Little Rock - Airdate: June 24th, 2009

Chances are good that President Obama will sign into law the "Cash for Clunkers" bill this week.

It seeks to boost new auto sales by rewarding drivers willing to turn-in their gas guzzlers for more fuel-efficient models.

Seven-On-Your-Side's Jason Pederson looks at the specifics to see if you might qualify.

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The federal government is set pay you up to $45 hundred dollars for your vehicle if you are willing to part with it and if it meets certain guidelines.

To qualify, your car or truck must have been made since 1984 and has to get 18 miles per gallon or less. That rules out most cars…it will be mainly trucks and SUVs that will qualify.

And you can't go out and quick buy a clunker…you'll have to prove you have owned and insured the vehicle for the past year.

Also your vehicle should be worth less than $45 hundred dollars. Otherwise you would be better off selling it yourself.

If you qualify, the credit from the government must be used towards the purchase of a new vehicle.

If your mpg jump from your old to new car is 10 miles per gallon or more, you'll get the $45 hundred dollar credit.  Otherwise you'll get the $35 hundred dollars.

Rules for the program should be finalized by the end of July…which is when dealers will start turning clunkers into new car credit.

Dealer cashback and other incentives can lower the price of a new car even further.

But critics of the plan say most of the people driving older, clunker cars either can't afford a new car payment, don't want a new car payment, or won't have a good enough credit score to secure the financing necessary to buy a new vehicle.

And auto repair shops and other retailers (furniture stores, boat makers, sport-rec dealers etc) aren’t thrilled seeing taxpayer money used to tempt consumers to spend lots of money elsewhere.

Click on “Newslinks” to find out if your vehicle qualifies and to learn more about the program.

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