more scrappage views in the motoring press

[reallyloud]

My father subscribes to Car Magazine, so more often than not I have a look at the pictures and read the last page when I pop round. The writing is still quite good - not quite like the previous decades but the photography often is a good reason to flick through it. This month issues has an interesting article on the scrappage scheme from a different perspective, not far off Autoshite members thoughts about it. The writer, Jonny Smith drives a F reg Volvo 340 - which he salvaged from a train station, he took the trouble to chase up the owner, take it off his hands and get the car through an MOT. That asides he also quotes that 94,000 cars have been scrapped since the scheme started and states of the UK's 'favourite' scrapped cars, 16% were Ford, 15% Nissan, 14% Vauxhall, 10% Rover, 10% Peugeot, 9% Citroen, with Fiat, Renault and VW with 7% of the total number of scrapped cars. I hope the SMMT collates all the dealer records of exchanges - it would make fascinating but horrific reading.

[VWPowered]

I hope the SMMT collates all the dealer records of exchanges - it would make fascinating but horrific reading.

i agree would be great to know what exactly have been cubed

[Timewaster]

The salesman at the Skoda dealer I frequented recently had the death warrant on his desk for a T reg A class Merc and a one owner Fabia diesel.He was as offended by it all as I was, and sugested they should go somewhere to be sold at a subsidised price say £1500 in return for scrapping something genuinley poluting, unloved and fooked.Not the daftest idea I have heard lately.

[pbottomley]

The direct cause and effect of scrappage to me !!!My old scrote diesel is about to pass out of MOT. in Past years i just jump in the viva for a week or so, see if the daily shite passes an mot if it does give it a yearly wash and carry on...This year the Vivas are off the road so the only hack i have is the scrote, which means walking (mortally scared of doing this sort of activity TBH) so i need to pick up a banger that's good for a month and wait till the jobs are done on the scrote...where are all the banger? Cubed that's where!!! and all that is left is zillion mile motors that are patched up heaps and £700 a throw normally seen on the docks awaiting loading to Africa...Thanks Mandy you twat, i now have to pay over the odds prices for a heap of shite cause you got your cock sucked off by the motor industry.Whilst I am in the mood what's this bollocks about TV and fridge scrappage schemes! like land fill isnt full as it is...

[Richard]

I go to a few recycling places for work and there are always mountains of fridges and TVs, most of which would have worked perfectly well I'm sure.

[dollywobbler]

As we've said in CCW from the very start, it was always going to be the good shite that disappeared. People with shonky old bangers cannot afford a brand new car, even with £2k off.

[garethj]

I go to a few recycling places for work and there are always mountains of fridges and TVs, most of which would have worked perfectly well I'm sure.

Yep, a friend of mine went to his local tip recently and he said it was like Dixons in 1995. And there's supposed to be a recession on?!

[Mash]

I go to a few recycling places for work and there are always mountains of fridges and TVs, most of which would have worked perfectly well I'm sure.

Yep, a friend of mine went to his local tip recently and he said it was like Dixons in 1995. And there's supposed to be a recession on?!

My house is like Dixons in 1995..... My drive looks like 1985 however

[AnthonyG]

I go to a few recycling places for work and there are always mountains of fridges and TVs, most of which would have worked perfectly well I'm sure.

Yep, a friend of mine went to his local tip recently and he said it was like Dixons in 1995. And there's supposed to be a recession on?!

I'd be quite happy if modern TVs and fridges last 14 years - most struggle to achieve half that these days!

[FredTransit]

is it over yet? I thought there was a rumour the crappage scheme was running out of money....

[Mr Lobster]

is it over yet? I thought there was a rumour the crappage scheme was running out of money....

A rumour peddled by dealers and manufacturers to make sure the guilable hurry up, trade in their 'bangers' and sign up to finance before the money runs out. "Hurry up or you'll miss out and won't be able to spend the next few years paying through the nose for something newer but no better than you had before in the misguided pursuit of keeping up with the neighbours" as they might not have said...

[brammy777]

We have had tvs which dont last for even 5yearsWe also once had a cooker, and it lasted a year.Yep, a year.Our toaster has lasted 18, our hairdryer is approaching 30.Our last freezer lasted a good 20 years.But our last fridge lasted 3.Things arent built to last anymore, companies want your money, all of it. My laptop has just come back from sony after the hard drive broke, after 2 months......

[Guest]

I spent a day at a breakers last week watching an Astra Merit get 'processed' and ultimately end up as little fragments of metal and plastic. The yard was crushing 60 cars a day.Also waiting destruction was a Volvo 940 with 12,000 miles on the clock which was immaculate, a Cavalier 1.7 TD with 20,000 miles (traded in for a Prius according to the key fob), a few MGFs and one of those classic shape Saabs. Some of the cars were available to buy spares from so I took the engine etc and trim from the Cavalier.I'll get some pictures of the cars up when the disc arrives.

