Scrappage: load of rubbish or diamond in the rough?
Over three grand off the price of a BMW 1 Series? Five grand off a Ford?
Carmakers are pulling out all the stops to get buyers back into showrooms – and the government’s latest initiative to refuel the car industry has got manufacturers bending over backwards with offers.
For, for example, is now offering a range of deals on its models, including £4,500 off a Ford Mondeo and £2,000 off a Ford Fiesta.
Nissan is offering £2,000 trade-ins on eight-year-old cars, while Volvo says the £2,000 incentive can be used as a deposit to help reduce monthly payments on a new vehicle.
Carmakers offer bigger scrappage discounts
We want to know YOUR scrappage stories – have you scrapped your old vehicle or planning to scrap it? If so, what will you change it for?
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I drive an imported M reg Toyota Celica. I am very reluctant to part with him as he has never let me down in the five years spent together ( I really love my car but he’s done over 200,ooo km and is getting near retirement….next mot). Like everyone else struggling to get by i am driving an older car because that was the only option available. I really cant justify going into a showroom and buying brand new… its against my religion. I admit I am a skinflint and do not like the fact that as soon as a new car leaves the forecourt it has lost a large percentage of what one has just borrowed to pay for it.
This scrappage scheme is not at all well thought out and should include used cars up to at least 3 years old ( I would then not be arguing constantly with myself about a purchase as deep down I know to buy new is the wrong thing for me to do )
Before the scrappage scheme I would never have been tempted by a new car, this is a totally new concept to me , I want to support the car industry in its hour of need but don’t have the resolve to do so with the naff offers available at the moment so I need a car company to be brave and to give o% apr with the scrappage scheme on a lower priced vehicle …not just the ones for +£20,000 and to pass on a real discount to us virgin new car buyers not paid for by hidden extras cause at the moment nothing is catching my eye and I can get better offers without the scheme.
thanks for listening x
The most absurd thing about this ‘scrappage scheme’ is the requirement that the car has a current MOT – a car without one doesn’t qualify.
So, what they are saying is they will only pay this subsidy to people scrapping perfectly serviceable cars, and not traditional ‘scrappers’. Why don’t they also insist owners service, valet and polish the cars before they’re sent off to be cubed, it makes about as much sense…
The people ‘taking advantage’ of this idiocy should also think about what they’re doing by taking part – and that is practically rubber-stamping the notion that this shiny new car costing thousands will – regardless of condition, maintenance etc – be only fit for its purpose for a maximum of 10 years. How appealing.
This whole scheme smacks of sheer desperation – a desperate, morally redundant government backing a frantic motor industry desperate to promote the ‘Great Co2 Con’ devised to mask the illusion of technical progress (in actuality a 15 year scam to increase built-in obsolesence). How else could it be explained, finding out that my 9 yr old 1.8 petrol Nissan Primera was kicking out less Co2 emissions when it was tested than most new ‘superclean’ cars?
Car recycling is a multibillion US$ industry. The cars are not literally ‘scrapped’ but dismantled. At present around 85% of an ‘end of life’ car is recycled.
People on this blog are complaining how ‘silly’ this scheme is, but it’s obviously successful.
Just remember, the cars included in this scheme are ones that are going to be scrapped anyway. The older a car gets the more inefficient it’s engine becomes, so overally this deal is good for the environment.
And as for supporting foreign car industries, the Japanese in particular have stood by the UK through thick and thin for over 20 years, so if you want to be patriotic – buy a Toyota (Derby), Nissan (Sunderland) or Honda (Swindon).
http://www.emrltd.com/find_atf.asp
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/automotive/report-28360.html
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-crusher4.htm
I was complaining….. bitterly, first you need to find proof that the automobile is the root cause of all evil. No, i dont mean that there is no proof that it isn`t i mean what has actually caused the climate change over the last 70 years? i find it all to easy that it just happens to be something the worlds goverments can tax the hell out of the individual, simple? look at the proof.
New cars are somewhat more economical than old ones but most of the technology is in lean burn engines and electronics, so why don`t we just replace those?. I take it you don`t count the energy that you can`t see? the energy used to make the new small car? the energy to run tha factorys and the energy to get the people to those factorys.
As for the British car makers….This exactly what our government should be supporting, not some limited lifespan crap from who knows (or cares) where!
For the last 3 yrs I have driven a 405 diesel”style”1994, drive it anywhere park it anywhere pull out anytime carry everything fix it myself, cheap parts and 50 mpg on a long run and wait for it i got it for £0.00.Mot till 07/01/10 so im in no hurry to trade.
The scrappage scheme isnt the godsend the Government are making it out to be. Yes you get £2000 off a new(er) car but you get the £2000 off the MANUFACTURERS RECOMMENDED RETAIL PRICE, NOT the price on the garage forecourt. I went to look a Mondeo Titanium Estate at my local Ford dealer, they were selling it for £12450 but the RRP is £17999. So i was offered the car they were advertising for £12450 for £15500!!!!!
Its bulls***!!! Im better off selling privately through Auto Trader & taking in a cash deposit. DONT BE FOOLED PEOPLE
I think this is rediculous. All people are saving is £1000 off the VAT to buy a new car. The dealerships are only having to give £1000 off the price of a new car when generally we pay about 50% more for cars then they do in America (taking the exchange rate into account).
