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Carol Pope, of North Salt Lake, buys a 2010 Toyota Prius on Friday at Menlove Toyota in Bountiful with the help of a $4500 rebate from the government through its "Cash for Clunkers" program. Pope got some help from her son, Gary Pope, right, of Magna, who traded in his 1991 Ford F-150. "We're helping each other," said Carol Pope, who will give her son her 1997 Toyota Camry, which didn't qualify for the program.
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Menlove Toyota intended to halt "cash for clunker" sales after closing its last deal at 2:30 a.m. Friday.

But when someone at the manufacturer's regional office in Denver called later that morning to say the dealership could keep selling through the weekend, Menlove's sales crew jumped to the phones.

"We are aggressively calling [fence-sitters] to let them know they have until Saturday night to qualify, and after that it's really unknown if the program is going to continue or not," Mark Tetzlaff, general manager of the Bountiful dealership said.

Uncertainty swirled Friday as auto dealers traded conflicting information and early reports circulated that the car purchase program, heavily publicized by automakers and dealers, was out of money only a week after it began. The government's $1 billion in funding was supposed to last through Nov. 1.

But by midday, a bipartisan House had voted 316-109 to rush an additional $2 billion into the cash-strapped program after learning from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood that the program had run out of gas.

Rep. Jim Matheson, a Democrat, voted to transfer money to the program from the economic-stimulus bill meant for energy loan guarantees, while Republican Reps. Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz opposed it.

"Consumers have spoken with their wallets on this one," said Matheson. "It's doing exactly what we hoped -- getting folks onto car lots to dump their old gas-guzzling models and

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driving off in more energy-efficient ones. It's a win-win for the economy and energy conservation."

The program is good news for customer Carol Pope, who had been thinking for a year about buying a new car. The clunker deal pushed her into action.

On Friday, Pope and her son, Gary, worked out a deal at Menlove Toyota that netted her a new Prius and allowed him to take over his mother's 1997 Camry, which wasn't a qualified trade-in.

Gary Pope traded in his 1991 Ford F-150 pickup, and Carol used $4,500 from the government to buy the Prius.

"We're really helping each other, she said.

The Senate was not scheduled to vote Friday, but lawmakers hoped to win approval for additional funding next week, ensuring the program won't be affected by the sudden cash shortage.

Called the Car Allowance Rebate System, the program is designed to help the economy and the environment by spurring new-car sales. Car owners can receive federal subsidies of up to $4,500 for trading in their old cars for new ones that achieve significantly higher gas mileage.

By all accounts, the program has been a success in Utah, where the recession is raging but unemployment remains well below the national average.

"It's been good for business. I think it's driven more than just clunker traffic. Business seems to have picked up, probably not coincidental with the program," said Nate Wade, whose Subaru dealership in Salt Lake City has sold 24 cars in the past week to buyers dumping their old gas-guzzlers.

Jerry Seiner, who owns dealerships in Salt Lake City, Bountiful and West Jordan, said he has sold about 50 vehicles to buyers taking part in the clunker program. Foot traffic through his doors was up by 50 percent.

"People were here close to midnight [Thursday], selling and doing paperwork," Seiner said.

"We love the program," Seiner said. "It's attractive to those individuals who think this makes cars affordable to them. This is the part of the market that probably stayed away from a vehicle purchase simply because of the cost of a new car."

In spite of the enthusiasm dealers have for the program, some nervousness was unmistakable on Friday.

Tim Dahle, who owns Nissan dealerships in Murray and Sandy, is happy about the 40 cars he sold, but the government hasn't reimbursed him yet for a single unit.

"We're not getting confirmation that the wire transfer is imminent. We just built a big receivable. At $4,500 [per unit], that adds up. You can do the math," Dahle said.

Adding to the air of confusion was uncertainty about how many cars had been sold nationally under the clunker program.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said about 40,000 vehicle sales had been completed through the program, but dealers estimated they were trying to complete transactions on another 200,000 vehicles, putting the amount of remaining funding in doubt.

At Menlove Toyota, sales had been averaging "about 13 to 16 a day" since the program's official July 24 start date, Tetzlaff said.

That has put pressure on the dealership's sales staff, which had contracted when the recession began to dry up car sales.

"We could have used at least five to 10 extra salespeople this month. We've lost customers because we haven't been able to answer the phones as well as we'd like and handle customers who come into the showroom," Tetzlaff said.

Almost every House Democrat favored adding money to the program; Republicans were divided.

Republican Chaffetz has been opposed to the program all along, saying it doesn't make sense to take someone's tax dollars to help someone else buy a car.

"In principle, I just think this is wrong," he said. "The credit-card Congress just continues to spend with no regard to the debt."

pbeebe@sltrib.com

Matt Canham, Andrew Maddocks and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

How do I know if my car's a 'clunker'?

Cars and trucks » Must be 1984 models or newer.

Eligible vehicles » Must get 18 miles per gallon or less in combined highway/city rating.

Owners » Need to show dealers their vehicle, title, proof of registration and proof of insurance.

What kind of rebate can I expect?

For cars » A $3,500 rebate if the new vehicle gets at least 4 mpg more than the trade-in and $4,500 if it gets at least 10 mpg more than the trade-in.

For SUVs, pickups or minivans » A $3,500 rebate if the new vehicle gets at least 2 mpg higher than the old vehicle. Or $4,500 if it gets at least 5 mpg higher than the trade-in.