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Car scrappage should be scrapped

Ed Bowsher
by Lovemoney Staff Ed Bowsher on 18 May 2009  |  Comments 1 comment

The government's car scrappage scheme is a big mistake.

So the government's car scrappage scheme starts today. In theory, it should mean that you'll get £2000 for an old banger if you trade it in for a brand new car.

Neil Faulkner slagged off the scheme in April and I agree with everything he said. The bit that annoys me most is the idea that this scheme will help the UK fight global warming. This is poppycock. I don't dispute that a new car will probably emit less carbon than a ten-year old car. Trouble is, the process of manufacturing a new car will also emit lots of carbon. So we're better off running an old car into the ground than making a new one.

I'm so cross I even went on BBC Radio Newcastle this morning to have my say!

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Comments (1)

  • electricblue
    Love rating 334
    electricblue said

    Unimaginative and pitifully misguided scheme, as you would expect from politicians divorced from the real world. The UK benefits from scrappage schemes in other countries because we export most of the cars sold here. Manufacturers who benefit most from the UK scheme are foreign ones who buy few components from the UK. A retrofit emissions package developed with manufacturers and to be fitted by MOT test centres would have been the best idea. Developing an 'engine swap' scheme and bringing back grants for LPG conversions would greatly benefit emissions. Scrapping perfectly useable cars is a nonsense and if the cars were so poorly maintained as to be beyond repair, why were they still on the road in the first place ? Any new non-commercial vehicle which cannot average 30mpg should also be hit with a £2000 'registration tax' to help fund environmental measures.

    Report on 20 May 2009  |  Love thisLove  0 loves

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