New Real car - scrap-age deals ??
 

Any one seen any really good car deals recently ?

I'm considering swopping my old T reg puma in on one of those scrappage deal jobbies ?

I'm just after a really good deal, not too fussed what car it is - anyone had any good experience of using the scrapage deals ?

http://www.carscrappage.co.uk/
only 4 weeks left, and I have heard that they try to tie you into a nasty finance package, so that you pay more total than getting a free interest or low interest deal, and throwing old one away.

That sounds about right :mad:

Andy

Personally i hate that scheme. Being a banger driver i have seen loads off clean raceable cars go in the bin. Loads have been roadworthy aswell. It is now really hard to find a decent car for racing. I will be glad when the scheme has gone.

It has also affected the second hand car market aswell. Im trying to get a car sorted for the road but i cant find any in my price range that are anywhere near decent. plus it is hard to even find cars for cheap as most people now have the idea they can Pet £2000 for their car in the scheme while i can barely manage £100.

Just chipping in my thoughts.

Went to vauxhall today with the scrappage a brand new Corsa was cheaper than a second hand one. My parents are after one, i wouldn't touch one personally, i find all vauxhalls uncomfortable.

thats why i take them banger racing. they are much more fun that way:thumbsup:. but not as comfortable:(

I think you'd get a better deal without going in to the scrappage scheme, just by haggleing the dealer down - they all need your money now as their on their arses!

Places like Ford, Vauxhall, Fiat etc will knock more off as their monthly quotas are far higher than others and need to shift cars!

Managed to knock off 4k on my Astra at the start of the recession, and got in 12 months free tax, tank of fuel and a months insurance just by playing hard to get!
I've just purchased a Mini Cooper and got a grand off that, even with williams whos monthly quota is lower than others due to higher prices and better depreciation than most - everyone is struggling!

agreed play hard ball they get a huge kick back off the finance maybe 1500quid thats what you got to play with;)

I hate this scheme.

I've seen old minis scrapped and someone up the street passed away, she was a nice old lady, had a split screen morris minor, it's soon to be someone's toaster or dishwasher. Infact alot of stuff that was getting rare is now almost extinct.


I'm currently learning to drive (about time, I'm 26) and I found myself looking at buying new because it's so cheap, that and spares for older cars are getting crushed on a daily basis. :confused:

(Background. I drive a '98 S plate MK4 golf TDI. I've been messing around with Golfs since I could drive so 10 years now and did 2 years in a Volkswagon specialist and I can pretty much do any job required on it)

my manager traded her T plate cougar in for a new Toyota IQ recently.

She said to me the other day I should do the same. I said, "whatever for? it's a diesel volkswagen with 1/4 mil on the clock it'll run forever" she said "yeah, but it's getting a bit long in the tooth now and soon you'll have to start spending loads of money to get it through the MOT's"

Since I have no labour bill and I get parts at trade prices I don't really see me spending loads to get it through any MOT anytime soon. And as far as I remember having known my car for 4 years now it's never needed anything doing to it to get it through the MOT and I've owned it for just over 2 years now. 1/4 million miles on it's 2nd gearbox and original engine with some of the lowest emissions the MOT tester had seen in a long time. I've never had to add any significant amount of coolant to it and apart from the blown gearbox it's never broken down which was partly my fault for driving with a knackered dual-mass flywheel which detonated my diff 60 miles later.

surely with this scheme coming to an end there's going to be a big gap in the 2nd hand car market were there are no cars between 99 and 2004 for example because they all got scrapped :confused:

What a load of shit you have just posted, to say car dealers are on there arse now at this time is just verbal bullshit. They have never had it so good with this scrappage scheme, most have reported record sales for this time of year. The likes of Ford, Vauxhall, Fiat etc like the ones you have just mentioned above, and whats this load of shit about playing hard to get? Dealers will always make money out of you no matter what, for example Vauxhall where knocking Vectras out at £8000 less than the rrp, alright the new insignia was due out and at the time people wasnt buying cars, but if you worked it out after all the interest was paid and the final payment went through, you actually paid the rrp for the car.
Alright i have seen deals of a low percentaged, but you will not get £4000 knocked off that price, but if you px your car in the scrappage scheme you will get the £2000 off. Ive even seen deals where the manufacturer to match the 2k, but i bet they make it back on interest, thats how they work.

Hell, didn't really want to start a debate on the pro's and cons !
Just wondered if anyone had seen any really good deals ?

I have a car that qualifies, and i'd like to keep it, but it has an electrical fault that so far 3 garages can't find the answer to. The battery keeps going flat (had a new battery, obviously) but I can't keep throwing money at it. I'm now a the point where my local garage says I can swop this and that (alternator for example) but there's no guarantees, it would be a process of elimination and hopefully fixing it that way !!

