Vehicle Retirement Program

I was in Ft. Worth at a meeting and I had someone ask me if Plano was the city that was offering a credit for eliminating the older cars. I hadn’t heard of it in Plano but did in Dallas... come to find out, it’s the entire DFW area!

Did you know that the Dallas, Houston & Beaumont areas still don’t meet federal clean-air standards? This means that residents in these areas pay more for their annual state inspections than in “cleaner” areas. In an effort to improve air quality in the DFW area, the state will offer up to a $3,500 voucher to residents that will voluntarily “retire” their older cars in order to purchase a newer vehicle that puts out fewer emissions beginning in December. Now that is interesting!

The vehicles being targeted for “retirement” are pre-1996 cars & trucks that emit up to 30 times as much pollution as late-model vehicles. The “Accelerated Vehicle Retirement Program” already has funds, generated by higher vehicle state-inspection fees in Dallas & Houston areas. The program was actually established 6 years ago, but it only offered $1,000 in assistance & didn’t entice many takers. Due to its low profile, the program ended up accumulating many unspent funds that are now being used for this program.

The details of the program are still being ironed out, but the general provisions are:

• Vehicles must have passed a state inspection within the last 15 months.
• Owner’s annual income cannot exceed $61,000.
• Qualifying cars will receive a $3,000 voucher to be used as a down payment on a new vehicle that cannot cost more than $25,000. (Mostly compact cars, mid-size sedans, midsize SUVs & low-end full-size pickups)
• Vouchers can be applied to the purchase of a used vehicle that is no more than 3 model years old.
• Participants may use their vouchers on new light-duty pick-up trucks, some used SUVs & used trucks up to 2 model years old.
• People who want to buy a hybrid can qualify for a $3,500 voucher for a new or used hybrid that is no more than 1 model year old.

You may be wondering what happens to the old cars… Well, the old cars & trucks will be turned over to salvage operations to recycle everything but the engines.

Let’s work together to put a dent in the area’s pollution numbers & get our air cleaned up. If you’re driving a pre-1996 vehicle & choose to benefit from this program in December, let us know how it works for you!