an older model car advertises the Cash for Clunkers program on the lot of the Laird Noller Hyundai dealership, 2829 Iowa. Several Lawrence car dealers have participated in the program but have yet to get paid back by the government.

Even before the Obama administration announced that the Cash for Clunkers rebate program would end Monday, local car dealers were already winding down their participation.

The popular program has had the intended effect of getting old, gas-guzzling cars off the road and new vehicles off the sales lots in Lawrence.

But dealerships such as Dale Willey Automotive, 2840 Iowa, and Jim Clark Motors, 2121 W. 29th Terrace, have yet to see any payment for the $3,500 to $4,500 rebates they have given customers for trading older vehicles in for more fuel-efficient ones.

For Dale Willey Automotive, Thursday was the last day for the program, owner Dale Willey said.

“From all the reports I am reading, we are on thin ice. If we were to take a deal and if they are out of money, we don’t get reimbursed,” Willey said. “It is serious.”

The rebates have worked at taking cars off the road that were polluting the air, said Willey, whose dealership sold almost 40 vehicles under the program.

“If we get paid (it has worked),” he said. “But if we don’t get paid, it is killing us.”

Jim Clark Motors has also seen success with the program, selling out of its diesel Volkswagens immediately.

But with low inventory, president Loris Brubeck Jr. said on Thursday, they also were planning on winding down the program.

“You sure don’t want to have more of them in there than what they end up having money to pay, and at this point nobody knows,” Brubeck said.

Laird Noller Automotive, 935 W. 23rd St., has started receiving reimbursements from the government, president Gary Bennett said. The dealership’s two stores have had about 60 vehicles that were part of the program. Bennett admits it took awhile to master the paperwork involved.

“It looks like at first there was a bottleneck and nothing was happening. But we are getting payments,” Bennett said.

Most of Laird Noller’s customers wouldn’t have bought a new car if it wasn’t for the rebate, he added. The cars traded in ranged from fairly good condition to those on their last legs.

“One person drove one in, and now we are having trouble getting it running again,” he said.

As for used car dealers, Douglas Carter, a sales consultant at Auto Exchange, 1225 E. 23rd St., said he saw business drop by 25 percent to 30 percent in the past month. But once the Cash for Clunkers program ends, he expects the market to return.

“Whether you have bought new or used, the cycle is going to continue,” he said.