I'm not interested in any crazy finance deals, i'd be looking to swop the car in, if it comes to it, and then paying for the new car.

I'd love to keep my 99T Reg Puma, as it's only done 50K, but if it won't start and has a dead battery every now and again, I can't live with it (well I can, bit the missus can't when she needs to ferry kids around) !

Andy, if your car has only done 50k its got plenty of life left in it. My basic of basic car knowledge would point to the alternator as its the main component that re charges the battery. Car batteries need replacing every few years esp on cars that dont do much mileage as if your not really using the car on big journeys the alternator wont be able to charge it back to its peak. The cold weather recently wont have helped as you would be using the heaters more, windscreen heater element etc etc.

Unless the car has a few problems, id maybe look up a ford specialist or breakers on the internet ( ford forums are the best bet ) and take it from there.

Col.:D

I found that I could barter a new car down significantly if you are flexible about what you want, about a year we got a seat altea XL, brand new list price £16,500, we paid £13k and then got a grand more for the car we traded in that they were selling on autotrader for. I am a firm believer that the scrappage scheme is a method for dealers being able to convince people they are getting a good deal so they dont haggle!

Best thing is to look at a car then walk away, ring them up and do the bartering, its much easier when you are on your own turf and not theirs! Start off with getting the extras you want, then go for discount, then the interest rate, then the servicing, then finally go for the gift cabinet. I got a Lexus IS250, new in Sept 2008, list price with extras was £28k, I paid £23,500 and got 4% flat rate finance, 3 years free servicing and then got the Lexus wallet and watch as a final deal swinger.

You just have to be willing to haggle haggle haggle, plus have an idea what your part ex is worth by seeing what they are selling on Ebay, autotrader etc for.

As for the puma and its battery - I am not a mechanic but have done a fair bit of car tinkering in the past, measure the battery and see it is at 12V ish, then start the car and measure again, it should be 14V, if any less then its the alternator. If it is 14V or higher, remove the negative from the battery and put a multimeter in between the -ve cable and the battery terminal, see what current is being drawn with everything off, I am no expert but I would imagine it should be less than 50mA. Then remove a fuse at a time till it goes to zero, that will tell you what the leakage is and give you an idea what circuit to look at - worst case, you can remove that fuse when you leave the car! If there is a leakage all the time no matter how many fuses you remove, I would say the diodes in the alternator are shot - a new alternator should sort that - however I find it hard that a good auto electrician couldnt do all that!

It may also be worth just trying another battery - if the old one was dud due to age and you buy a new one - it might be the new one that is also dud - it wouldnt be the first time.

Hope this helps.....

Topher.

Many thanks for all the advice. It's taken me weeks to learn what you put in that post !

I have had the new battery changed, so I assume I can dismiss that one. The electrician said there was a very slight drain from the alarm and the radio, but nothing out of the ordinary.

I really would like to keep the car if I can get to the bottom of the problem, it's just that it will be worth much less than 2k when the scrapage deal ends, so I was wondering if I should just trade it in while it's still worth something.

Our old primera 96' was dumping over the christmas period, we had the amp meter on the battery, took out the fuses one by one etc but unable to find the drain, into main dealer, replaced battery, still dumping pulled all fuses still 3amp drain, disconnected alternator and the drain stopped, new alternator and the cars as good as ever, 160k and still going strong - cost me £550 (mostly labour) and possibly more than its worth !! and while the work was going on there were no guarantees and we were looking at 400plus work done before the alternator.
We were looking at Skodas, Vat off some models new, discount on others seemed to be worth more than the scrapage scheme, looked at 6 month old and less than 10k and they seemed an even better deal. but now we are trusting the primera again, roll on the mot.

Andy,

As JCJC says, the alternators can pack in and cause a current drain - its not just them not charging the battery properly - typcially the diodes go and its cheaper to buy a recon alternator than pay the labour to replace the diodes.

How long does it take for the battery to go dead - i.e. the car wont start? If it is overnight, it may just be worth disconnecting the alternator one night and see if it makes a difference - there is normally a plug on the back of them that you can remove. Dont forget the puma is the same as a fiesta - running gear wise, so there are hundreds in scrappys so a replacement alternator will be a cheap fix if you can be confident that is the problem. Other issues can be the radiator fans where the relays go and they stay on long after you have walked in the house - and they stay for 2 hours till the battery is flat!

Cheers for the reply.

Can you tell m how I check for a drain myself, I have a digital voltmeter and it would be good to try the things you did, especially disconnecting the alternator to see if it's draining whilst it's stood still !

Put the multimeter across the battery and set the car at a fast idle, you should be getting 13.5-14.4 volts across the terminals. If you get much lower that can point to the alternator.

If i were you id keep the Puma as its been widely regarded as a very tidy handling fun car.

For the money your going to spunk on a new eurobox youd be hard pushed to have as much fun as you would in your lovely little Puma.