How do you feel about the fact that there are perfectly good cars (some of which will no doubt have done fewer miles than you’d expect due to their age) up for scrap? The Mail Online is reporting that 400,000 vehicles have been scrapped through the government scrappage scheme and almost all of those are still roadworthy.
Shockingly, under the rules of the scheme, all cars must be scrapped, whether they be a Volvo, BMW or other any other brand that could be the pride and joy of an owner.
How does this make you feel? Well, for me, I understand the reason for the scrappage scheme. It encourages people to buy new cars – however, people can still lose more than £2,000 on depreciation anyway depending on the car, so it’s a bit of a false economy. More importantly, if the suggestion is that it’s better for the environment, then I think that someone should do the math and check that this is the case.
If my car for example is deemed an ‘older polluter’, but I only do 6,000 miles per year, exactly how many carbon emissions and how many resources are consumed by creating a new car which I then buy? Everything from the chemicals used in the production process through to shipping the car from abroad should be considered, but doesn’t seem to factor into the scheme.
I still believe that there should be a massive auction which involves every car put in for scrap that is still roadworthy (i.e. would pass an MOT). If this happened, people could go away with a smile on their face driving a new motor and the government could get some cash.
MoT G says
April 16, 2010 at 9:52 amI think the scrappage scheme has been fantastic for Korean car manufacturers.
It’s a shame a Labour government didn’t think more about the negative impact on small garages up and down Britain who will suffer losing around 20% of their business.
Only MPs don’t feel shame at robbing us over and over again. Scum.