Santa Barbara County APCD Boosts Old Car Buyback Deal

The Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) is offering a higher payout to the residents for their old vehicles. The deal is pegged at $2,200 per vehicle.

The district has slightly updated its ‘Old Car Buyback’ program, now offering larger payments for old vehicles. The move is aimed at reducing the county’s smog-forming air pollutants.

The program will now accept vehicles of model year 2002 or older, previously restricted to cars of model year 1997 or older, and participants were paid $1,000, the Santa Barbara County APCD said in a press statement on Wednesday.

Since 1993, the APCD’s program has purchased vehicles from Santa Barbara County residents who are looking to retire their older cars, which produce more pollution than newer models. The program claims to have cut nearly 1,000 tons of smog-forming pollution by removing more than 8,100 older cars from the road.

“With the increased cost of used cars, these program changes are critical to entice people to retire their old, polluting vehicles and replace them with cars that use cleaner technology,” said APCD Executive Director Aeron Arlin Genet.

Genet further added that under this program, people can put that $2,200 toward the purchase of a newer, cleaner car, or they can pocket it and take advantage of alternative transportation options, such as riding the bus or using a bicycle.

The ‘Old Car Buyback’ program was relaunched in 2011, but it was suspended after funds ran dry. Funding for this program comes from vehicle registration fees designated for local air districts.

APCD will pay $2,200 for 2002 or older gasoline or diesel cars, light-duty trucks, vans, or SUVs, if certain conditions are met. Those conditions include, but aren’t limited to:

• Vehicles must have been registered in Santa Barbara County for the past two consecutive years;
• Vehicles must be in working condition; and
• Vehicles must be smog-certified.

Smog in Santa Barbara County is primarily driven by cars and trucks, but the program addresses this by permanently removing each vehicle it buys. The old cars are crushed by a licensed auto dismantler, permanently removing them from the road. APCD works with five dismantlers in Goleta, Lompoc, and Santa Maria.