I agree increasing sales volume keeps people in jobs but it also ensures there are tax payers, therefore the government is still making money. Just sacrificing £1000 of the Vat on a new car for long term gain i.e a few more tax payers. It technically isnt costing them anything to do this so the government should get off their spotty behind and help the wealthy and middle class stay in this country before they flee somewhere warmer, cheaper and naturally tanned women, we are fed up with tax, fuel prices, cigarettes and alcohol, they are taxing everything we enjoy
Next they will charge tax everytime we have sex or get a hand job!
have you had any replies to this? i have just called toyota and they told me that because my car was only reg’d in the uk in 2006 i cannot take part – seems quite unfair. is this def correct?
To scrap a car under the scrappage scheme your vehicle needs to have been first registered in United Kingdom on or before July 31, 1999.
More here: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/EDITORIAL/CARS/FEATURES/get_2000_pounds_off_your_next_car.html
i think its silly scrapping old cars such as morris minors, austin 1000′s, mgb gt’s. there wonderfull cars and should not be scrapped.
I have a VW Golf Tdi (1.9) which is 13 years old with 250,000 miles on the clock. I am the original owner and it has been a darn reliable car and still going strong with expected wear and tear for a car of its age and use. Currently, I don’t do more than 6000 miles/year. My MOT/Road Tax/Insurance are all due for renewal in a couple of weeks time. I KNOW that my MOT will fail on some silly little thing like a bit of corrosion here and a bit of something else there which will cost me at least a couple of hundred to put right. Cambelt will need changing within the year and possibly other bits too. I am going for Hyundai i10 because I am PRECISELY the kind of person to FULLY benefit from the scheme. I’m getting 2200 off the RRP for a Hyundai i10 which, as a percentage of the total cost of the new car, is significant, i.e. more than a third. Given that my insurance will remain the same for the new car, my road tax will be reduced, my imminent MOT and associated expenses/servicing costs will be avoided, the total I WILL save by scrapping my car will be around £3500. Do I think the scheme is bad? Not as far as I am concerned! The question is how many others like me are there for the scheme to operate effectively and efficiently as intended? Not many I suspect.
For me, the only down side is that I’ll be swapping a German built/designed car for a Korean design/Indian built one. Without the 5 year (manufacturer backed) unlimited mileage warranty I’d have picked a different car; I just hope I’m not going to end up with an Indian rickshaw!
I can assure you there are MANY just like you.
Trying finding an Hyundai i10 available much before August/September delivery……
Kev
Kev, that`s because of the power of advertising.
Giovanni god help you, did you never think of buying something from closer to home maybe?
Something where they pay the workers a good wage and allow them benefits like health etc.
By the way i will state here and now that you will not get half of the mileage that you got from the Golf from a H or K.
This reply is to Steve, there does not seem to be a way to directly reply to his message, this is quite a poor system for follow up comments
Ok Steve, your wife’s friend, not yours, (can not see your point really), had some bad luck with one Hyundai, a Trajet no less, that is an old generation Hyundai, and has been discontinued in the UK for quite a while now. So what the hell has this to do with current i series product, which is what we are talking about here?
Fact is, people are not being gullible by buying Hyundai on scrappage, for their useage it makes perfect sense.
Now, if you are trying to convince me you NEVER buy anything made in India, because you are morally concerned for the people on low wages, well, frankly, that is nonsense. You along with the rest of us happily buy the cheap crap those poor sods make, but get your facts right, the workers at Hyundai’s indian factory are among the best paid autoworkers (and all workers) in india.
I suppose you only buy premium european products right?
Kev
Unfortunately there’s a limit to how deeply we can nest ‘reply’ comments. We have increased the limit from three to five, which should help the problem.
You know, you could have a really superb forum here, you need to change platform, take a look at how the mobile phone forums are run, try looking at something like http://www.talk3g.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=169 to see what I mean. I can not be bothered to follow stuff on here as much as I would like, its painful.
Kev
why you all given Hyundai a dig for, There a good car maker, how many dealers out there offer a 5YW, How many do u seen on the side of the road with there hood up?? But still if you can save 2k off a new car, then go for it, Stop moaning you old farts.. when then mean trade your old car, They mean we want your old rover/ford/vux, not your M3′s and TVR’s that are always gonna be more then 2k…
I have seen 2 hyundis actully that had broken down probably down to them being on a dual carrageway and they have never seen speeds over 60MPH as they are driven by OAP’s and therefore died with shock.
The majority of us know exactly what the dealers etc want, and we think it`s a con.
Hyundia`s are utter *****. My wife`s friend had a Trajet, an 04 reg model which she purchased new from the dealer in Ashby, The gearbox has gone the cost for repair was high so she sold it as repairable, she has not covered a high mileage or abused to car it has just broken, funnily enough the car is aboput 5 1/2 years old.
O.K. ? do you get the picture? I don`t think they were offering a 5 year warranty in 2004.
I would rather run around in any 10 year old VW, Ford, Rover, or Vauxhall than any Hyundia or Kia.
If the old Euro cars do go wrong they are cheap enough to fix.
Anyone gullible enough to fall for this scam needs their head looking at!
So your friend had a gearbox in a Trajet go 6 months after the warranty ran out and its some sort of conspiracy?
Are we supposed to think no Ford, Rover or Vauxhall ever had a gearbox go at some point?
At least if hers had gone 6 months earlier it would have been covered, where the Ford would have been well out of warranty.
Anyway, must go, far too busy selling cars to “gullible” people to chat any more.
No Kev, my wife`s friend and no Kev it`s not a consoiracy, it`s an answer to all of the gullible fools out there who think that because H&K offer a 5 year warranty that they are somehow better than anything else. Look at it from another angle, why do they feel the need to do it?
Do you know what the average wage is in that part of the world? no but you keep on selling cars to fools, it won`t last forever!