@John P., You are not being forced to do anything, it is an incentive program. If the trade-in vehicle exceeds the maximum rebate of $4500, there would be no reason to bother. The trade-in vehicle cannot be resold, so that sets the upper limit on the value. Plus, neither of your two vehicles would qualify as they already get more than 18 mpg. The whole point of the program is to remove older, less efficeint vehicles from the road and stimulate new sales in the process. The new car purchase requirement is a bit limiting as not everyone can afford it.