Hyundai Scrappage – amazing trade-ins

As you have probably realised by now, we are not huge fans of the (S)crappage scheme. It’s poorly drafted and really just a sop to the pressure put on the Government to emulate what the Germans did. And in truth it probably only helps buyers of budget cars and the dealers supplying them (but of course, you can do what two guys did recently – get the £2,000 Scrappage allowance against a Nissan GT-R!).

But it does seem to be producing good results for Hyundai, with their Hyundai i10 flying out of showrooms. Which is no real surprise. The £2,000 Scrappage allowance is a big chunk of such a cheap car, and is probably achievable for a high number of owners of ‘Clunkers’. But Hyundai are reporting some pretty astonishing trade-ins, which are almost on a par with getting the Scrappage allowance against a GT-R!

True to say that a lot of the cars being traded make sense. Hyundai has seen the Nissan Micra traded in more than anything else (followed by the Ford Escort), but there are some real star cars on the list. One guy traded a Jaguar XJS against a Hyundai i10 and another an XJ6 against an i20. But Hyundai have had BMWs and Mercedes traded, and even an MX-5.

But it’s some of the more desirable older cars that we worry about. There have been MGBs traded in and a Fiat X1/9. Surely these won’t end up in the crusher? At least the still usable parts should be receycled for restoring these cars. Two of the oldest cars traded where a Morris Minor (surely someone could have restored a Moggie) and one that brought a tear to my eye – an Austin 1100 – my very first car!

Still, it might get some real old bangers off the road. One 94 year old from Ashford was late picking up his brand new Hyundai i10 because a wheel had fallen off his ancient Citroen on the way to the showroom!