Hyundai reports 4,000 scrap car trades in UK, reveals some surprises
Governments all over the world have introduced Cash-For-Clunkers-style programs that are nothing if not controversial. While the stated intent of each of these schemes is to increase new car sales and remove older, dirtier and less fuel efficient vehicles from the road, some powerful organizations have voiced concerns that untold numbers of classic machinery may be lost forever for no good reason. Could it be that both sides are right? New car buyers in the UK are reportedly flocking to Hyundai dealers in droves with a bevy of older vehicles in tow. According to Tony Whitehorn, Hyundai UK's managing director:
"For many [the scrappage scheme] is an opportunity to buy their first ever new car, and is enormously exciting. Some people look a little embarrassed when they turn up at a showroom with an old car which is literally falling to pieces but we're happy to take anything as long as it meets the government's criteria. Other buyers have taken the decision to wave goodbye to cars which have been in the family for a generation, but their sadness soon disappears when they get into their new Hyundai."So, just what kinds of cars are being traded in? The Korean automaker reports that both a Jaguar XJ-S and XJ6 have both been scrapped, as have 34 BMWs, 22 Audis and 32 vehicles from Mercedes-Benz. Six Mazda MX-5's, seven MGFs, a 1966 Austin 1100 and a 1968 Morris Minor were also sent to the great scrapheap in the sky along with at least one Citroen that lost a wheel on the way to the dealership.
[Source: The Green Car Website | Photo: Matt and Kim Rudge]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
James 6:35PM (5/26/2009)
"..a 1966 Austin 1100 and a 1968 Morris Minor were also sent to the great scrapheap in the sky.."
Noooooooooooooo......
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Rob 8:24PM (5/26/2009)
I TOLD ALL OF YOU ABOUT THIS.
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/05/05/breaking-lawmakers-reach-agreement-on-cash-for-clunkers-legisla/
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/05/13/cash-for-clunkers-bill-may-get-fast-tracked/
Told you so, told you so, told you so! This is a stupid program to artificially make people who can't afford new cars get new cars, which will screw someone over later (probably tax payers), PLUS IT RUINS CLASSICS. People think this is a green idea, but it's not. Driving an older car into the ground is the greenest possible solution!!! The amount of pollution created in the production of one new car is absolutely enormous:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooN9INJxxy4
The best part: This bill REWARDS the retards who bought horribly oversized SUVs that suck fuel like crazy. You know how some of you were driving fuel efficient cars? Because you didn't feel like wasting gas, and were secure your penis size? Yeah, well, no free handout for you. Only for the stupid people! Let's reward the dumb, and pay for it with taxes of the intelligent!
Oh, and let's get rid of older cars. Nobody likes them. Let's crush them all so nobody can get parts. That's super "green".
J Smith 9:25PM (5/26/2009)
Amen, brother, amen. Not the Moggy! Sad to see some of these classics removed from the road. Practical Classics lamented this aspect of the cash-for-clunkers program when it was first proposed. Seems there was come cause for alarm.
KeatMP 6:36PM (5/26/2009)
"with at least one Citroen that lost a wheel on the way to the dealership."
hahaha
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Jrejre 6:40PM (5/26/2009)
This was my concern with this as soon as I heard about it. I've been looking for a 240-280z in the sub $4000 range and now I'm worried that anything in that price range that's running is going to get scrapped.
Are there any limitations on the age of the model in the U.S. version of this program?
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ryuryuryturtuy 6:43PM (5/26/2009)
Lol, it sound like gestapo, holocaust, world domination something like that.
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James 6:50PM (5/26/2009)
Like "purifying" the automobile race from "imperfections"...
MGBYG 9:16PM (5/26/2009)
More like "purifying" our highways of VW hippie vans, B210s burning oil like a 2 stroke, American Pig Iron from the 70's (looking at you, Granada), and most other crap.
C'mon folks, are you all commenting from your Commador PETs or Intel 386's thru a dial-up modem that actually takes the phone's handset??????
A Granada spews more COx just parked than a Honda Fit does driving a few miles...VOC canisters are a wonderful invention....
