I’ve been mulling over the scrappage scheme for a few weeks leading up to it… tbh it’s a total gimmick, designed to get us mugs to consume more.
So much for the Government’s green credentials: scrapping older cars might sound like a good idea on the face of it, as removing higher polluting vehicles fron our roads is a good thing. However, it is widely knowledge that the pollutants and CO2 emissions resulting from the manufacture of a new car, even a small one, arefar more damaging than all of the emissions that car will make during its ENTIRE lifetime on the road.
Where is the Government on this? Keeping quiet unfortunately.
Furthermore, how is the scrappage scheme helping UK plc? Most new cars are made abroad – so your £ spent is helping Japanese workers, German, Korean etc. UK car dealers benefit and their sales guys get to keep their jobs (for now) but how much is the scrappage scheme really helping the UK economy?
Lastly, don’t load 100% of the annual servicing/repair costs of your old car into the financial equation and believe it’ll be ‘zero’ for your new car. Even new cars need servicing. And despite the manufacturer’s warranty, some parts will not be covered. Some parts just wear out.
Here’s my own calculation based on my car:
P reg ‘old’ car
25mpg / £198 road tax / cost approx £400 a year in repairs
If I bought a new car that returned DOUBLE the mpg (50mpg), then at a cost of £1.06 per litre I’d have to drive 21,000 miles before I’d recouped the £2,000.
My car is probably worth £1,000-£1,500 currently.
A new car (Fiat 500 etc) costs £9-£11k less £2k scrappage… BUT try buying one from a dealer without buying this extra, plus that extra, plus the other… add back £400+.
Depreciation on the new car will be higher over the next 3 years than my ‘old’ car (hey, it’s worth almost nothing already) and this alone pretty much cancels out the entire scrappage benefit.
I’d save a bit on road tax (approx £150/year), but the higher depreciation and the enormous extra mileage I’d have to drive to recoup the cost just doesn’t make it worthwhile.
The long and the short of it is that the most economical car for most of us to own is the one we already own. Certainly the greenest car to buy is none: drive the one you’ve already got. It’s been manufactured already. Think of it as recycling. Reusing your existing car IS recycling it. Scrapping it seals the eco-damage. Gosh, I’m coming across all eco-warrior – I’ve certainly never thought of myself as such, it’s just that thinking all this through carefully really makes one think this sh1t through…
If you fancy a new car the £2k scrappage is a bonus, but don’t try to justify it as a green benefit (unless you’re driving the Amoco Cadiz) and do calculate the financials accurately.
