When a Guzzler's Not a Guzzler: EPA Changes Ratings, Tosses Some Clunkers Out
By John O'Dell July 27, 2009
The EPA has "refreshed" its combined mileage ratings
and the result is that some gas guzzlers that qualified as trade-ins under the new federal cash for clunkers program last week don't qualify this week.
The rules for the CARS program state that to be eligible for the $3,500 or $4,500 credit, a vehicle being traded-in under the program - which really ought to be called cash for guzzlers even if it isn't as alliterative - must be rated at 18 mpg or less in the EPA's combined city-highway mileage ratings.
But the agency updated its list late last week - we're still trying to find out why - and now some cars that had an 18 mpg rating and were eligible trade-ins are rated at 19 mpg or more and are no longer the guzzlers they once were - so sayeth the EPA.
More details are available on our sister site, Edmunds AutoObserver.
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