Anyone buying a new car?, UK only, obviously...

[ShroudFilm]

I have a Rover 800 which is going to be scrapped. I *would* use it for the government's Scrappage Scheme and get 2000+ quid off a new car, but I'm not planning on buying one any time soon!

If anyone else IS planning on buying a new car, let me know and we can sort something out - as various self-professed geniuses have pointed out, you have to own the car for a year before it is eligible for scrappage... so basically I would buy the new car in my name with your money, then transfer all the documents to you.

First come, first served. If no takers by the end of the month, I'm going to take the scrap metal price I was offered for it.

[Hero of Istvaan]

not a bad idea shroud, im in the same predicament only i have 2 cars for scrap lol a '98 BMW 3 series and a '99 rover 416! any takers?

[ShroudFilm]

If it was possible to combine them and do multiple scrappages, I would have bought a brand new car in September...

[Hero of Istvaan]

i was lookin at buyin a new car but then the unbeliveable happened my inlaws suprised us with a new renault senic totally out of the blue!!

hence why i now have 2 cars to get rid of!

[ShroudFilm]

Sell them on? Surely you'd get a better deal than scrappage?

My Rover's market value was 750 quid, then I got hit from behind and it was written off. It will just about drive if you top up the steering fluid!

[Hero of Istvaan]

i would if i could but the bmw need new breaks, suspension, power steering, clutch, head gaskit and a new fuel pump oh and it has no tax or mot the car its self is in good condition as ive really looked after it just run outta money, it just needs some money spent on it to get it to get it bak on the road! lol the rover needs a new head gaskit and a ton of welding plus the body work is all rusted also has not mot lol hence why scrapping them is probly the best idea

[Pacific]

Is this the right place to comment that, amongst numerous other hair-brained ideas which look like they have been planned by a retarded orangeutan on crystal meths, this scrappage scheme is the one that illustrates best what utter incompetents we have in charge of our country?

[ShroudFilm]

It's an awesome idea...!? Makes people buy new cars instead of keeping rusting piles of crap on the road.

Get mechanics OUT OF BUSINESS and then maybe they'll lower the cost of their over-inflated services.

[Anodyr]

Funnilly enough I was watching a thing about this on the One Show earlier...

Personally I think its a good scheme - anything that helps our economy going at the moment and keeps people in jobs gets my approval (having been through the redundancy process twice in the last year, the less ppeople that have to do the same, the better in my opinion...).

Shroud, you might already have considered this, but you might need to check the scrappage rules if yours has been written off. Apparently the car has to be taxed, mot'd and insured at the time an agreement is made i.e. fully working, otherwise you cant trade. If the write-off happens after you've struck an agrement with the dealer, its ok, you can still do the scrappage thing.

[ShroudFilm]

Haha, oh really?! No way will I get tax and MOT now... it's been sat there since May and the MOT expired about two weeks after the crash.

£70 scrap metal it is then!

[Anodyr]

Yeah that was one of the specific things mentioned on the One Show - apparently theres been cases where dealers/customers dont read all the small print and have ended up not qualifying (sometimes when they should have done i.e. the crash after deal scenario).

[Pacific]

I can understand Germany taking this course of action - they still have a relatively large car industry. Apparently VW are running months behind in production, they just can't make cars quickly enough to fill demand. They've created a lot of jobs with this act, and safeguarded others.

Here in the UK we have a handful: I think 1 or 2 Hondas, Vauxhall Astra, Vauxhall vans and thats pretty much it. So, its arguable whether our industry is getting any benefit at all from it, hell we came within the skin of our teeth losing a load more jobs with the Vauxhall plants here closing down despite this plan. But, I guess the German and Japanese manufacturers are rubbing their hands.

In ecological terms it makes no sense either - contrary to what you might think, apparently alot of the cars aren't buckets of bolts at all. Most poeple who drive around in piles of [I'M ILLITERATE] (like I do ) couldn't afford a new car, even with the £2000 incentive (I mean, even for bottom of the range new cars you are talking £12,000+ as a minimum). So, cars which are only 4 or 5 years old, but have really low resale value because of the state of the used car market are being scrapped instead. Cars which cost alot of resources to build, and time and effort, are being reduced to scrap which to my mind is absolutely insane considering the country is meant to be becoming more 'green'.

I've got immediate family who work in the car trade/repair industry, so I guess you could say I'm biased about it. But, on the other hand, I hear alot of whats going on with it and from people directly involved, and generally there is not one person who thinks its a good idea.

This post has been edited by Pacific on Nov 5 2009, 10:26 PM

[ShroudFilm]

Generally I've only heard good comments, but I don't know people that work in repairs etc, only in sales. One local 40k player is a showroom dealer and he said no one was buying until Scrappage came in - it's prevented his workplace from closing!

Surely it's about shifting the unsold stock, not just about building new cars?

And a car from 2009 will be far more ecologically sound than a car made in 1999. I would happily go hybrid if I could afford it! Not because of the reduction in running costs, but because it is just good sense.

[Astelan]

Personally I'm happy to run my 2.5l V6 until all the petrol in the world is gone! Screw the environment and the hippies!

I was lucky to buy my car just before all the second hand car dealers in my area have gone out of business! People whose bread and butter was based in cars for the cheapskate market now cannot find the stock to stay in business! The scrappage scheme has only helped the large main dealers to shift a few cars from their forecourts! Cars over 10 years old are not a bucket of bolts if they have been well cared for and maintained, they offer cheap and affordable motoring to the large percentage of drivers who simply cannot afford to go out and buy a "new" car, even with a measly £2000-£4000 of the LIST PRICE!

But enough rambling (that could well have gone in the Vent thread), just make sure you can't be taxed on the value of a new car as a gift if you do find someone who wants to take you up on the deal Shroud!

[ShroudFilm]

S'okay - shifted it for £70.00 to the scrap dealer!