scrappage Question

[w124coupe]

I used to check the price of hire cars I was driving and surprise surprise Motorpoint would almost always have batches of that exact spec and at the sorts of mileages the cars are disposed of from the rental companies.

No coincidence.

As long as you know what you're buying it's not a problem. But there are some people who have hangups if they discover their car was an ex-rental *after* they buy it.

Quite hard to find out the "end user" rental outfit as they all seem to have a fairly bland finance company name on the V5 as the first owner.

They all get moved on before the first service is due though!

 

[James Rothwell]

It's all they are allowed. They have the 1.9 (105bhp) and 1.4 diesels. The 105 is noisy but in 130bhp guise it's quiet.
The polo only has the 1.4 tdi available.





If I remember, next time I speak to SiL I'll get her to ask as She's best buddies with the founders.

The 1.4TDi is literally the 1.9TDi unit with a cylinder lopped off the end, so it's still pretty loud compared to other diesels, but both have got a lot of pull compared to other small diesels like the Vauxhall 1.3CDTi. But both the 1.4TDi and 1.9TDi will be phased out for the new 1.6CR TDi which is about the same on fuel (marginally better in some cases) as the 1.4TDi but it just as powerful as the outgoing 1.9TDi but because it's newer CR (common rail) technolodgy it is a lot more refined, but typically with Skoda these kinds of progress takes AGES to come through, we've just got the engine on the Octavia but not on anything else. I'm not sure why they don't just put the 2.0TDi CR engine in the Fabia, it'll fit as the 2.0TDi and 1.9TDi have the same mountings, because it's the same engine only the head is particulary different. Not really sure why I felt compelled to write all that, especially since it's offtopic...

Er... Yes scrappage is being extended by 100k cars and they might be changing to date of how old the scrappage car needs to be, right now it's T plate but it might go to V-plate. We've found scrappage to be a good success in terms of doing the numbers but profits are minimal it's pretty much once I've been paid and the valeters and been paid a couple quid profit for the garage, but it helps towards out targets and it generates used cars for us to service and get in part exchange in future.

The government has actually admited to making money out of the scrappage scheme, the amount of VAT they taken exceeds the amount of money they've put into the scrappage scheme, so it's a winner for them. The only downside of scrappage is the utter lack of older used cars now. We've had so many what I call perfect first time cars come in as scrappage, it seems a bit of a waste. Surely it would make sense for the government to not call it scrappage and just give everyone an extra £1,000 towards buying a new car and leaving it at that.

 

[Dieselman]

I'm not sure why they don't just put the 2.0TDi CR engine in the Fabia, it'll fit as the 2.0TDi and 1.9TDi have the same mountings, because it's the same engine only the head is particulary different.

Because VAG are limiting supply of the 2.0 to the mainstream (presumably more profitable) brands, not the less profitable ones.
It's good for consumers though because the PD fuel system is much more reliable and durable than a CR one.

Surely it would make sense for the government to not call it scrappage and just give everyone an extra £1,000 towards buying a new car and leaving it at that.

Part of the incentive was to reduce car Co2 emissions, so the cars need to be permanently removed and new lower emission ones used in their place for this to happen. Also if the cars weren't removed they would still be in circulation so not as many new ones would be required.

Why does this scheme make car sales not profitable for the dealer, surely it's the manufacturer giving the discount, not the dealer?

 

[James Rothwell]

I can't speak for all brands but for Skoda the dealer puts in puts in the majority of the margin so we are left with a very small amount of margin left to play with and then the Government puts in the thousand and whatever the difference is Skoda make up so on a base Fabia they don't put in much but on a Octavia vRS with a £3,500 allowance Skoda put in a fair chunk. It basically means that what we are selling most of the base Fabia1 1.2 we earn roughly £23 (yes, twenty-three) after we've paid myself, the workshop and the valeters. But as I said before it counts towards our annual target, unlike Alfa Romeo where the scrappage deals don't count towards target but they are slightly more profitable per deal as AlfaUK are seemingly more generous than Skoda for some reason.

 

[Dieselman]

unlike Alfa Romeo where the scrappage deals don't count towards target but they are slightly more profitable per deal as AlfaUK are seemingly more generous than Skoda for some reason.

Because they are having a harder time shifting metal and the scrappage cars don't count towards target.

 

[J400uk]

some off topic ramblings about vw diesel engines

Because VAG are limiting supply of the 2.0 to the mainstream (presumably more profitable) brands, not the less profitable ones.

The 2.0 TDI is only allowed in C-segment upwards cars, so unfortunately it will never be available in anything smaller i.e. Polo, Ibiza, Fabia and A1. Shame as the 1.9 TDI 130 worked rather well in the last Fabia, but it will never get a true sucessor.

The 1.6 TDI on the other hand will be available in the Polo, Ibiza, Fabia and A1 but only in 75, 90 and 105 bhp guises. Replaces the 1.4 and 1.9 PD TDI.

It's good for consumers though because the PD fuel system is much more reliable and durable than a CR one.

The VW CR units are far superior to the PD units in every way.

 

[Dieselman]

Shame as the 1.9 TDI 130 worked rather well in the last Fabia, but it will never get a true sucessor.

The VW CR units are far superior to the PD units in every way.

Sure regarding smoothness and emissions, but in terms of reliability and durability.? My local Bosch diesel centre strongly disagrees.

 

[J400uk]

Sure regarding smoothness and emissions, but in terms of reliability and durability.? My local Bosch diesel centre strongly disagrees.

Perhaps, but they have been only been out for a year or so now. Only time will tell I guess.

 

[James Rothwell]

Because they are having a harder time shifting metal and the scrappage cars don't count towards target.

In terms of shifting metal neither Alfa or Skoda have ever been busier. Alfa Romeo have sold more MiTos than all of their entire range last year and used cars are very strong on the 159 and Brera. Also Skoda have got a 3% market share of compared to 1.8% last year which I know isn't much but they are a very small brand.

So as far as shifting metal goes things are going well, in fact we haven't got any stock. The only Fabia I could sell today and deliver in the next month is a single Auto, got a couple of Octavias, a 2 Yetis and a Superb. That is my entire stock, usually I'd have 15-20 cars that I could sell straight away and delivery at the same time but stock levels have dwindled. Friends of mine who work for Mini, Vauxhall, BMW all report the same. The manufactures aren't used to the demand for this many right hand drive cars.