What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
Scrap muddle
As the proud owner of a 19-year-old Renault 5 1.7 I was interested in the new initiative that might tempt me to sell our old car. I have read that the Citroen C1 is quite a good, cheap city car so checked it out with a couple of dealers in the North West. The basic model seems to have a manufacturers price of £7,795 OTR whereas dealers have been advertising the car at a discounted £6,395 for the past month. Therefore I thought that after taking into account the £2k scrappage initiative I might have to pay £4,395. Wrong. Both dealers informed me that the discount comes off the manufacturers price, hence I could buy one for £5,795. This seems rather peculiar given Citroen were able to offer it for sale for only £500 more before the Budget announcement. Does this mean that Citroen claims £1k back from HM Government but only gives a £500 additional discount for the car. Nice business if you can get it.
Asked on 6 June 2009 by
Answered by
Honest John
No, it means that because the scrappage scheme puts people into the cheapest cars, demand and supply means that the cheapest cars ultimately become more expensive. Realistically, Citroen could not have afforded to supply a C1 for £4,395. The company already sells cars to the UK at a 20% less than Euro prices. And it isn’t going to sell cars at a loss if it doesn't have to.
Our honest used car pricing is a little bit different to all the others. You can get to our values through make or model - you don’t have to follow a prescribed route. Plus, it’s live, which means we can react to changes in the market quicker than any printed price guide.
Honest Used Car Prices
From which small car to buy at which price point to the best UK-built cars, our Top 10s have the lot. Click now for your shortlist.
Unsure of what to buy? Our Top 10s are here to help you....
Dear Honest John,
Please help me choose my next car. I would like it to have:
Please help me choose my next car. I would like it to have:
Similar questions
My wife is in the process of changing car and she has driven both the Toyota Yaris 1.3 5 door and the Honda Jazz 1.4 both new. She is using the scrappage scheme and although the Toyota is the best deal...
Following your advice we bought a Hyundai i10 under the scrappage scheme last July. Today we had a 'phone call from the salesman offering us a new i10 in p/x for our old one and it would only cost us £499,...
I have been advised to write to you for some advice, my wife and I decided to purchase a Smart car during 2009 and wished to take advantage of the scrappage scheme, our old car was first registered on...
.jpg)
