Scrap the Scrappage Scheme

Could the spectre of the scrappage scheme be rising from its slough of murky business-generating despond and become poised to send a raft of modern classics to the scrapyard?

The 2009 scheme aimed to increase new car sales and came in following that year’s Spring Budget. The Government would chip in £1000, the manufacturer then knocking £1000 from a car’s list price. To qualify for the two grand there were two main caveats: owners had to have had that car for more than a year, and said car had to be more than 10 years old.

At the time a small group of enthusiasts and journalists warned of the loss not only of genuine classics, but also perfectly usable older cars that had much life ahead. Those views were often laughed at or ignored.

But there’s change a-comin’, because it’s clear more and more people remain unsettled at how many good cars were lost to a scheme that saw a supposedly strong industry being propped up by the UK Government. And it wasn’t just British car makers that did well from the scrappage scheme, but any manufacturer selling their cars in Britain.

While there is – as yet – no signs of a nationwide scrappage scheme returning, some cities, entranced by the virtue-signalling belief of going green, could offer schemes to get people out of their existing cars into something allegedly cleaner.

And that means giving up a potentially still eminently usable petrol- or diesel-engined car for an electric car. However, an increasing number of new-car buyers are turning away from the idea of going electric and looking at new internal combustion engine cars instead.

But why even do that? Plenty of older cars – many of which could be regarded as a modern classic – can offer clean, reliable, safe and affordable transport, and especially if they’re maintained by good independent garages whose knowledge and affordable labour rates are already keeping such older cars on the road.

And here’s one example of a car that could fall prey to the dreaded scrappage scheme – a late 2008 Volvo V70 belonging to Ken, a friend of The Special. His ‘70’ has covered just over 200,000 miles. In other words, in the eyes of any potential scrappage scheme, it’s an ideal candidate, being both ‘old’ and ‘leggy’.

But with that amount of tarmac passing under its alloys it’s well and truly green – after all, it’s suggested that at least 60 percent of a car’s footprint comes from its manufacture.

Still utterly reliable and not too expensive to run, Ken’s Volvo is just the sort of car that could be lost to a scrappage scheme. And how can that be right? A perfectly usable car is lost for good but, at the same time (and what anyone supporting a scrappage scheme won’t tell you) it distorts the affordable end of the used car market, reducing the supply of affordable cars to those with less to spend – or simply don’t want to splash out large sums on a new car.

Luckily some classic car dealers have become organised and are working with classic auctioneers to save modern classics: rather than owners of modern classics being sucked in by a £2000 rebate if they put their car in under a scrappage scheme, dealers will offer the owner more money, meaning that car is saved and can continue to be used.

And don’t take our word for it – Manchester-based Southern Cars is run by Sam Grange-Bailey, who believes a scrappage scheme is wrong for several reasons – reasons always overlooked by scrappage scheme supporters.

“If you ever see a car from the 1980s and 1990s and wonder, ‘where did they all go?’ or wonder why the likes of 205GTis are fetching £10k+, take a look at the list of cars that were scrapped, and I’d wager they’re on there: 74,000 Fords for example, including Cortinas, Capris, Sierras, Fiesta XR2i’s, Escort XR3is and even Escort RS2000s,” she says.

“Losing another raft of perfectly useable and roadworthy cars that have years of affordable life left in them, are probably carbon neutral and possibly with modern classic status seems nonsense to me. Add to that the fact that not everybody is financially able to strap themselves up to a new car, it feels counterintuitive to me.

“My other gripe is that I’d wager some of the cars that will be chopped in have a greater value than the Scrappage Scheme allows for, and I’d urge anyone who’s considering scrapping a modern or future classic to contact a dealer or auction house and offer it to them first….let’s keep them on the road!”

And that can’t be a bad thing, surely?