Hi all,

I can't believe I am actually typing this, but I'm thinking of utilising the current scrappage scheme and killing my Coupe.

The other half wants a new car, and normally we'd look at 2/3 year old secondhand vehicles, but in the current climate these are rare and seem expensive, especially when compared with the current deals on new cars. As I'm thinking of replacing the Coupe in the next couple of years we thought it might make sense to use the scrappage scheme to get a guaranteed amount of trade in for the Coupe. (I can hear the sucking in of breath and disapproving shakes of head at this point)

She is after a small to med sized hatch and has no badge snobbery, so will consider Kias, Hyandais, Skodas etc. This is to replace our current "family" car of a Alfa 156 sportwagon. We don't need the large boot space now as the nipper has grown out of the pushchair stage.

My Coupe is a 97 20vT. Scotts green with v bad paintwork - more chips than Harry Ramsdens and various minor dents. Engine wise it has recently had a fair bit of work - new rad, new oil cooler & pipes, new front springs, and also 4 newish tyres. It's got 110k on the clock - I've had it nearly 9 years now (since 24k). It has cloth seats, aircon & a sunroof. Drives well, with only issue a slight hesitation at certain revs which I think is air leak, could be the rubber donuts leaking.
I think at that mileage the clutch will be my next major expense pretty soon (still on original) and possibly even turbo. If I spent some time & effort tidying it up, and got the chips sorted by chipsaway or similar I think it would struggle to get £2k - what do others think ?

My heart says I can't let it get scrapped, but if I can get a guaranteed £2k for it (ok, more like £1k when they take the discount off) in it's current state then that's the easy option.

My plan would then be to drive the sportwagon for a bit and find something to replace the Coupe power with...liking those 3.2 v6 Alfa GTs.

If anyone offered me £1.5k for my car in current state, I'd take it I reckon.

What are peoples opinions, is this a crazy idea ?

I think that covers it!

i hate to say it mate but in your point of view it makes sense. you8 car will never fetch the money offered to you and the new cars are silly cheap now so its the pefect time to buy.

Well - I hate to say it, but a mint coupe with all the major jobs done, with good bodywork seems to command £2,500 quid at a push privately. Most buyers are now looking around 2K and below for a non-plus / LE, so via the scrappy scheme you will get better value for money. For 1,500 you should be able to sell the car fairly quickly.

Your choice - and much as you would not like to see the car scrapped if you are looking to replace it anyway...

i think it is a good idea to let it go for a new car, you get a good deal that way plus insurance, fuel costs, tax ect you'll be saving no-end of money so it makes sense.

i do have a question, were do these "scraped" cars go, are they realy crushed?

Oh no scrapping something like that is just bad

Have you not read this ?

I would think the best value under the scrappage scheme would be to trade in a car of zero or little value.

I know you have to have owned it for more than a year so that could make it tricky Unless someone you know can trade in their car and they are able put the LOG book in your name?

Anyone thinking of buying a new car in about a year's time would be wise to buy a cronk now and keep it on your drive for a year then trade in. A SORN vehicle is acceptable.

Regardless of the Scrap Scheme there are some superb deals right now - be prepared to negatiate.

Have you looked at the current offers under the Fiat affinity scheme, club members can get a good discount on new fiats. For example you can buy a fiat panda 100hp OTR for £7905 and this is before any trade-ins or scrap schemes (if available)apply

Surely you can get bigger discounts on new car cars without scrapage/trade in's ?

After 5 years of coop ownership I'm thinking the same, Boysie. Much loved 16VT vs shiny new small hatch.

Potential maintenance costs, insurance premium savings, first year's tax free then 100 quid less after that, big fuel savings, no (now dreaded) MOTs for 3 years...

vs having to change down a gear up long motorway hills

Difficult decision. Good luck. My mate in the car industry says wait a bit as the deals may get better. But I guess that depends on current levels of take-up.

Cheers.

Interesting range of opinions, I was expect more flaming.
Yes, it should be saved, but, I'm not the man to do that. Young family & work hours let alone lack of any mechanical knowledge mean I'm not placed to spend the time on bringing her back up to a pristine state.
Seems such a shame when I realise what she's worth. I don't know of any other cars looking so good and going so well for such a pittance.
Looking at the scrappage scheme, the car needs to have a valid MOT, nothing about it running, so I could swap/sell all my good bits for bad ? So long as it made it to the dealers ?
Basically the question is this. Assume that Mrs Boysie is going to be buying a new car at up to £10k, would she get a better deal without scrappage than the Coupe is worth.
For example I see the Kia Cee'd scrappage deal is this :- "£7,995 represents the On-The-Road price of a cee’d 1.4S (£11,445) after deducting the £1,000 Government Scrappage Grant and £2,450 Kia contribution."
So, what discount could we get without the scrappage on the same car, anyone know ? I can't find anything on what discounts are currently being offered on new cars.

i would say your probably going to get a better discount if you walk in a dealership with the cash and no finance needed. don't be afraid to walk away and go somewhere else if they wont barter.

2 options stand out,
sell it to some one who will restore it
Break it to save others

If you must scrap it, strip it of all useable parts and present the bare shell on a low loader for your discount.