[pbottomley]

But that chav TD would of been number one on my list of cars to own.... Dont put picture sup will just get me going again

[Justin Case]

Does any of the motoring press apart from CCW actually point out that most of the cars going for scrap are decent well-cared-for ones with years of life left in them and not old heaps on their last legs as the manufacturers would have us believe? Even the tree-huggers can see how daft the present scheme is, unlike Spain (?) where you can only get a grant against an eco-friendly newbie.

[CortinaDave]

Please do post up the pics! always interesting to see.... At the end of the day looks like we just have to ride the scheme out. Doesnt look the government has any intention of exempting cars over 25 etc so theres not much can be done.

[FredTransit]

The only thing that can be done is to make people understand these cars don't need to be put into the scheme. Most of the cars they went towards would have be sold by dealers who would have given the discount (or at least some of it) if people asked. At the end of the day, the dealer is only liable for one grand of the two grand minimum offered under the scheme, and if they are offering a lot more they really really can afford it!

[Timewaster]

The only thing that can be done is to make people understand these cars don't need to be put into the scheme. Most of the cars they went towards would have be sold by dealers who would have given the discount (or at least some of it) if people asked. At the end of the day, the dealer is only liable for one grand of the two grand minimum offered under the scheme, and if they are offering a lot more they really really can afford it!

It depends what you are hoping to buy. As has been said before, you aren't going to get a 2k discount off a 7K Hyundai i10 or some other depressing little shopping car.If you want something sought after like a Fiat 500 the there are NO discounts to be had anywhere. I know, I looked!

[FredTransit]

Like I said the dealer's end of of it is a grand, so if any car is in the scheme, that's what the dealer id giving off the screen price out of his pocket. It should be possible to get that off, surely? Even with a car, they are still giving a grand off out of their own pockets.

[IanF]

Funny how some cars' list prices went up by over a grand around the same time as the scrappidge swindle came in.

Yep, my boss was thinking of chopping in his W124 280TE under the scheme but after doing the numbers it just didn't stack up compared to three-six months previously.I think Ford has raised there prices by about 8-10% over the past six months blaming the "euro." Same happened with Honda's Civic. The only difference is that the latter builds 'em in the country...

[Guest]

Does any of the motoring press apart from CCW actually point out that most of the cars going for scrap are decent well-cared-for ones with years of life left in them and not old heaps on their last legs as the manufacturers would have us believe? Even the tree-huggers can see how daft the present scheme is, unlike Spain (?) where you can only get a grant against an eco-friendly newbie.

We have. We run a page from a car dealer each month with 'scrappage corner' which highlights a car that has been scrapped. Victims include a low-mileage W-reg Fiesta, a 53-plate Daewoo Lanos (on Vauxhall's pre-govt scheme), and an R-reg Vectra SRi V6 estate (lovely if a bit faded). Also running a feature on scrappage next month as we follow an unloved Astra Merit through from trade-in to crusher and speak to the dismantlers about the scheme. The guy who operates the crusher said it was breaking his heart to destroy a lot of the cars as he was an enthusiast and repairer of old cars himself.

[oldford]

Some of the cars were available to buy spares from so I took the engine etc and trim from the Cavalier.

I like the irony of that, the Government say 'Get the old polluting cars off the road', and the most polluting part of the car gets saved to be used another day.

[FredTransit]

Don't go there, in America they pour some nasty compound into the engine to seize it solid.

[fiatdaft]

remember fred its not the dealer thats offering the £1000,no banger no £1000, no deal.at arnold clark we make about £400 on a new astra,so no room at all to take a grand off.

[FredTransit]

Well if that Astra was sold under the scrappage scheme, the dealership would be liable for a grand of the scrappage discount, and the government would give the other grand, so therefore the dealer must be able to afford a grand out of the profit, otherwise what's the point of the whole scheme? If the Astra isn't offered under the scheme then fair enough.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Vauxhall's pre-govt scheme

Another good reason for Vauxhall to disappear..............

[dollywobbler]

Well if that Astra was sold under the scrappage scheme, the dealership would be liable for a grand of the scrappage discount, and the government would give the other grand, so therefore the dealer must be able to afford a grand out of the profit, otherwise what's the point of the whole scheme? If the Astra isn't offered under the scheme then fair enough.

Not correct. It's the manufacturer who stumps up the non-gov £1k, not the dealership.

[FredTransit]

OK, so whoever pays the one grand of the scheme the gov doesn't pay, it comes off the profit of the car. If it's the manufacturer, they must pass it back to the dealership, or they would be running at a big loss due to the scrappage scheme then. If they don't pass it back, why are the dealerships calling this such a good idea then? Also, if they don't pass it back, the dealer's are in effect giving two grand off the car out of their own pocket/profit. I find this hard to believe, as the dealerships were supposed to be in such dire straights in the first place......