First Hyundai offered up to $1000 for your old clunker. Then Chrysler upped it to $1500 and Ford came in with $3000 for your old car if you buy one of theirs new. Now General Motors Canada is matching Ford's offer of up to $3000. To qualify for GM's program, the retiring vehicle must be 1995 model year or older, in running condition, registered and properly insured for the last 12 months in British Columbia.
Dealers of course have had push pull or drag it in sales for years -the difference now is that manufacturers are offering the money. Here in B.C. we also have the Scrap It program -- under it you can get incentives valued at up to $1300. The incentives include rebates towards the purchase of very low emission vehicles, transit passes, or bikes if you turn in a vehicle built before1995.
There's a national program too but you can't claim for both. B.C. residents only qualify under the Scrap It program. And it pays a lot more than the national "retire your ride program" which gives you just $300 to scrap your old car. The federal government will decide this fall whether to boost that.
So do all these incentives mean it's a good time to buy a new car? Just because your car's old doesn't mean you have to get rid of it. If you're not making a car payment -that's money in the bank for you. If you are in the market for a new car the incentives are attractive but I don't think they should induce you to spend more than you might otherwise say if you'd normally buy a two year old used car to replace your old clunker. When prices of new cars fall -- that pushes down the prices of used cars too.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen.
