CHENANGO COUNTY – As Cash for Clunkers winds down, area dealers are still waiting to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments from the federal government for vehicles they have sold as a result of the incentive program.

“It’s really put a strain on our resources,” said Trip deCordova, president of The Benedict Corporation. His GMC, Cadillac, Pontiac and Subaru dealership has more than 20 applications still in limbo, he said, which translates into more than $100,000 they have yet to collect.

The Norwich car dealer knows he’s not the only one still waiting to see any cash for the clunker deals he’s sealed.

“We’ve heard all sorts of rumors,” he said, describing reports he’s read in industry magazines of larger dealerships who were still waiting on a million dollar or more. He personally knows of one dealer who has received payment on only two of the 100 cars he sold through Cash for Clunkers, and another in Wisconsin paid for just three of the 80 they sold.

While deCordova said Cash for Clunkers has been successful in the fact that it has stirred up consumer interest in purchasing both new and used vehicles, he still calls the execution of the program an “administrative nightmare” for dealers.

“I don’t think they had any idea how this would go off,” he said.