"The Web site will not be fully functional before tomorrow morning (Tuesday)," Transportation spokeswoman Jill Zuckman was quoted as saying by Autonews. "Dealers should be assured that they will be provided time to submit pending deals equivalent to the time that was lost this afternoon while the system was down," she said.
The first problems started surfacing in the beginning of the weekend, after a series of computer glitches began slowing down the submission program. As a result of the problems seen ever since Saturday, the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) called for the deadline to be extended at least until August 31.
"NADA has recommended to NHTSA that the submission deadline be extended so every valid deal can be accepted. NADA would support a policy of no more "clunkers" deals being consummated by Monday at 8 p.m. EDT. Because of computer problems and other issues, however, the deadline for submissions should be extended until August 31."
So far, their request has remained unanswered, but if computer glitches continue to slow down the process, the Transportation Department will unwillingly extend the deadline closer to that date.
Until now, dealers have submitted 635,186 claims, amounting to some $2.65 billion (figures forwarded on Monday morning). Fear runs high among government officials that if the $3 billion cap is reached, additional funding will have to be sought to honor the already closed deals.
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