I just did. I'm not a new car guy... I would always buy used. I owned a 1989 Ford LTD Station Wagon, the very definition of a gas-guzzler. I've driven this car for the past 10 years and I was planning on driving this car into the ground (moreso). I anticipated a scene from a cartoon where one day the car fell apart on the highway and it was just me, on a seat, gripping a steering wheel. The day the car needed MAJOR repairs, I was going to go buy a nice used car.
Then, about 2 months ago, I begin looking into the cash for clunkers program. I did my research, made sure my car was eligible, and traded it in the day dealerships were able to do the trade. I'm now the proud owner of a 2009 Honda Fit... a car that gets double the fuel economy of my previous vehicle.
I would have never bought a new car, I can't stress that enough, but I manged to get an $18,000 vehicle for roughly $12,500 because of this program. Not only did I support a local dealership and buy a new car, I significantly reduced my carbon footprint... hey every little bit helps. I know the "big bad government" isn't appreciated here, but I would give them credit for this program, it was the right motivation to get a bunch of us to buy new cars. There were roughly a dozen people at the dealership who, like me, were just going to drive these old POS cars until the day they disintegrated... but this was the incentive we needed.