We own a 12 year old Mazda that has been in a number of bumps and scrapes and is on its last legs (the boot no longer opens for example). We have owned it for 6 years.
2 weeks ago we took delivery of a new A3 to replace the Saab (PCP), the theory being we would run the Mazda to its next MOT, then see if it passed and scrap it if not. We would then go to one car as we don't really need two at the moment.
Now it seems if we had waited we could have got at least a grand off the A3. Should have learnt from the stamp duty mess shouldn't I....
Anyway, with the VAT rate lower and £2k potentially up for grabs I wonder if we would be better off buying a cheap and cheerful Panda or Corsa, using the Mazda as the px with this discount and then keeping this little car as a run-around for the next 10 years... I would prefer to buy outright but with the Vauxhall finance deals even that seems pointless.
Question is, should I by a cheap and cheerful car just because it has got even cheaper, or should I just be angry at my bad timing?
Edited by Honestjohn on 24/04/2009 at 05:44
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In a nutshell it sounds like you'll be spending £6k to save £2k, and ending up with a car you don't really want or need.
It really comes down to how much you need or want that 'runabout' second car.
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The scrapage scheme will no doubt change beyond all recognition when Labour shortly is booted out of office. Doing what you suggest OP will be just as big a gamble as buying lottery tickets.
Edited by Honestjohn on 24/04/2009 at 05:45
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when Labour shortly is booted out of office.
Says who?
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Says no-one on this forum!! Motoring, not politics please :-)
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A twelve year old Mazda on its last legs? The non-opening boot might be a simple 30 minutes job. Get a quote to fix the Mazda, and compare with the real cost of trading it in and buying a new runabout, and then running/owning that for three years. Since the mazda isn't worth much, it won't go down in value, though it might need a few bits fixing each MoT time.
The £2k discount may not be available on the cheapest runabout, anyway, as the mfr has to put in £1,000.
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You said you could manage with 1 car so i wouldn't spend 6/7k on a new car because you can save a little on it, when you don't even need it. Everything in life is bad timing.
If anything i would just get the mazda fixed as cheap as possible. So then you can have the convenience of 2 cars and class it as a bonus.
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why not just sell the mazda privately - i fully expect the value of old bangers to go through the roof now.
If you dont need another car, get rid , make some money and cut down you overheads!
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i was going to edit my post, but timed out.
I have now seen that you need to have had the car for over a year - this was expected but no-one seemed to have any real information. This very site has confirmed it.
Still might be a blip in prices though - people make mistakes!
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brettmick i think there has been a few comments in the
newspapers
tv
magazines
down the pub
up the post office
in the cave
about a scrappage scheme of some sorts being adopted here in the british isles,i see you have internet access too so really dont understand why you didnt wait another fortnight till after the budget and then decide whether to chop the old light bulb in
as regards what to do now?
if you fiat dealer has now joined the scrappage scheme get down there now and get a deal done before all the blue rinsers beat you to all the availabubble cars that fiat will send
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Yeah... Car ordered in the February snow when everyone was rubbishing the idea and saying we can't afford it as a country. Well - we can't afford it, but still they do it. Not sure how many votes they think it will buy, but that is off topic. What's worse is Audi have announced they are taking part. I got a good deal on the car I bought, would have been a barnstorming deal with another £2k off.
What is good is that they have said it must be offered across all cars in a range, not £500 for a Corsa and £2000 for an Insignia. I guess the best route is to wait and see.
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There was a Ford ad on the radio this morning saying how you could get up to £5,000 off a new Ford including the Government's scrappage scheme.
Er, who didn't get up to £5,000 off a new Ford before the scrappage scheme??
So that's another 'really effective' government policy, then!
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The full £2000 bribe details haven't been announced yet have they?
I suspect that civil servants are currently pouring through statistics to make sure as few people as possible are eligible, while still paying lip-service for spin doctors to have something to work on - just as with the Powertrain LPG grants.
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All that will happen is that £2k miraculously finds its way onto the price of the car when you announce you have an old car to trade in . . .
The dealer knows you have £2k more to spend and will get it out of you one way or another - after all you can't threaten him with going down the road and buying a six month old model from the local car supermarket can you!
BTW limiting it to UK built new vehicles is illegal under EU law!
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The Fiat Panda I thought about that was available for perhaps £5400 is now advertised as £4,995. £7,100 list, £1,100 from Fiat, £1,000 from the government. This will be how it works. A small saving to be made, but hard negotiations still preferable.
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The £2k discount may not be available on the cheapest runabout anyway as the mfr has to put in £1 000.
Apparently, the deal (as it currently stands) is that participating manufacturers have to offer scrappage on all models. This could obviously be something of a sticking point.
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