With an announcement Aug. 20 that Cash for Clunkers would end on Aug. 24, a $3 billion program designed to get gas guzzling cars out of commission, has reached the end of its road.

For auto dealers, it is not the end. Michael McDonald, part of the family that runs four auto dealerships under the family name, is waiting for reimbursement from the first round of Cash for Clunkers.

On his Hyundai lot at 6500 S. Broadway, Littleton, he has a flotilla of clunkers.

All have seized engines after a lethal dose of sodium silicate, a liquid glass that will close off the engine like bacon will close an artery.

These cars will not run again, although the metal and other components can be reused by scrap yards and recyclers.

“Clunker is not a strict definition,” McDonald explains. “Your car has to get a certain miles per gallon less than the new car.”

McDonald estimates he has $500,000 in Cash for Clunkers coming to the company as of Aug. 20.

McDonald gave U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Aurora, an earful about the program during Coffman’s visit Aug. 20.

Coffman also spoke at Ralph Schomp BMW in Highlands Ranch.

Upmarket cars get fewer clunker trades, but McDonald said his Audi dealership had processed two.

The program provided $3,000 to $4,500 on any car meeting criteria of the program, on top of trade in value.

McDonald does not think that overall his sales increased, only that they happened sooner.

“Have my sales gone up? Yeah, they have,” McDonald said. “But mostly these are people who were waiting to buy in a year or so.”