Brian Benstock - Car Dealer Betting on ol' Beater$

By TOM NAMAKO, TRANSIT REPORTER
July 14, 2009

A Queens car dealer is getting a jump-start on a federal program that encourages drivers to trade in their gas guzzlers for greener rides.

Brian Benstock, the general manager of Jackson Heights-based Paragon Auto, has already doled out 20 rebates of $3,500 to $4,500 for old clunkers that buyers can put toward new fuel-efficient cars.

It's a bold business move because Benstock has no guarantee the federal government's new CARS -- Car Allowance Rebate System, or "cash for clunkers" -- program will reimburse him for the lump sums he's already paid out.

The CARS program, which officially takes effect on July 24, will give dealers the money to pay out the rebates, a spokesman said.

"Every manufacturer, dealer and everyone else will be going after the same pool of customers, so we thought we'd get out ahead of everyone else," said Benstock, who deals new and used Hondas and Acuras.

"It's a risk we'll take."

Benstock's first green-seeking customer was Woodhaven resident Christopher Chosam, who brought in his rusted 1998 Nissan Pathfinder SUV -- with its abysmal 14 mpg, no air conditioner and value below $400.

He got $3,500 that went toward a 22-mpg Honda Odyssey minivan.

"I've been driving it for a week, and I still have a half a tank of gas," Chosam said. "The old car, I would have filled it up already."

Under the law, owners of vehicles bought less than 25 years ago and getting less than 18 mpg are eligible to get a $3,500 to $4,500 rebate when they buy a fuel-efficient car for less than $45,000, according to the federal government.