Local dealerships have started turning in clunkers to be ground into bits of steel. However, many of the nearly 250 cars collected so far in Hawai'i through the "cash for clunkers" program have yet to be reduced to scrap due to the lengthy review process.

Car buyers have the easiest part of the procedure. They bring their old car to the dealer and, if it qualifies, they're given a $3,500 to $4,500 credit toward the purchase of a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle. They sign over the title of their clunker and drive their shiny new vehicle off the lot.

That's when the dealer's paperwork begins.

Dealers have to abide by 136 pages of regulations when filling out the paperwork required to receive their restitution. Dealers say processing and filling out forms can take an average of an hour and a half to three hours per clunker.

"This whole process has been difficult, from scanning the document to the scrapping of the car," said Clifton Reed, sales manager for Windward Auto Sales. Nonetheless, the effort required is worth it, he added.

"It has definitely driven traffic. We have people coming to the showroom, just looking to see if they qualify."

Rick Ching, vice president of Servco Auto, echoed Reed's sentiments.

"There is a lot of work involved in the system, and there were a lot of rules and a lot of administrative things that have fallen on the dealers. But on the other hand, it has been very helpful for getting people into the showrooms," Ching said.

Venancio Parengit, owner of Family Towing, also is benefiting from the program. His company has been delivering cars to Schnitzer Steel to be scrapped since 1995, but his volume has increased with the new business from the clunkers program.

Family Towing removed about 40 cars from Tony Auto Group as of Friday, one of the highest state totals in the program. Parengit said he expected to tow another 16 clunkers over the weekend.

"(The program) has helped me a lot. It has increased everything for me," Parengit said.

Before handing the car over to be towed and/or scrapped, a dealer must first destroy the engine and drain the oil and other fluids from the car, a process that many dealers have been reluctant to do before they were certain they would be reimbursed by the government.

A dealer may wait for an OK on their forms from the National Traffic and Safety Board before lethally injecting the oil tank of the car with sodium silicate. The vehicle must be running during the process and the chemical can be heard going through the system, destroying it in less than five minutes.

Schnitzer officials said they don't sell parts from the cars, only the scrap steel.

Other scrap yards on O'ahu have reported getting about a dozen cars from the program. Neighbor Island yards have reported receiving only one or two so far.

Lita Morris, general manager of Puhi Metal Recycling Center on Kaua'i, has only received one car through the program, a 1989 Ford Ranger.

"The body is rusted and the inside is (destroyed), the only thing we could save were the windows," she said.

According to data compiled by Bloomberg News Service, dealers in Hawai'i processed $963,000 of clunker rebates as of Wednesday, the second lowest of any state. Michigan was the highest with $44.4 million.