Cash for Clunkers

The first thing on my list of things to do to 'settle back into life in America' was to buy a car. Well, I may be going to plan B. The timing of my arrival coincided with the start of the government's Cash for Clunkers program which was so successful, it is shutting down on Monday. Everybody's buying cars, trading in their clunkers. The inventory is little to nil, especially for the Toyota Rav4. And the incentives and rebates I heard about the entire time I was in South Africa, nearly non-existent. This is crazy. So, I'll either have to custom order and wait a couple of months or wait for new inventory to arrive and make sure it includes the car I want for the same amount of time. Decisions decisions. On to looking for a house to buy in the supposed current buyer's market. Although, I just saw that it seems the housing market is recovering?! What timing.