>>Low income and out of work individuals won’t qualify for financing...<<
Often it is not even about qualifying for financing. The real issue is that they won’t bother. Meanwhile, the “rich” do not like leaving money on the table. When you are thinking about a $30k car and the government has just agreed to give you $5k of a down payment you are almost FORCED to get the best deal you can and then purchase a worthless clunker and use it for those government dollars.
The “poor” won’t bother, generally speaking.
You only qualify if you've owned, registered, and insured the "clunker" car for the 12 months prior to the trade-in.
FWIW I have three vehicles that would qualify, but I won't participate in this program as it makes no sense to me to trade in a paid-for working vehicle and take on a car payment, higher insurance premiums, higher personal property taxes, etc.
"Rich" people don't have "clunkers." However, I see no problem getting some of my money back from the extra taxes I have to pay because 47% of Americans do not pay taxes. I'm surprised they allow individuals with higher incomes to qualify for the deal. When they did this in Texas, I believe only people under $45K income could qualify for the $3000 rebate.