J Smith 9:30PM (5/26/2009)
MGBYG--
And a photograph more accurately captures a starry night than a painting. Should we sent Van Gogh's handiwork to the scrap-heap?
GS 11:50AM (5/27/2009)
I would only used the language of genocide when it comes to the mass extermination of people. Other uses dilute the meaning for everything.
Rich 3:41PM (5/27/2009)
GS: agreed.
J Smith: show me a car that can even come close to a Van Gogh sketch and I might have some sympathy. RTFA -- a wheel fell off the Citroen. That's a classic alright; but a joke, not a car.
If it's worth restoring, the work will be done. A few examples might be lost.
Over here in the colonies, it would be a good thing to lose a few clunkers. Maybe that all-original Willy's I passed on the way to work would get caught too? Good. Because it was spewing out filth. Good bloody riddance.
Dave 6:58PM (5/26/2009)
Maybe the dealers should auction off any cars that might be desirable to a collector/restorer in order to raise some dough, instead of sending classics to the scrapheap. I hate to see things like this happen.
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Jei 11:57AM (5/27/2009)
I can see that happening...either inadvertently or by choice. If these dealers are seeing a lot of classics that can be auctioned, they should be able to do so. But the buyer who acquires one of those (scrapped) vehicles at auction should not be allowed to obtain permission to ever drive them again. Ownership can be transferred and a new registration can be made, but the car can only used for display or stored at the owner's expense.
It wouldn't be right to:
1. bring a car in for the "scrap" credit,
2. dealer takes possession and then auctions the car (b/c the owner didn't know it was classic or didn't care),
3. new owner re-registers the car, repairs/reconditions it, and continues to drive it
DKB_SATX 6:59PM (5/26/2009)
The "32 vehicles from Mercedes-Benz" are less surprising in light of an episode of Top Gear I saw recently... May in a Rolls Mulliner Park Ward vs. Clarkson in a Mercedes Grosser... they were comparing their last service bills.
May's Rolls: just over 200 pounds.
Clarkson's Mercedes: something over 15,000 pounds.
Clarkson was protesting that it needed quite a few things, and May asked if the service included a new Golf. Old Mercedes are apparently pricey to keep running in the UK. My oldest friend is a Mercedes tech at a dealership and he tells me they're no picnic to keep up in the states, either.
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Dr. Nick 1:56AM (5/27/2009)
The Grosser Mercedes is a special case. It had all kinds of one-off engineering that is unobtainium now.
XPS-Gadget 9:53AM (5/27/2009)
After owning 2 Audis I can tell you I'm staying away from the German cars next time. Don't get me wrong, I love them, but I cannot afford to keep them running.
Kevin 7:11PM (5/26/2009)
Two old Jaguars going to the scrap heap in the sky? It seems that on a warm saturday afternoon when everyones' garage door is up, you can see the that there are many old Jaguar garage decoration sitting just waiting to be traded fro a new Hyundai. And nothing says "bad credit" like a new Hyundai.
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DKB_SATX 10:08PM (5/26/2009)
Well, nothing says "cheap new transportation" like a new Hyundai, anyway. If you want a genericTransportationPod and are afraid of used, smart money is probably on the Hyundai.
2 friends recently bought midsize sedans. They're pretty much directly comparable... leather, V6, nav, bluetooth, sunroof, yadda yadda yadda.
One bought a V6 Accord with everything and is convinced that he got a fantastic deal at a little over $28k (plus money for the extra warranty, which is stupid because he claimed he wanted to spend more for the Accord because it won't have any problems.)
The other bought a V6 Sonata with everything (essentially all the same features as the Accord, plus Hyundai's better warranty) for just over $19k. No, that isn't a typo. That's after cash incentives, etc. but if anything the guy who bought the Accord is a better negotiator.
The Accord will *NEVER* make back that kind of money in resale.
ederer62 7:23PM (5/26/2009)
Almost all european cars are expensive to fix in the US. Too bad about the Austin, the Morris and most Jaq.'s their usually too nice to scrap.
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Ming 7:27PM (5/26/2009)
Is it bad if I'm feeling bad for the miatas that are being scrapped? At least part them out - freaking second generation tail lights are beyond impossible to come by. (I had to get both of mine replaced this month)
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