July 31 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. government’s $1 billion “cash for clunkers” program to spur new car sales ran through the money six days after it began, Senator Debbie Stabenow said.

Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, and other lawmakers called for an infusion of taxpayer money to subsidize more new-vehicle purchases in the effort to revive dealerships and automakers while getting older, less fuel-efficient vehicles off the road.

“It is amazing that ‘cash for clunkers’ would be this successful this quickly,” said Stabenow in an e-mailed statement yesterday. “I urge Congress and the administration to provide additional funding.”

Named the Car Allowance Rebate System, the program provides credits of as much as $4,500 for the purchase of a new car when turning in an older vehicle to be scrapped. Lawmakers had expected the program to generate about 250,000 vehicle sales and to have enough money to last until about Nov. 1.

“Any doubt that the CARS program would jump-start auto sales is completely erased,” said Greg Martin, a General Motors Co. spokesman. “More than 200,000 cleaner, more fuel-efficient cars are on the road and a vital industry gets a needed boost. We hope there’s a will and way to keep the CARS program going a little bit longer.”

Officials at the White House and the Transportation Department declined to comment on the program’s status. A White House official, who asked not to be identified because no announcement had been made, said the administration was assessing the situation facing what had turned out to be an overwhelmingly popular program.

Transactions Honored

All valid transactions that have taken place so far under the clunkers program will be honored, the official said.

The Transportation Department had said this week that the money wasn’t running out.

“When we get close, we will start alerting dealers so they don’t get caught with a deal in the pipeline,” said Rae Tyson, a department spokesman, in an interview July 28. “We’re not going to leave them hanging. We’re not going to run out of money in a couple days.”

The administration’s reports on clunkers applications from dealers didn’t indicate that the funds were near exhaustion. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is running the program, said yesterday that 22,782 vehicles worth $95.9 million had been sold.

Representatives Sander Levin of Michigan and Betty Sutton of Ohio, both Democrats, said this week that they may try to extend the program if the initial allotment was spent swiftly.

‘Maybe Too Successful’

“This was a very successful program, maybe even too successful,” Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, said yesterday in a statement. “The program should continue, but perhaps with a tune-up so that we get the most stimulus, conservation and efficiency for the buck.”

Patrick McGowan, who with his wife bought a Hyundai Motor Co. Elantra on July 28 under the program, said he wonders whether the dealership in Benton Harbor, Michigan, where they purchased the car will be left without government reimbursement.

“I asked them when I was there what happens if the government runs out of money before the paperwork clears,” said McGowan, 37, an editor for a Catholic publication, in a phone interview yesterday. “They didn’t really know.”

McGowan and his wife Annie Vorhes McGowan, a University of Notre Dame Ph.D. student, wouldn’t have traded in their 1998 Isuzu Motors Ltd. Rodeo for a new car if it weren’t for the $4,500 rebate they got through the clunkers program and the additional $2,000 rebate from Hyundai, he said.

140,000 Miles

“Our car had 140,000 miles on it,” he said. “We in a million years weren’t going to buy a new car.”

Dealers, who are reimbursed by the federal government for the clunkers rebates they give consumers, are required to immediately junk the trade-in cars under the program by disabling the engines.

Jill Zuckman, a Transportation Department spokeswoman, declined to comment. Tom Gavin, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget, the White House branch that oversees government spending, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Mike Moran, a spokesman for Ford Motor Co., said in an e- mail that he had no immediate comment.

“We had a lot of good feedback from dealers as far as how much traffic they had as a result of this program,” said Greg Thome, a spokesman for Toyota Motor Corp. “Everybody is surprised that the popularity was that immediate.”

Charles Cyrill, a spokesman for the National Automobile Dealers Association, said, “If the program is indeed suspended, NADA will continue to work with the Department of Transportation to emphasize the importance that every dealer is reimbursed for a valid deal.”

President Barack Obama signed the clunkers program into law June 24 after Congress approved it the previous week as part of legislation to finance the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

To contact the reporters on this story: Angela Greiling Keane in Washington at agreilingkea@bloomberg.net; John Hughes in Washington at jhughes5@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 31, 2009 00:01 EDT