Is your car a clunker? To find out, click here.

LAS CRUCES - By now, you've probably heard all about the "cash-for-clunkers" program. Vehicle owners who trade in an older, gas-guzzling truck or car for a newer fuel-efficient vehicle can get $3,500 to $4,500 in rebates, funded by the federal government.

But what happens to those clunkers once they've been cast aside?

Old cars and trucks, having more value to their owners - as well as the auto industry and the environment - off the road than on, are effectively euthanized. Sodium silicate, known as liquid glass, is run through the engine until it seizes, permanently disabling it.

"We have to disable them," said Raymond Palacios, owner and president of Bravo Chevrolet/Cadillac/Hummer in Las Cruces and El Paso. "One of the provisions is that the car can't be resold. The goal is to take these gas-guzzling vehicles off the market and off the streets."

For individuals, the program scores big. On average each year, they will save 287 gallons of gas, more than $700 in fuel costs and close to 3 tons in carbon dioxide pollution.

For dealers, the rules of the program seem to be something of a moving target. Kevin Key, general manager of Jack Key Motors in Las Cruces, said getting all the required paperwork right the first time has been crucial, since his

dealership and others in the area have hundreds of thousands of dollars tied up in deals through the program.

That's not slowing down the deals for consumers, though, Key said, as car dealers are giving the rebates to qualifying buyers and then being reimbursed by the federal government.

To be reimbursed for the rebates, dealers must make sure the cars are disabled and sent to an approved, certified salvage yard, which will supply documentation that the car has been junked. This presents some risk to dealers, Key noted, since they're completing transactions and junking the trade-ins before they're approved for reimbursement on each deal.

"It's somewhat of an on-the-job training, regarding this program," he said. "When the coach doesn't know what the rules are, the team doesn't know what the rules are."

David Wilson, spokesman for Borman Autoplex in Las Cruces, said dealers are being very cautious about accepting the right vehicles and fulfilling all of the administrative requirements of the program.

Still, Wilson acknowledged that the incentives have been good for business.

"If the goal is to stimulate car sales, those seem to be coming in," he said, estimating the dealership has about 18 deals in the works under the program.

Right now, Key estimates he's got around 40 clunkers being stored at dealerships in Las Cruces, Alamogordo and Deming. Other dealers also are storing their traded-in clunkers on-site until they can be transported to certified salvage yards.

There are no certified salvage yards in Las Cruces on the government's approved list, so the vehicles will have to be taken to approved businesses in El Paso or elsewhere.

Jacinto Duarte, president of Rio Grande Auto Parts in El Paso, said he's been in touch with some Las Cruces dealers about disposing of some vehicles, but none have arrived yet at his lot. When they do, the first step will be to see what parts, if any, can be resold.

"The only thing that's not usable is the engine," Duarte said. "We can sell any of the other parts."

Duarte said auto salvage businesses like his have 180 days to take what they want from the vehicles, and then they must be crushed. He said he'll sell the scrap to a commercial metal recycler to try to get the most out of each car.

Most of the cars and trucks coming in are junky, older model vehicles, with little or no trade-in value, Palacios said.

"This is a great opportunity for consumers," he said. "These government rebates can be stacked on top of other rebates and discounts."

There's no monetary bonus to dealers from the government for promoting the program, but, Palacios said, it's worth it.

"The benefit we see is the increase in showroom traffic," he said, estimating that the rebates have brought Bravo about a 25 percent increase in traffic, and 15 to 17 new car sales already.

Rick Nezzer, spokesman for Sisbarro Buick/Pontiac/GMC in Las Cruces, said the program has quickly had a very positive impact.

"I know we've had a great deal of interest," Nezzer said. "It's created an interest in car buying where there wasn't one before, which is extremely positive, especially for a General Motors dealer or a Chrysler dealer."

Deming resident Eric Renteria, 23, drove into the Jack Key lot on Wednesday looking to take advantage of the program and unload his Ford F-150 extended cab 4x4 truck. Renteria estimated the truck gets about 10 miles per gallon, but he wouldn't have considered shopping for a new ride if not for the cash-for-clunkers program.

Checking out a Nissan Versa, a small 4-door sedan, he said good gas mileage was a top priority.

"(I'm looking for) something that's fuel-efficient - something better than this," he said, indicating his truck, which has about 118,000 miles on it.

President Barack Obama signed into law Friday a measure tripling the budget of the $1 billion incentive program. The Senate on Thursday passed the legislation extending the two-week-old program into Labor Day and preventing it from running out of money.

The first $1 billion in funding is expected to lead to sales of 250,000 vehicles and the additional $2 billion would generate sales of perhaps a half-million more vehicles.

Car companies have credited the clunkers program with driving up sales in late July. Ford said its sales rose 2.4 percent in July from the same month last year, its first year-over-year increase since November 2007, while Chrysler Group posted a smaller year-over-year sales drop compared with recent months, helped by the special deals. Other automakers are doing better, too.

Most consumers are buying smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles under the program, according to a list of the top-10 selling cars released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

That includes Honda Civics, Toyota Corollas and Dodge Calibers. The Toyota Prius hybrid, which gets 46 miles per gallon according to EPA estimates, is the fourth-best-selling car. There is one SUV on the list, the Ford Escape, which also comes in a hybrid model that can get up to 32 miles per gallon.

So far, GM's share of cars sold under the program is largest, accounting for 18.7 percent of new sales. Toyota Motor Corp. followed with 17.9 percent, while Ford had 16 percent. Detroit automakers represented 45.3 percent of the total sales while Toyota, Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co., all Japanese firms, totaled 36.5 percent.

Toyota also has the best-selling new model for traders of clunkers, the Corolla. The Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Toyota Prius and the Toyota Camry are also favorites. Six of the top-10 selling vehicles are built by foreign manufacturers, but most are built in North America.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Is you car a clunker?

There are several requirements (but you also have to meet certain conditions for the car or truck you wish to buy). Your dealer can help you determine whether you have an eligible trade-in vehicle.

Your trade-in vehicle must:

• have been manufactured less than 25 years before the date you trade it in

• have a "new" combined city/highway fuel economy of 18 miles per gallon or less

• be in drivable condition

• be continuously insured and registered to the same owner for the full year preceding the trade-in

• have been manufactured not earlier than 25 years before the date of trade in and, in the case of a category 3 vehicle, must also have been manufactured not later than model year 2001

Note that work trucks (i.e., very large pickup trucks and cargo vans) have different requirements.

Source: www.cars.gov