All you consumers itching to get rid of your old car for new and better wheels burned through the government’s  $1 billion Cash for Clunkers  program in less than a week.

Dealers were reserving cars for people before the program officially even started and business just picked up from there.

The car program, which gave consumers a $3,500 or $4,500 incentive to get rid of their old cars for new ones, was created to get less fuel efficient cars off the highway and jump-start car sales. And it did just that. Dealers said they were seeing better sales than they had in months.

Yet dealers worried from the start that the program would run out of money. Some estimates said that the program had enough money to fund about 9 cars for every dealership in the country.

But what now that the program is broke?

Will people stop buying cars, sending the industry into hibernation again? Should the government extend the program and what will that mean for the country’s growing deficit if they do?

Will car companies offer their own incentives?  Chrysler had offered an additional $4,500 in incentives to buyers to get them in the showroom.

How many of you had hoped to take advantage of the program?

Here are more details about the program. Some dealers might still honor the rebate, despite the uncertainty, since *they* are the ones charged with applying for the reimbursement under this program. However, that will take a lot of faith ...