Well, as you probably have heard by now, Cash for Clunkers needs a visit to the body shop. Lots of dents in the program. Here’s the story my colleague Abby Simons put together last night.

Apparently, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said this morning that the program will continue through the weekend. President Obama is expected to speak on the economy at 12:15 central time. I’m curious to see if he addresses CARS.

Maybe I’m glad I didn’t qualify after all. I wouldn’t want to set foot inside a dealer right now with all of the hub bub.

But I’m a reporter and I’m about to head to a dealership to assess the scene so you don’t have to. Oh the sacrifice!

Check back to learn if the possibility of new money caused a new flood of people into the dealerships or a flood of angry participants waiting for approval. Or maybe all I’ll see are bleary-eyed employees who’ve spent hours inputting data for the program while tearing their hair out. We’ll see…

Update: The scene at Inver Grove Heights’ auto dealers varied from dealership to dealership. Some were full of customers who rushed in to take advantage of the program before the rumored cut-off. Other showrooms were slow, as if confused car-buyers seeking clarity were staying away.

The assignment did give me the opportunity to peek inside of a Ford Flex. The verdict? I think I’ve been converted to the totally unsexy, totally uncool but oh-so-practical and comfy minivan. Sliding doors rock!

This entry was posted on Friday, July 31st, 2009 at 11:37 am and is filed under cars. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.