i think the scrappage scheme was pure wastage in terms of money and perfect cars being scrapped simply because they were 10 years old, also the wastage of time and nct in scrapping these cars, most of these cars would have recently passed the nct and were not bangers, it was a sop to the big car dealers, it also resulted in huge sums of money leaving ireland for foreign car manufacturers. Surely a better deal would have been to give people grants to improve peoples existing cars CO2 emmisions and safety, this would have resulted in money staying in the economy and going to mechanics etc that do real work not swanning around fancy car showrooms, surely irish people wasted enough money buying mercs and bmws during the boom, in australia which is a lot richer than ireland it is perfectly acceptably to drive around in a 20 year old or older cars, yet we brand cars that are just 10 years old with plenty of life in them bangers, its just stupidity
scrappage scheme pure wastage
- Thread starter joe sod
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Well it kept my brother who works for a dealer in a job for the last 18 months, he's worried now.
An awful lot of the cars were not scrapped for bigger cars, they found a lot of the cars bought were smaller cars.
And how do you improve a 20 yr old cars CO2 emmissions and safety,? It's not a house that you can add insulation to. Surely from a green perspective, it makes more sense to take higher polluting cars off the road
An awful lot of the cars were not scrapped for bigger cars, they found a lot of the cars bought were smaller cars.
And how do you improve a 20 yr old cars CO2 emmissions and safety,? It's not a house that you can add insulation to. Surely from a green perspective, it makes more sense to take higher polluting cars off the road
Only cars in CO2 emissions bands A or B could be purchased under the scheme.
Practically, I'm with you on that, I don't think you can.
There's a huge CO2/ environmentat cost associated with each new car produced in terms of resources, manufacturing and distribution. It'd take many years for most 10 year old cars to counter balance that argument.
I wholeheartedly agree with Joe Sod.
I was driving behind a 2001 golf on sunday and thought how would you even dream of scrapping a 10 year old car, they're so well built these days.
It's not good for the environment and it does lead to money immediately leaving the country.
Yes, the extra VAT/Excise probably covers the subsidy, but:
1) The subsidy could be given on the purchase of goods produced domestically, which will be a much better boost
2) Most of the additional VAT is simply a prepayment of what would have been collected a year or two down the line.
I was driving behind a 2001 golf on sunday and thought how would you even dream of scrapping a 10 year old car, they're so well built these days.
It's not good for the environment and it does lead to money immediately leaving the country.
Yes, the extra VAT/Excise probably covers the subsidy, but:
1) The subsidy could be given on the purchase of goods produced domestically, which will be a much better boost
2) Most of the additional VAT is simply a prepayment of what would have been collected a year or two down the line.
rustbucket
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I have to disagree there. It was useful. It kept a number of car dealerships in business, which meant that some people managed to keep their jobs (granted not all)!
It also represented value for money for the consumer (discount of 1500 off a new car).
People werent forced to take up the offer, so if they were happy with their ten year old car they didnt have to scrap it. My ten year old golf flew past its NCT no problem, then a couple of weeks later the timing belt went and now its dead. Wish I had taken up the scrappage deal now!
It also (according to a car dealer on the radio this morning) provided the exchequer with 100 million in Tax (this is after the discount)
I do however have to agree that the environmental argument does not stand up. If a ten year old car passes its NCT its within emissions regulations. Scrapping it makes no sense when you consider the impact of destroying it etc.
A foreign holidays support scheme (FHSS) would keep Ryanair and a couple of travel agents in business too.
That doesn't mean that the FHSS would be a good idea.
It also doesn't mean that spending vast amounts of money so that a sliver of it goes to car dealers is a good idea.
If Ireland had a car industry it would be one thing.
We don't, just people employed to sell and service them. Ford closed in Cork a long, long time ago
A subsidy to get rid of your foreign car and buy your new foreign car.
The dealer gets a cut and the majority of the money off to heads off to France, Germany and Japan
We don't, just people employed to sell and service them. Ford closed in Cork a long, long time ago
A subsidy to get rid of your foreign car and buy your new foreign car.
The dealer gets a cut and the majority of the money off to heads off to France, Germany and Japan
Encouraging people to trade in perfectly working cars, and spend money that this country direly needs in savings was a total nonsensical idea. It is akin to telling people to break a window in their house and give a tax break on the cost of a glazier fixing it. You do not create wealth in an economy by destroying stuff that is functioning.
The other effect that the scrappage scheme will have is that now there are less second hand cars, and with a lower supply of second hand cars, the price of second hand cars will be higher than it otherwise would have been.
The other effect that the scrappage scheme will have is that now there are less second hand cars, and with a lower supply of second hand cars, the price of second hand cars will be higher than it otherwise would have been.
Ceist Beag
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Agree with the main thrust of your argument Chris but I can't agree on there being less second hand cars around as a result. The opposite is the case because I believe the cars supposedly scrapped are still on the road!
Interesting point, can you back that up? Talked to a car sales guy a while ago, and he said that most of the cars they had sent to be scrapped were in extremely good order.
Ceist Beag
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No I'm purely going on anecdotal evidence I'm afraid Chris, nothing to back that up (I'm sure the Government would be interested if I had!).
potnoodler
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came across as madness to me to destroy imported items to buy more imported items using tax payers money, while cutting spending everywhere else
rustbucket
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As far as I am aware there was no tax payers money spent. Wasnt it just a discount offered by the government as an incentive? I thought the discount applied to some sort of Tax that would have been paid on the car. Maybe Im wrong though.
I dont think the government actually spent any money on it