British "clunkers" clog runway awaiting to be crushed

[Kowalski]

Evidence of today's ridiculously disposable society.

Now, where did you say you left the car? The £28m backlog of perfectly driveable vehicles waiting to be SCRAPPED

Sitting nose to tail on a disused airstrip, these cars form a tiny part of the massive backlog of vehicles destined for the scrap heap. The number standing idly on the runway has swelled to around 14,000 as mechanics struggle to cope with the popularity of the Government's scrappage scheme, which ended last week.

The former airfield in Thurleigh, Bedfordshire, is one of a number of 'holding areas' packed with vehicles sold through Lord Mandelson's £400million incentive scheme.

Under the policy, manufacturers matched the £1,000 per car put up by the Treasury - giving customers a £2,000 saving on a new vehicle.

The £28million haul will eventually be sent to a licensed scrappage yard where the cars' oil and petrol will be removed and parts recycled before the shells are crushed.

Almost all of the 400,000 vehicles sold through the scheme are still roadworthy and many could be driven for another five years, according to experts. However, the vast collection --which includes a fine range of BMWs, Volvos and Peugeots - must be destroyed under the scheme's rules.

Source: Dailymail: The 28m backlog of perfectly driveable vehicles waiting to be SCRAPPED

 

[ree]

Oh no…Mercedes E, C, Golf IV, Subaru, BMW 5, Audi 6…

 

[Kowalski]

!!

Oh no…Mercedes E, C, Golf IV, Subaru, BMW 5, Audi 6…

And guess what? They would pass any MOT, which means they are in excellent driving condition and they are "clean".

What a waste.

 

[Tarek]

^Serious waste.

 

[Centurion]

^Serious waste.

I whole heartedly agree. There are some good cars in there which I'm sure are running fine. Hell most of them are barely ten years old even. This is the collateral damage of rebuilding the economy.

Peep the volume of French cars in there

 

[Beemer B773ER]

Will there be any value relating to all these cars being crushed.. as in, will the government at least get money out of all that scrap metal..?

You'd think they could at least put some of the better quality vehicles to an auction of some sort.. or strip the cars for parts and so forth.

Ah well, the scheme itself was fairly successful, but it is sad that many decent cars will be destroyed. Similar to all those old aircraft which sit in the desert, waiting to be scrapped. Couldn't they donate an aircraft to each aviation enthusiast.

 

[chonkoa]

Lots of scrap metal that will fuel industrial output.

 

[Gullwing]

Will there be any value relating to all these cars being crushed.. as in, will the government at least get money out of all that scrap metal..?

You'd think they could at least put some of the better quality vehicles to an auction of some sort.. or strip the cars for parts and so forth.

Ah well, the scheme itself was fairly successful, but it is sad that many decent cars will be destroyed. Similar to all those old aircraft which sit in the desert, waiting to be scrapped. Couldn't they donate an aircraft to each aviation enthusiast.

Probably not. No thought all action.
The US crap for clunkers program, the engines were seized up and the cars just crushed (by only certain companies) and shipped off to China I think.
Some of those cars should be sold off at auction, and the rest parted out (sold at auction) and then scrapped.

The aircraft out in the desert, some are waiting to be scrapped while others are just being stored. If they run out flyable (X) they grab one to restore instead of building a new one.

 

[VroomVroom]

It's so sad seeing all these cars going for the scrap, most of the cars in that picture are perfectly usable for another10years AND to have sent your car in the scrappage scheme the car hand to have a valid MOT! Also with all these cars being off the road, makes buying a cheap 2nd hand run around/ first car impossible..

Also it would be much more enviromentally friendly to break all these cars down for parts.

 

[Kowalski]

Originally posted by public at the Final Gear

What VroomVroom said is actually true. To trade-in your old car under the scrappage scheme, the car must have a valid MOT and that means the car still is roadworthy.

 

[VroomVroom]

What VroomVroom said is actually true. To trade-in your old car under the scrappage scheme, the car must have a valid MOT and that means the car still is roadworthy.

Sure is, we traded our old Daihatsu Charade in. Which that car was in perfect working order.

 

[ree]

It's so sad seeing all these cars going for the scrap, most of the cars in that picture are perfectly usable for another10years AND to have sent your car in the scrappage scheme the car hand to have a valid MOT! Also with all these cars being off the road, makes buying a cheap 2nd hand run around/ first car impossible..

Also it would be much more enviromentally friendly to break all these cars down for parts.

Well, I'm absolutely happy, that we don't trade our 11 year old Renault Scenic for a new car. Still love our Renault and it would be sad to see this car destroyed. We will drive it as long as possible until the first parts will be falling off. And right now, it did about 192.000 km without having major problems. The technics (well there isn't much) and the engine are still "fabulous"!

 

[Giannis]

Well, I'm absolutely happy, that we don't trade our 11 year old Renault Scenic for a new car. Still love our Renault and it would be sad to see this car destroyed. We will drive it as long as possible until the first parts will be falling off. And right now, it did about 192.000 km without having major problems. The technics (well there isn't much) and the engine are still "fabulous"!

Old Renaults are rock solid. I have my Clio since 1990 and it now has over 300.000km on the clock and it's still going fine!

 

[Mockenrue]

It's so sad seeing all these cars going for the scrap, most of the cars in that picture are perfectly usable for another10years AND to have sent your car in the scrappage scheme the car hand to have a valid MOT! Also with all these cars being off the road, makes buying a cheap 2nd hand run around/ first car impossible..

Also it would be much more enviromentally friendly to break all these cars down for parts.

Those are very valid points. My father is in the used motor trade, and this has had a negative impact on him because good cheap used cars became more scarce as people bought them to keep for one year just to get the scrappage discount later on a new Hyundai shopping trolley. Not only that, the supply of perfectly serviceable older cars which could either be disposed of for a small profit into the trade or sold to first time buyers virtually dried up as people took advantage of the scheme and their cars got junked instead of traded in. This of course pushed prices up.

The thing that gets my back up is we're seeing the premature demise of some perfectly good vehicles, yet there are still thousands of untaxed and uninsured shitters driving around out there with NO MoT and these are the cars which should be heading for the crusher.

Mandelson and this pathetic excuse for a government can feck off - I'm going to keep driving my twelve year old 190,000 mile A4 just to spite them!

 

[MikeJ]

Old Renaults are rock solid. I have my Clio since 1990 and it now has over 300.000km on the clock and it's still going fine!

Ahh, the Greeks. The only EU country where the average scrapping age is higher than Finland's.

As for the cars in the pictures, that's madness. Certainly some of the cars would have been worth more than £2,000? I suppose the dealers don't want the trade-ins...

 

[wltsm]

This scrapage scheme has worked out perfectly for us, our 10 year old golf died a few months ago (as pictured in my avatar), with 250,000 miles on the clock. It isn't drivable, the engine doesn't work, and would cost too much to repair but it still has a valid MOT. No one would pay £2000 for a 10 year old car with that many miles and doesn't drive. Does seem a shame because the interior is still in perfect conduction though.