How did Cash for Clunkers Subsidies work out?

The Cash for Clunkder program was more popular than Congress imagined it would be: Who would want free money during a recession? Aside from the basic unfairness of giving taxpayer money to a select group of consumers, increasing environmental degradation by encouraging mining, etc. to produce new vehicles and the bureacratic mess for car dealers who weren't reimbursed as promised, how did Cash for Clunkers work out in stimulating the economy?

Orders for durable goods and housing sales plunged in August. Style over substance. Congress Cares.