Would you scrap your car?

[Howard]

I'm covering my ears and going "LALALALA" at the thought of nice old cars being scrapped







In reality, I don't think it'll be this bad. Not many people are going to blindly trade in their old car at the drop of a hat, and 'decent' older cars are largely in the hands of enthusiasts now anyway, so let's not worry, eh?

[MadduckUK]

nah it wont go down like that, new stuff will go in the top and classics will fall out of the bottom. ill stay pessimistic for the moment

[[GSV]Trig]

Not a chance, there were only 2244 made and only 1004 of those made it to the UK, theres around 230 left now and I wouldnt scrap it for double that.

[Rave]

http://forums.hexus.net/general-disc...ter-my-mp.html

Oh, and:

http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/20...12-budget.html

http://www.great-cars.co.uk/scrap-the-scrappage.html

Would I scrap my £334 106 Rallye? Like everybody else here, not a chance. Though I might set it on fire soon out of sheer frustration if I can't get the bastard to run properly.

[MadduckUK]

Though I might set it on fire soon out of sheer frustration if I can't get the bastard to run properly.

well it is a pug , ill have a read through your linkies tomorrow, bit late for that tonight

[Gfinch]

They want my dad to scrap his 1972 Triumph Tr6? It's worth 15k, jog on.
What a stupid way to try and get the car buying numbers up, people have old cars because they like them or can't afford a new one and 2k won't get you a new car.

[Barakka]

They want my dad to scrap his 1972 Triumph Tr6? It's worth 15k, jog on.
What a stupid way to try and get the car buying numbers up, people have old cars because they like them or can't afford a new one and 2k won't get you a new car.

I hardly think your dad is the target audience of this scheme, true a lot of older cars are owned by enthusiasts who will keep them regardless. But there is a glut of old 1.0 Mk1 Corsas, Puntos, etc that are borderline falling apart and really won't be missed.

The car industry is failing in the UK at the moment and like it or not we can't let it go under, so the question is do we a) throw millions (or billions) at simply keeping it afloat and let the production line roll to further overfill the stock yards, or b) put that money into getting older cars off the road, newer more efficient cars on the road, people spending money, and cars being made to replenish stock that's actually being bought.

Germany was the first to bring this in, their car industry is massive, and they've seen huge improvements in the car industry since (sales up 40% this month), then France followed last month (up 10%).

As for the £2000 value of worthless old cars, this can be helped by insisting on a minimum 3 month ownership and valid MOT. And the issue the press are banging on about with people trading up to bigger less efficient vehicles I just don't see. I think most of the people with 9+ year old vehicle that would consider this have not got the money to trade their 11 year old Punto 1.0 for a Monedo 2.0, but rather a new Punto 1.2 or Fiesta etc.

The Green Party want us to spend the money getting people to improve the efficiency of their homes instead, but as with so many of their ideas, it's good but just not practical in the current climate. If we did this we would still have to prop up the car industry, no government is going to watch it collapse and see millions out of work, so we would be back with option a) above, stockpiles of unwanted vehicles building up.

[Konan555]

I think you'll find that (as citroen already have) they'll write in a clause deeming that the vehicle being traded in has to have been registered in your name for a certain period of time.

Would I scrap my car for £2K? Hell yes, if that happened to be more money than selling it would fetch.

I HAVE scrapped a car (a car I bloomin well loved ) on account of what was financially sound reasoning. In this case, it was worth far more in parts and I could move on to a new project for far less money than welding!

However, unless I become significantly richer (like a lottery win) I'm never ever going to buy a new car whilst the second hand market exists. The only way this change would effect me, is that it'd be impossible to find sub £2K cars for private sale!

[Lucio]

I'm tempted by the scheme, I only drive a cheap clunker because it's all I can afford. If I can trade it in for a better, cheaper to run model I don't see any reason not to.

[kalniel]

However, unless I become significantly richer (like a lottery win) I'm never ever going to buy a new car whilst the second hand market exists. The only way this change would effect me, is that it'd be impossible to find sub £2K cars for private sale!

Hmm.. how about a Tata nano with a 2k discount?

[Konan555]

Hmm.. how about a Tata nano with a 2k discount?

Making it a straight swap for my car.... Somehow, I'd feel far worse off for the deal

[Behemoth]

WouldI scrap my 9 year old Vectra for 2k ? No, I wouldn't. When its time for me to pass her on I'd sooner sell to someone cheap so that they get a decent run about and I then go and get a car thats newer that the Vectra, but that said she's got 66k on the clock, she's 9 years old and I've decided to drive it till it wheels fall off.

[Rave]

The car industry is failing in the UK at the moment and like it or not we can't let it go under, so the question is do we a) throw millions (or billions) at simply keeping it afloat and let the production line roll to further overfill the stock yards, or b) put that money into getting older cars off the road, newer more efficient cars on the road, people spending money, and cars being made to replenish stock that's actually being bought.

Germany was the first to bring this in, their car industry is massive, and they've seen huge improvements in the car industry since (sales up 40% this month), then France followed last month (up 10%).

Yes, right. Their car manufacturing industry is massive, ours isn't. And as it happens, 90% of cars made here are exported, and (as I understand it) 90% of the cars we buy are imported. So basically 90% of the value of this scheme will go towards propping up foreign car manufacturers. Obviously a great use of British taxpayers money.

[Gfinch]

What cars are actually made here? Apart from a few fords.

[kalniel]

What cars are actually made here? Apart from a few fords.

Toyota, Honda, Mini, Land Rover

[Saracen]

Am I the only one that sees this as a cynical political move? Am I the only one that sees a Prime Minister (and his cohorts) worried about the political impact of mass unemployment from the car industry, when a General Election is no more than about a year away? Is it just me that sees the damage large amounts of unemployment in areas both industrial and geographical that would traditionally be Labour heartlands as a cost they don't want to have to bear. Or not yet, anyway. After the next election, with 5 clear years (if by some miracle they manage to get back in) their tune will change.

Oh, and the BBC refers to Germany and France as having already done this. No coincidence, perhaps, that they face the electorate before our Glorious Leader does??


Would I trade in a car because of this scheme? Highly unlikely. If I had a car old enough and worth little enough to be eligible, I'm not likely to be considering a new car even if I am planning a change. If I was planning on changing an eligible car, it'd be for a car that would cost me a lot less than a new one would, two grand scrappage or no two grand.

As it happens, I do have a car that would be eligible, an old Polo. I bought it a couple of years ago for cheap motoring. It's cheap to run, cheap to ensure, cheap to maintain and, if it gets nicked or written off, isn't the end of the world because it wasn't worth that much to start with. Oh, and despite being old, it's economical, right nippy for it's class and reliable as hell. Why on earth would I want to change it, especially when replacing it with a new one, two grand notwithstanding, would cost me thousands.



What this will do, IF they do it and it works, is take a LOT of good, sound old cars off the market, because either it doesn't work, in which case it's a pointless exercise, or it does, in which case a lot of cars are going to be worth more as scrap than they are to sell. So .... while it might benefit those that have both an old car and the money to buy a subsidised new one, it'll be a kick in the cojones for anyone looking for a cheap old car because they can't afford anything else.

So if this proves to be anything more than media speculation (and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see it in the budget) it'll be Gordon Brown screwing over the poorest in society yet again. Nice one, Gord.