Old car scrappage scheme - it's kicking off!

[Sonicriot13 0]

Well, it looks as though despite the fact that myself and every other car salesman I know is rushed off their feet with enquiries coming out of their ears the government sees fit to offer 2k for every car traded in over 9 years old for a new or nearly new vehicle. I don't really get it. And they are going under the "green" banner with it too which is ridiculous. Yes, a new car may be more fuel efficient and less polluting than an older one. But what about the waste and pollution produced when making the components for the new car, the waste and pollution produced during assembly and the waste and pollution of shipping that car from the factory half way across the world to us (you simply would not believe the sh!t that comes out of those big container ships, I read another report today stating that pollution from shipping is killing 39,000 a year in Europe and that one ship produces the same amount of pollution in a year as 50 million cars). And then there will be the local environmental damage caused by storing and disposing of all those scrap cars. And what about the impact on scrap prices?

 

I was really hoping this wasn't going to happen but as is usually the case my optimism has gone unrewarded. Even though it would probably work out really good for me as we'll be getting a lot more people through the door how many perfectly serviceable cars are going to be wasted just so the industry can carry on levels of production that are obviously unsustainable? I don't understand why we have to subsidise everything all the time. Things change and businesses go under. It's a fact of life however sad it may be and unfortunate for the people that get laid off.

[staffs_til_i_die 0]

Interesting points. Let's hope people don't start trading in their C's for someting more fuel efficient!

[dukest 0]

what will happen to the scrapped cars? i hope they're not all going to be crushed? will they go to official scrappy's to be broken or something? there must be an opportunity for more merchants to set up now??

[moneypit23 0]

I'm in the middle of sustainability based piece of work for uni and boy do i feel smug when i hear about these scrappage schemes.

 

How often do these green eco-warrior types try to make you feel guilty when they realise you drive an older performance car? Well just refer them to some golden rules of sustainability, the 3 R's:

 

Reduce - you have an older car which only gets used when necessary, reducing the chance of things going wrong but we'll pretend its cos we're green :)

 

Re-use - you've bought an old car therefore you are reducing the need (and the associated pollution as mentioned above) for another. [big tick]

 

Recycle - I think the Corrado owner is in their element here, how much of a Corrado goes to waste when they do die?

 

So there we have it - You're a Corrado owner and YOU ARE GREEN!! Well done :clap:

[colinstubbs 0]

You're a Corrado owner and YOU ARE GREEN!! Well done :clap:

 

Smug mode ON, had mine for over 11 an' a half years, feeling well green :clap: Not as green as the C though!! :lol:

[Sonicriot13 0]

So there we have it - You're a Corrado owner and YOU ARE GREEN!! Well done :clap:

 

Exactly, so when "Friends" of the Earth say they welcome the scrappage scheme they obviously haven't thought it through at all.

 

They should be encouraging people to hold onto the cars that they have for as long as possible now.

 

And so far nobody has said what they plan to do with the cars that are traded in. I assume they will all be crushed as part of the whole idea of this is to take older cars off the road and it is called a scrappage scheme after all.

 

I suppose in the short term more scrappies will start pooping up but when the market for scrap gets flooded and they can no longer support themselves we will have to subsidise the scrap industry as well.

[TomB 0]

Yup, same principle with buildings, bridges etc. Anything with a high embodied energy value which has already been constructed, should be kept in service as long as possible IMO.

 

By all means replace broken/written-off vehicles with lighter more fuel efficient ones, but scrapping servicable vehicles because they're 'old' seems foolish and wasteful.

 

/2p

[Jim 2]

Great. Loaded people buy new cars and get a discount whilst those who can't even contemplate getting rid of their car which cost them

 

And if it's like the German scheme, the 'reclaimed' cars end up in the scrap yard.

 

On the plus side it means any 2nd hand cars now will be worth no less than £2,000.. because if you were going to buy a new car, surely you'd just go and buy a cheap POS and then wheel it into the local dealership for £2,000 off your new car?

[Tempest 0]

Sound slike ze Dzermans have won, since it´s them (the German car industry, notably VW of all) who have been lobbying hard to get this scheme, first introduced in Germany, introduced alla cross Europe to help the ailing motor industry (why is that they´re ailing, I wonder *sarcasm mode on*?).

 

Same problems will then occur here like in Germany: The dumb masses will go for it, 2k is not to be miffed at. Those that go for this will however not be buying expensive cars, in Germany only small car sales are benefitting, mostly Japanese and Dacias. How does that help the local economy like Merc, Jag, BMW and other top brands that are struggling?

 

2nd hand car prices will now shoot up, too, since everyone will now want a minimum of 2k for their 2nd hand car.

 

I was sooooo hoping that the UK would not introduce this scheme, but hope dies last, as the old German saying goes.

 

Tempest

[davidwort 0]

don't think it works like that Jim, you need to have owned the old car for a while before being eligible for the scheme.

It's a stupid knee-jerk reaction by our goverment (again), just think in a year or so's time when (just like the VAT) the scheme ends, car sales volumes will drop again, we'll still be in the recession and the Government will have spent a shed load on helping people buy cars they would have bought anyway eventually. It might buy a couple of votes for the next election who knows?

[Tempest 0]

you were going to buy a new car, surely you'd just go and buy a cheap POS and then wheel it into the local dealership for £2,000 off your new car?

 

If they take on the German scheme., then they´ll want you to have owned your ¨banger¨ for at least one year.

