Here's What's Hot On CBS11TV.COM:
Print
Aug 22, 2008 4:27 pm US/Central
State Clean Air Program Gives $$ For Old Cars
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
Trying to sell your old car but having no luck? The State of Texas will buy it. A program aimed at trading in your old car, for a new one, is back.
Dealerships like Southwest Kia are part of the program. All types of vehicles can be purchased – from cars to gas guzzling SUV's and they're all supposed to help keep the air clean.
Latasha Woolridge refers to her Kia Spectra as her 'new baby'. "That's my boo boo," she said. Just a few months ago Latasha was trying to sell her 1997 Suburban. "No one wanted it," she explained. "I had to get ride of it."
Latasha knew no one would give her $3,000 for the gas guzzler, so she turned to the state.
The North Central Texas Council of Governments administers the program.
Air Quality
Operations Coordinator Jason Brown says they get about 1,000 calls a day about the program.
To qualify your car has to be at least 10 years old and failed the state emissions test. You can either repair it or get a $3,500 voucher to buy a hybrid or a $3,000 voucher for a newer car.
"We've been able to get almost 8000 people so far this past year," Brown said.
CBS 11 News checked out the list of cars in the 'Drive A Clean Machine' program and found a number of vehicles that get poor gas mileage and that has raised some concern that they could be putting out more emissions.
"The program is not about that," explained CBS 11 car expert Jerry Reynolds. "The program is about getting old cars off the road and replacing them with new cars that put out the least amount of emissions and some big gas guzzlers don't put out as much emissions."
As for Latasha Woolridge – she say's she is saving about $300. The savings come from repair and gas costs.
There is $21 million available for the program this year. The money is generated through the fees paid for state car inspections.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
