1,000 cars a day ordered through scrappage scheme

More than 1,000 cars are being ordered every day as motorists take advantage of the £2,000 scrappage scheme discount.

The £2,000 grant is redeemable against newly-registered cars when the buyer scraps a model that is more than 10 years old. 35,000 cars have been ordered in the month since the scheme was launched.

The so-called ‘scrappage’ scheme will remain in place until March 2010.

£300m has been set aside to pay for the scheme, which will benefit up to 300,000 customers. Each £2,000 grant comprises £1,000 from the government and £1,000 from the car industry.

How does the scrappage scheme work?

To prevent people from taking advantage of the scrappage scheme by buying an old banger in order to then trade it in for the money, applicants must have been the registered keeper of the car that is due to be scrapped for at least one year.

Is the scrappage scheme green?

Scrappage schemes are often described as environmentally friendly because they get older vehicles off the road by scrapping them and replacing them with the latest models.

This assumes that the new car is less polluting than the one it replaces and overlooks the environmental impact of scrapping the old car and building the new one.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development found that “these schemes have a high average cost per ton of pollution avoided, and do not compare favourably with other alternative policy tools on purely environmental grounds.”

Car scrappage – a waste of perfectly good cars?

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “There are lots of 10-year-old cars with plenty of life left in them and from a climate perspective, to send them to the scrap heap is money poured down the drain.”

“Car scrapping schemes are good for boosting new car sales – they have very little to do with the environment and to suggest otherwise is not just greenwash, it is hogwash.”

Protests against car scrapping schemes

When no limit on the CO₂ emissions of the new model is set, It means that in theory someone who scraps a 1999 Volkswagen Lupo TDi 3L, (81g CO₂/km) and buys a 2009 Porsche Cayenne Turbo (358g CO₂/km) would receive the taxpayer-funded payment.

There are scrappage schemes already in place across Europe. The German campaigning organisation VCD has been encouraging members of the public to scrap an old car, but then request a subsidy towards a rail season ticket or a new bicycle. So far over 5000 people have taken part and sent applications to the government, which responded by threatening legal action.

Extend the life of your car

Changing a car frequently has a financial as well as environmental cost; drivers who buy a car new and then trade it in after three years incur a cost of as much as 50% in depreciation.

A good car warranty from a reputable company can make your driving greener by extending the useful life of your car.