 

Tempest

[Jim 2]

Yes - I did forget that, but did already know about that.. but the point still stands. Even a year isn't too long to wait to save yourself £2,000 on a new car...

[skinnyman9000 0]

The only casulaties of the ailing car industry are the manufacturers that produced poor cars in the first place, mainly Americans. Companies that are producing desired cars are doing fine, like Fiat, all of the 500 Abarths were sold before the first ones reached the show rooms. The main casulaties are the Americans because they seem to be surprised that no one in Europe wants a V8 that produces 150bhp at 16mpg wrapped in tin foil. Same with any industry in the world, you survive if you build superior products.

 

Take a look at Rolls Royce (i work for them), their order book is bigger than ever, they have no debts at all and have over £1billion in cash readily available, and why? Because they build superior products.

 

Now why should i feel forced and seduced into selling my corrado (a superior product) for a 'green' piece of shit? Bollocks to them, im keeping my corrado until someone prises my cold dead fingers from the steering wheel.

[colinstubbs 0]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ what skinnyman just said!!!!

[Jim 2]

Now why should i feel forced and seduced into selling my corrado (a superior product) for a 'green' piece of ****? Bollocks to them, im keeping my corrado until someone prises my cold dead fingers from the steering wheel.

 

Put down your copy of the Daily Mail mate.. It's not mandatory.. it's just an option. No one is forcing you to do jack schitt mate.

[vr6storm 0]

I take it the scrap car has to have a MOT?

 

as I have a car that Ive owned since 2004 but would need a ton of work to pass an MOT,but quite fancy getting into a new car

[Jim 2]

Not sure how the German one works - but considering it'll be going straight on the scrapheap, I'd be surprised if it needed an MOT..

[Yandards 0]

Humn, might be a few less Corrados up for sale given that the ones you would really want to own, low mileage, one owner always garaged, are likely to end up being traded in and then scrapped :(

 

It is all rubbish anyway, I know my G60 returns over 40MPG on a regular basis in actual driving conditions. That's way better than most cars that are being sold now.

 

On a side note I gather VW can't make enough Sciroccos to supply demand right now after chatting to my local dealer the other day, anyone else getting the same info?

[Jim 2]

Well that's good news.. I want there to be a few in the used car market so I could think about one in a few years time!

[Supercharged 2]

On a side note I gather VW can't make enough Sciroccos to supply demand right now after chatting to my local dealer the other day, anyone else getting the same info?

 

Yup, they've suddenly started selling loads, didn't see a single on in Ipswich until 6 weeks ago, now see 2-3 regularly....

 

I think it's poor marketing (like we experience at the classic car show when people kept asking us for price lists / brochures etc) and the fact that the MK6 is out, people are coming to look at it and are finding the Scirocco a bit more interesting and better value for money as the GTi is not out yet.

[Storm Warning 0]

I'm sure the scheme will have a short term impact on sales at the lower priced end of the market but you do have to question the thinking. It just generates a throw away attitude, now I am a long way off a being a tree huggin eco warrior but even I can see this is wrong. On the other hand it will probably rid the roads of a lot of sheds, this means more money for main dealers and reduced income for your local garages. As already mentioned used prices will get a lift and result in a new price floor, but I wonder if by being £2k nearer its death that in the long term it may cause more of a sustained rate of depreciation rather than the normal rapid first 3 yrs then slowing off. Certainly the amount of money your new car looses when you drive off the forecourt will increase by another £2k.

 

While this will stimulate the market in the short term its very doubtful it will do any more than just plug a bit of the hole the recession has made, with that in mind I wonder if it will be considered only a temporary measure. Dare I say it but if the gov are going to throw £2k at a new car buyer it should be because they've purchased some eco schitt, like a compensation scheme to anyone gullible enough to fall for the whole media spun global warming thing.

 

One thing that will change is that future classics will reduce in numbers much faster as they are scrapped. The only saving grace is improved prices for the good ones as they get ever rarer faster.

[Sonicriot13 0]

Another thing is where I work our cheapest new car is 6795. So someone comes in with their B reg sh!tter and gets their cheque for 2k. Lovely. Now there's just the small matter of where they're going to get the other 4795. Oh no wait, finance. Which is one of the main reasons we're in the mess we're in.

[Jay23Sx 0]

I don't know if anyone has noticed but Citroen has already started giving a £2k scrappage ... more companies may follow off there own backs.

[sean1380 0]

yep its another green enviroment plan gone mad to save the flailing car industry that the cars as more pporly made than the ones people will be trading in anyways

 

i think each manufacturer should have the own independant scrap yard and be forced to recycle their own cars then maybe they might think about all the rubbish they make

 

theres not even any new cars that i would want anyways

 

c everyday

 

even tho shes not economical but its not the cars poluting the planet making it warm up,its been doing it for millions of years warming up n cooling down its not even been prooven fact that its us they just hitting us wit more taxes for stuff they can get away with

 

why doesnt the fuel price go down when oil prices drop???we never hear of when the oil drops only when it increases in price

[colinstubbs 0]

why doesnt the fuel price go down when oil prices drop???we never hear of when the oil drops only when it increases in price

 

Crap! Your not still paying nearly £1.20 a litre like last July are you? Talk about pessimist! The oil gets bought in advance so the drops take time to filter

 

through, although I'll concede they prob go up quicker......or maybe it just feels like it?? :shrug:

 

Fact is it's cheaper now than it was.