. We've had lines" of customers, said Scott Gruwell, the sales director at Courtesy Chevrolet in central Phoenix, which has sold 58 new vehicles since Friday.

"We've had the best weekend in literally a year-and-a-half to two years," he added.

The rebate program, which started last month, sought to spur sales in the struggling auto industry while helping the environment. It offered $3,500 to $4,500 to people who traded in a car made since 1984 with lower fuel mileage for a new, more fuel-efficient one.

"A lot of these people were trading in cars in the 15-year-old range, and I don't think they had any intention of buying a car -- at least not a new car, maybe a used car," said Mike Szatmary at Brademann Toyota in Park Ridge, Illinois.

"But I think we took a lot of people on the sidelines and put them back in the game," he added.

As of Monday, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported more than 625,000 dealer transactions worth $2.58 billion in rebates.

It extended the deadline for dealers to file their paperwork until noon EDT on Tuesday after a website handling their applications crashed on Monday under a crush of heavy traffic.

"It's just been really positive," said April Ancira, the vice president of Texas-based Ancira Motors. "We were in a situation where we had too much inventory. Now it's the complete opposite."