Want a $9,000 voucher for buying a new car, or an assault rifle? No problem, just head to a participating Chrysler dealer or down south to Max Motors in Missouri. It’s a tense buyer’s market and we could all use a little extra cash in the mattress or another AK-47 under the bed (for the wife?). Chrysler gets it. Starting July 23 and running through August, Chrysler Group is doubling the recently passed cashed-for-guzzlers incentive by offering up to another $4,500 good towards the majority of their 2009 models.

Only, to receive Chrysler’s incentive consumers don’t have to have a car that’s been approved for the guzzlers plan - that’s the point. 

“We didn't want consumers without qualifying vehicles to feel left out, so we are offering up to $4,500 to everyone," said Steven Beahm, Chrysler's vice president for sales operations.”

If the cash rebate isn’t enticing enough to prospective buyers, they can instead choose 0 percent financing for 72 months for the $4,500 vehicles and 0 percent financing for 60 months on the $3,500 vehicles. From Auto News: 

“Speaking to dealers in a conference call, Peter Fong, Chrysler's lead sales executive, said Chrysler wanted to help dealers unload older inventory and focus on customers who might not qualify for the cash-for-guzzlers program.”

‘I would venture 90 percent-plus folks will not qualify for the program when you go through the check list,’ he told dealers. ‘We've essentially qualified everybody out there.’ (1)

VEHICLES & REBATES

Chrysler 
$4,500: PT Cruiser, Sebring sedan, Asepn 
$3,500: 300, Town & Country, Sebring Convertible 

Jeep
$4,500: Grand Cherokee, Commander
$3,500: Patriot, Compass, Liberty
$1,500 bonus cash: Wrangler 

Dodge
$4,500: Avenger, Durango, Ram heavy duty including chassis cab
$3,500: Charger, Journey, Grand Caravan, Ram light duty, Caliber, Nitro, Dakota 

(1)

The official name of the cash-for-guzzlers program is CARS (Car Allowance Rebate System). To learn more and see if your car qualifies for a voucher visit www.cars.gov/. 

Unfortunately for gun lovers, neither Chrysler nor the Federal Government is handing out assault rifles to stimulate car sales. But Mark Muller, owner of Max Motors in Butler, Missouri thinks it’s a great idea. 

"We're just not going to give people an AK-47 gun. Felons buy cars, too,” he said. “What we are going to do is we're going to give them a voucher where they can go to their local gun dealer, or we have local gun dealers we would strongly recommend where they can buy a gun and go through the proper background checks so the guns wind up in the right hands." (2)

As for the safety of Max Motors: 

"That way it separates you from anything bad that could happen," Muller said. "We'll put it in the hands of professionals who do this every day." (2) 

Buffering the financial security of the deal, this isn’t the first time Muller gave away gun vouchers in an attempt to sell more cars, and it’s not the first time it worked. 

"Last year we gave away a free handgun with the purchase of any vehicle, and it went over very well. It spiked our web traffic and we sold, we estimate, 35 extra cars during the promotion than we normally would have, and this year we're trying to sell an extra 100 cars more than we normally would," Muller said. (2)

The gun vouchers are set to be given away during the month of August. I haven’t looked into the actual possibilities yet, but Max Motors sells new Chryslers, Dodges and Jeeps…nine grand off a new Chrysler and a free AK-47 would be one hell of a deal. 

Sources:

(1)http://www.autonews.com/article/20090722/ANA05/907229993/1250
(2) http://www.kmbc.com/news/20088205/detail.html
(3) http://www.kctv5.com/news/20085629/detail.html

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