1:28 pm, June 20, 2009
JUST had a call from my little brother. He’s looking to buy a new car under the scrappage scheme and is out and about shopping for a new car today.
If ever there was an example of the scrappage scheme working it’s this. I know, for a fact he would never, ever be in the market for a new car. But with the £2,000 incentive for his worthless piece-of-tosh Proton, he’s seen it as too good an opportunity to miss.
Problem is, the clock’s ticking. An expensive MOT and tax bill are looming at the end of the week – both required of cars being chopped in under scrappage – so the order needs to be placed asap.
Savvy as ever, he’s done a blinding deal with the local Kia dealer. He’s chopping in my mum’s old Merc A-Class, which he’s been offered £1750 for, AND his car under scrappage, so in total will be getting at least £3,750 off the price of the Soul he’s looking at.
With a PCP deal it works out at about £150 a month for a blinding brand-new car.
And he’s not the only person I know who’s taken advantage of the scheme. Yes, it might have come in for heavy crticism, but with figures showing last week 60,000 orders have already been placed under scrappage and likely many more to come, I think it’s just about doing the job.
Only time – and registration figures – will tell if it’s worked. But at the moment, the signs are looking very positive. And if it’s got my brother into a car dealership, then in my book, it must be working – because it’s hard enough getting a round out of him let alone cash for a new car…
Fingers crossed scrappage carries on the way it’s begun…
James
