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Scrappage Scheme Munchkins
DorsetStrider - 22/4/09 at 02:36 PM

Hiya all,

I've just been listening to the details of the scrappage scheme being brought in by our beloved leadahs...

With the conditions for qualifying that the car has to have an MOT, Tax and Insurance and has to have been owned for a minimum of 12 months has it struck anyone else that all this scheme will do is bolster used car prices at around the £2000 level?

How is this scheme going to take the worst polluting 10+ year old vehicles off the road when these vehicles struggle to pass the MOT on a yearly basis and quite often change hands on a yearly basis?

Also how many people driving 10+ year old cars can afford to buy new cars? Surely thats WHY they are driving 10 year old cars in the first place?

It just seems to me that it's a case of the terminally stupid leading the blind. Blooming munchkins that lot of them!


cd.thomson - 22/4/09 at 02:39 PM

Hey! I swapped my '04 fiesta I've had for 2 years for a 20 year old car, she doesnt struggle through MOT and I drive her because shes awesome

Otherwise..yes I totally agree


mookaloid - 22/4/09 at 02:43 PM

Does this mean that all our donors are going to be £2000?


tegwin - 22/4/09 at 02:52 PM

Its a joke.... as the conservatives pointed out LOL! Watch the speaches again...its amusing (for politics)


Davey D - 22/4/09 at 03:22 PM

My mrs has a 10 year old micra which is immaculate, it never has any problems come MOT time, and the way its going i can see it running for another 10 years... she doesnt owe any money on it, its cheap to run, tax, and insure..... why bother changing it for anything else??


stevebubs - 22/4/09 at 04:01 PM

Just had a quick check on autotrader....

Most 10 year old Ford Galaxies are still hovering about the £2k mark...so no real gain there...just saves you the hassle of selling it....


mongrelwestie - 22/4/09 at 04:04 PM

it wont affect prices that much as joe blogs who has a 300 quid galaxy cant affiord a new one at 16k even with 2k off, the cars are only worth 2k against a new car, so you wont get 2000 for a 100 quid metro on ebay


adithorp - 22/4/09 at 04:11 PM

Take up of similar schemes in Europe has been pretty good. However, it's just an incentive to sell more new cars and in theory boost trade/save jobs. Any attempts to pass it off as a green issue are red herrings. Yes, new cars are less polluting than old ones, but it takes years (I read 30) before the difference adds up to more than the pollution produced making the new car and scraping the old one.

adrian


BenB - 22/4/09 at 05:32 PM

It's BS. Just a scheme to encourage people to buy new cars. At least they've been up-front with it and done it under the remit of the budget (IE designed to prop up the economy) rather than under some wishy washy "green" agenda.

In some ways it's no worse than the inflated prices you sometimes get on part exchange from garages just to make a sale. Quite why tax payers are coughing up for people to buy new cars though is a bit confusing!!!


JUD - 22/4/09 at 07:00 PM

I think I must be thick - as I can't see how this is supposed to really benefit anybody.

The green angle is a red herring - so that is no benefit.

Some people want to drive older cars - as has been stated on here, and those older cars owe them nothing. So they won't benefit and the motor traders won't benefit from them.

Some people may be able to afford new, but have held off buying waiting for the legislation. I would guarantee that once they get into the scrappage conversation with dealers, they won't be able to negotiate any other discount. This discount could easily be > £2K (depending on RRP). So they probably won't benefit - but the trade may benefit because they may get them through the door; although that is doubtful as I suspect this type of punter would by a nearly new and save more than £2k.

Some people can only afford older cars but may be tempted into buying new if they can borrow the difference. The cheapest new car you can get is around £6k. This means that the minimum spend is an additional £4k - OF DEBT which the the very thing that has got us into the mess we are in already. So in real terms on balance they don't benefit as they gain more debt and probably offload a perfectly acceptable motor that owed them next to nothing. Obviously the trade benefits here as they sell a product to somebody who couldn't afford it.

I hear stories of how similar systems worked in mainland Europe, but all I ever see is "it worked in blah-blah country" - where is the data that backs it up, what impact did it have on the environment in terms of breaking/manufacturing, what impact did it have in terms in increasing consumer debt. What measurable benefits were there other than shifting some over produced stock that had been sitting in a field for months?

It all seems a bit of BS to me - something to make the proles think our glorious government is giving us something back, but in real terms does nothing significant for the environment or for new car sales. Meanwhile they shaft us to recover the £170bn debt they have already as well as the same figure again that they intend to borrow next year.

Rant over...

Off to stockpile some £100 bangers so I can buy up enough Mercs to start a limo company next year


chrisg - 22/4/09 at 08:03 PM

Sniff petrol


JUD - 22/4/09 at 08:07 PM

quote:
Originally posted by chrisg
Sniff petrol


Yup - in a nutshell.


MautoK - 22/4/09 at 10:42 PM

Surely every £2000 will end up in Germany or Japan.

Unless everybody subscribing buys a Morgan


RK - 22/4/09 at 11:24 PM

Well, whatever you do, don't buy a Vauxhall Corsa. My dog has more power than that thing. You can get it to 70 on the motorway going downhill, but that's about it.


MikeRJ - 22/4/09 at 11:58 PM

quote:
Originally posted by RK
Well, whatever you do, don't buy a Vauxhall Corsa. My dog has more power than that thing. You can get it to 70 on the motorway going downhill, but that's about it.


Could be quite a handy saving in speeding tickets considering the cretins are now trying to reduce the NSL speed limit on a lot of roads.


carpmart - 23/4/09 at 07:52 AM

quote:
Originally posted by chrisg
Sniff petrol


That about sums it up!


02GF74 - 23/4/09 at 08:25 AM

quote:
Originally posted by DorsetStrider

Also how many people driving 10+ year old cars can afford to buy new cars? Surely thats WHY they are driving 10 year old cars in the first place?




whoo hoo that is me!!

34 year old Land Rover and 15 year old volvo.

I drive them because they work, why should I spend £ 15 K on on somehting that does exactly the same? Ok, so I may get better fuel consumption, sat naive and other bells and whistles, but bottom line is my volvo takes me from A to B as well as a new car would.

The Audi A3 or BMW X5 await once t he volvo packs in, rusts away or starts getting annoying expensive to keep running.

What is not mentioned, and this is speculation, is that the scheme will be only for certain cars, most likely low emission tiny cars such as prius or smart (which aren't that smart if you want to carry 4 people, a chocolate labrador and luggage).

So all of you lining up for a Porsche cayeen forget about it.


MikeLR - 24/4/09 at 02:56 PM

Just been to two main dealers. At the first one was jumped on by a salesman as I got out of my car, says I " whats the base price for X new car", "he gives me the price," "so I can have £2000 off that price" " No, we are putting the price up by £2000 and then we will give you the £2000 off "
Next garage,went in the three salesmen doing totally nothing and ignoring me,one even walked pass to pick up a newspaper !
I eventually shouted in a loud voice "can someone serve me " To cut a long story short :another add £2000 and take £2000 off.
The whole thing is a Bl**dy joke.