Another Minor goes for scrappage

[ASL642]

The rules of this new scrappage scheme are that once the car has been signed over by the owner it has to be scrapped. Nothing can save it. It can be stripped for some parts, but may not be sold again as a "whole car"

[Sidney'61]

However in the case of a 1954 Riley RME a member of the riley club spotted it after it had been traded in but before it left for the breakers and managed to find another member of the club who was willing to buy it off the dealers for £2000

[dunketh]

Sadly money talks.
For all we know the owner may have tried and failed to sell it at a decent price already.

Shame about the stupid scrappage rules really. One example where a bit of dishonesty would be more than welcome. Ring it and sell it on!
I'd happily drive a black rotter in there and swap plates while the scrap dealer looked somewhere else.

(Yes I know.. its wrong..etc..etc..)

[rayofleamington]

I'd happily drive a black rotter in there and swap plates while the scrap dealer looked somewhere else.

(Yes I know.. its wrong..etc..etc..)

yes, technically that's very naughty...but would be in a good cause!

[alainmoran]

Given that the chassis no is only stamped on a bit of tin and nowhere else on the shell, how would anyone ever know? ;D

[paulk]

It is stamped on the shell but only on some cars and I think there are only 2 places it normally goes.

And although usually throughly law abiding I to would do some slight of hand If I had a similair duff minor to a hypothetical scrapper (with MOT too)

[alainmoran]

I'd be interested to find out where those spots are ... someone please PM me.

[aupickup]

it is stamped on the drivers floor pan

[PSL184]

and / or bulkhead adjacent to the accelerator cable entry point.....

[Mick_Anik]

I well understand the feelings of despair, but without knowing the circumstances........?

A couple of years ago, I had a small rented workshop in Bucks for a few months. I had to leave it as I found it - clean and empty. I was doing sixteen-hour days for a couple of weeks to finish the welding on a Morris I brought to Poland, and then had to put it all together and get it running. Then I had to take stuff to the tip - along with it an engine which had lost the number tab from the block. I was dead on my feet, and couldn't find the will to take the cylinder head and other useful bits off it - only half an hour's work!

I still find it hard to believe that I did this, but at the time..................

[daveallgood]

Why are political issues taboo here?

[Furrtiv]

Oh I've just started a monstrous rabt about this in Off Topic, due to a young work colleague scrapping a perfectly useable 80s Micra today, the idiot!

But I can't believe that this car is going to be crushed, what an uter waste! I'm sorry but I dion't think that there are many people out there that don't know what a Minor is or don't have the time and werewithal to find out a rough idea of value. So no, no excuses in my mind for this one, or the other classics, and I agree, pre-1973 cars should have been exempted from this ludicrous scheme from the start!

[alainmoran]

Dave, they aren't so much taboo as inappropriate ... if you want to talk politics then you go to a politics message board, if you want to talk about morris minors then you come here ... simples

Topics like Politics & Religion are just too heated for the smooth running of any board ... I have my opinions, you have yours, there may even be common ground, however I'd hate to fall out with someone over something like that.

[Furrtiv]

This was a particularly nasty reply I received on another forum when I got into a debate on the scrappage scheme;

That stupid scrappage scheme, is keeping people in work. A lot of my mates have lost their jobs in the car industry during this recession and anything the government can do to kick start the industry i welcome.

So **** the ******* micra, i bet it looks better as a cube

It does seem that some people really can't see what's going on. And I don't see it kick-starting the car indusrty when that's been going down the pan for years anyway, I thought sales where still way down on last year's figures?

[rayofleamington]

That stupid scrappage scheme, is keeping people in work. A lot of my mates have lost their jobs in the car industry during this recession and anything the government can do to kick start the industry i welcome.

I'm loosing my R&D job in the auto industry and still strongly dislike the scrappage scheme (due to the rules being dumb, e.g. allowing scrappage of rare/historic cars).
An early 80's Micra could well be older than my first Minor was when I got it... (it was 24 years old) - there's an endless debate about what constitutes 'classic'. Unfortunately it's rarely a useful debate as often everyone will keep to their own predetermined views.

[les]

So **** the ******* micra, i bet it looks better as a cube

You,ve got to laugh though!

[GeoffC]

Let's not forget it may have been inherited by someone who didn't like/know anything about these cars. This would have been a heaven sent opportunity for them to get a new car. It may look fantastic from where we are sitting but it could have also just failed an MOT in a big way that the owner couldn't afford to repair and didn't have the time/space to keep until they could. Sad but that's life.

Well, the owner must have had the car for at least 12 months to qualify for the idiotic scrappage scheme. That's plenty of time, in my view, for him/her to do some research and establish the car's true value and realise the utter stupidity of his/her actions.

Also, the car must have a valid MOT to qualify, which is the most ridiculous part of the whole scheme in my opinion. If those old bangers without a snowball's chance of passing an MOT were targetted, it might just begin to make sense!

I've yet to hear a sensible explanation as to why the scheme was introduced. The only two reasons I've heard bandied about are:-

1, To take the most dangerous and most polluting vehicles off the road and replace them with a modern tin box which is supposedly less polluting and therfore better for the environment.

As we all know, this is male bovine excrement, given the amount of pollution generated in manufacturing a new car compared to keeping a Classic on the road!

2, To generate new car sales and give a boost to the Motor industry.

Surely, that should be to give a boost to the BRITISH motor industry, which ain't going to happen as long as we are giving an incentive for owners of older cars to trade them in for scrap and buy imported vehicles. In my view, if we must have this stupid scheme, then it should ONLY apply to the purchase of a British built car.

Roll on February, when it's due to end!

[LouiseM]

the car must have a valid MOT to qualify, which is the most ridiculous part of the whole scheme in my opinion. If those old bangers without a snowball's chance of passing an MOT were targetted, it might just begin to make sense!

Just because a car has a valid MOT it does not mean that it is roadworthy. Classic Car Weekly recently saved a Bond Equipe from being scrapped under the scheme. It had wires dangling out from the dash, the passenger door swung open when driving and the brakes seized up 2 miles from the dealership.

In my view, if we must have this stupid scheme, then it should ONLY apply to the purchase of a British built car.

The scheme appeals to those who want to buy a cheap car and unfortunately these are not built in Britain any more. Even the Ford Ka is now built in Poland. Those that can afford to buy British built cars - Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lotus, Bentley etc - are not likely to be in need of £1000 from the Government. The cheapest British built cars - the Nissan Micra and Toyota Auris - have increased sales due to the scheme.

Roll on February, when it's due to end!

Current indications are that due to the popularity of the scheme the money will run out at the end of October although the motor industry is pressing for an extension.

It is not nice to think of classic cars in good condition being scrapped but at the end of the day people have the right to do what they want with their own vehicles. People are far too quick to jump to conclusions and criticise others without knowing the full circumstances. Who are we to call people using the scheme "stupid" or "ignorant" just because they have decided to do something that we would perhaps not?

[alainmoran]

I do still feel though it would have made a whole lot more sense that rather than cubing the cars that they should be stripped of all recyclable/reusable materials first ... that would at least help some in supporting the rather dubious green credentials of the scheme.

[LouiseM]

The breakers who receive scrappage cars are free to remove any parts that they wish before scrapping the shell.

Incidently, someone on another forum has been in contact with the breakers yard that the car at the start of this post was sent to in order to obtain parts so hopefully some will live on in another Minor.