I can't see any rule against this in the scheme, as long as the car has an MOT and tax and has been registered to you for 12 months.

I reckon you should get a bit for the parts you take off, plus it will help keep other Coupe's on the road.

I'd disagree, they make more money on Finance (assuming its not 0%) so would get a better deal than if you went in with cash, in my opinion.

Ben

Within 88 days on average, the depreciation on your new car will equal £2000. So after that, you've gained nothing financially by using the scheme.

If you're looking at this in a rational way, you should sell your Coupe privately and go into the dealer expecting a £2000 discount off any new car. Whatever you have sold your coupe for is clear profit over the scrappage deal.

But it would be even more sensible to buy a 1 year old version of whatever car you're interested in (with a substantial discount for cash) and let some other shmuck take the initial depreciation hit.

I have been thinking of this with all the car trouble I've been having and what i have found is this.
the scrappage thing is only til next year and for a limited amount of cars, think it's the first 30,000 or something.
if you go to one of the independant new car sales places you will get virtually the same new car as from a dealer but massively cheaper, normally cheaper by more than what the scrappage deal will give you plus you can either sell or break your old car and put the money down as a big deposit.
food for thought as i have been looking into this scheme this week and asking a few people in work in the know!!

How about a nice Grande Punto or Bravo with great discounts off list from

http://www.fiatsupasaver.com/selectacar.aspx?vid=28

http://www.fiatsupasaver.com/selectacar.aspx?vid=5

It's a very logical idea.

Personally, I considered having my old one broken, as I'm sure the parts would be worth more than the whole, but couldn't do it for emotional reasons. Scrapping it would just not be an option !

I don't think it makes financial sense though. The depreciation on new cars is way more than the cost of keeping the Coupe going. You could probably afford a full respray within 2-3 years with the saving, and have yours looking great. (Perhaps have it sprayed Wine Red or Portofino Blue, as I can see why Scots Green might cause you to lose the love )

Also, the discount you get from the scrappage scheme is not likely to be any better than the discount you'd get from getting one that's been sat on the dealers forecourt for a while. If I remember right, these ones don't qualify for the scheme, only brand-new, fresh from the factory ones. Therefore, if you're really going to get rid of the Coupe, I'd sell it to a breaker so it can be a parts-donor and keep others on the road, then go for an independent new car sales place as mentioned above ^^

I think you just have to go with your gut instinct. I've just bought my second coupe, so I know what I'd do

Ian.

Its worth remembering that only £1000 of the money comes from our dear leaders - the other £1000 has to be stumped up by the manufacturer.

I assume that ford or fiat or whoever don't actually want your old car, and view it as an admin burden. So I'd guess they will probably be willing to give you the £1000 anyway.

So flog the coupe for £1200-1500, which you would hope would be fairly easy, and you are up on the deal.

Quite an interesting post.

I guess you could say I have a similar situation.
1) I have a Scotts Green

2) Its done nearly 130 000 miles.

3) The bodywork isn't great.

4) Probably could not sell it for more than 1500 and even that is optimistic.

I would agree with the comments saying, if you scrap it sell the bits first.

I'm sure there is loads you could get away with. For example, I've seen bonnets sold on here for 200 to 600 quid.

So I'd sell that for a start, and get a crap, broken bonnet from a scrappy.

But really, I think this discount is pretty crap.
Its just discounting an amount you would lose anyway. If you really want a new car, then just buy it from a car supermarket (theres loads about, tradesales for instance).

You'll find them MUCH cheaper than dealer prices anyway.
Plus you could save deprieciation by buying a nearly new or 1 yo car from the same place.
Personally I'd sell the coupe for what you can get and shop for a new or nearly new at a car supermarket.

But..personally I'm keeping mine - for me its not about what the car is worth / isn't worth - every day I drive it to work and it puts a smile on my face - if thats ever not the case it's time for it to go. (Or maybe if I got a circa 1000 quid bill for fixing it next time lol).
Think mine has original clutch, turbo and engine block so I guess these could all go!

sam ...they hate cash and cant take more than 5000....they make more selling you finance..

If you're effectively only getting a grand on the scrappage scheme, then where's the benefit? Even ropeyish 20vts will fetch about that give or take a couple of hundred.

I'm pretty confident that if I had the cash over a scrappage motor I could nail a dealer with a better deal.

Then you've got the issue that you're taking a spanking on depreciation over the next two years.
If you think a new car factoring in depreciation is a cheaper option than something old then you are crackers unless there's a real gap on the insurance.

Surely if you've got the £5k minimum you require sitting there for a new car, then you could afford a respray, and engine and suspension freshen up?

Hello Boysie, long time no see you around here (mind, I'm not exactly Mr Regular these days either!!).

I'm in much the same position with mine, it's currently SORN, no MOT (but no reason why it shouldn't pass) sat in the garage and covered in dust, it gets a run up and down our (private before anyone shouts!) lane every couple of weeks to keep everything moving and that's it!

My problem is that it's such a good car I don't want to let it go for a pittance, but equally it's wasted just sat there doing nowt most of the time. The other problem I have is that I need another car about as much as a fish needs a bike (I have 3 others).

I'd like the space back, but equally am tormented by thoughts of scrapping/breaking it (not that I have the time or space to do that).

What to do, what to do.