Car scrappage - £2,000.

[Bill Sikes]

Originally Posted by OpenMind

Just to add to the bollocks of it all, the tax on older air-choking, smog-creating cars is cheaper than on new 'breathe through the nose smog free' cars.

Older cars (within limits) are not necessarily much more polluting - certainly in the 10-year age range we're talking about. The problem they're supposedly addressing is not "smog" - it's CO2. There's a direct relationship between MPG and CO2 emissions. MPG has not improved very greatly in 10 years.

For a quick reduction in CO2 emissions - get rid of the requirement to fit catalytic converters. There would also be beneficial reductions in manufacturing emissions from the production of these useless things. Also, drop the road tax for high-MPG cars - say, at the moment, those giving better than 55MPG combined - and jack it up on ones giving fewer MPG - say £1000 per annum for those doing fewer than 18 MPG combined.

[Snowfire]

Originally Posted by Bill Sikes

Older cars (within limits) are not necessarily much more polluting - certainly in the 10-year age range we're talking about. The problem they're supposedly addressing is not "smog" - it's CO2. There's a direct relationship between MPG and CO2 emissions. MPG has not improved very greatly in 10 years.

For a quick reduction in CO2 emissions - get rid of the requirement to fit catalytic converters. There would also be beneficial reductions in manufacturing emissions from the production of these useless things. Also, drop the road tax for high-MPG cars - say, at the moment, those giving better than 55MPG combined - and jack it up on ones giving fewer MPG - say £1000 per annum for those doing fewer than 18 MPG combined.

Yeah that seems to make more sense than taxing the car according to engine capacity. However what you're asking politicians to do is to make decisions based on logic and common sense. Thats something they've never been able to do

[oscar]

Originally Posted by OpenMind

Just to add to the bollocks of it all, the tax on older air-choking, smog-creating cars is cheaper than on new 'breathe through the nose smog free' cars. It makes you wonder why our leaders aren't required to have a leadership qualification.
Where is Spot?

Excuse me for being thick here for a moment but surely if people who can only afford lower end of the market cars hang onto them longer..... they will eventually run out of lower end of the market cars???? Then dodgy dealers will put their prices up on old bangers to cash in creating a far worse problem? Then what happens when the car some-one's held onto longer finally packs up and there are no cheap cars for that owner to buy as a replacement?

Didn't think it through did he?

[OpenMind]

Originally Posted by oscar

Excuse me for being thick here for a moment but surely if people who can only afford lower end of the market cars hang onto them longer..... they will eventually run out of lower end of the market cars???? Then dodgy dealers will put their prices up on old bangers to cash in creating a far worse problem? Then what happens when the car some-one's held onto longer finally packs up and there are no cheap cars for that owner to buy as a replacement?

Didn't think it through did he?

I'll be lucky if I can afford to buy more string to hold my old one together with never mind afford a another car.

[oscar]

Originally Posted by OpenMind

I'll be lucky if I can afford to buy more string to hold my old one together with never mind afford a another car.

It's a shame as there are some good deals around at the moment. I got a new car out of nessessity..... I was taking my life in my hands on the motor-way. Also, with the addition of puppy Rosie, the doggie seatbelts are useless, they can wriggle out of them in minutes. I end up with one on the dash and one in my lap, that's if they are not already having a fight in the back. I had to get an estate to shut the buggers behind a guard in the back. Ahh peace at last.

[OpenMind]

Originally Posted by oscar

It's a shame as there are some good deals around at the moment. I got a new car out of nessessity..... I was taking my life in my hands on the motor-way. Also, with the addition of puppy Rosie, the doggie seatbelts are useless, they can wriggle out of them in minutes. I end up with one on the dash and one in my lap, that's if they are not already having a fight in the back. I had to get an estate to shut the buggers behind a guard in the back. Ahh peace at last.

Yes. I can see how that must have been a bit awkward for safe driving.

[cogob]

The question is, is it more enviromentaly friendly to keep a vehicle running longer against the resources required to manufacture a new vehicle????

[gmc]

Originally Posted by cogob

The question is, is it more enviromentaly friendly to keep a vehicle running longer against the resources required to manufacture a new vehicle????

No it's not and there are a lot of car on the road worth less than £2,000-mine for instance but it's less than ten years old. What price some teenagers first car now? It's will mean that those who used to be able to at least buy a car will find it harder as the minimum price will be £2,000.

[Bill Sikes]

Originally Posted by cogob

The question is, is it more enviromentaly friendly to keep a vehicle running longer against the resources required to manufacture a new vehicle????

It depends on what the fuel consumption of it is compared to that of the putative replacement. If they're the same, then obviously keeping the current vehicle running is better.

[Snowfire]

If the government has any serious intention of helping the motorist and to be environmental, then surely they should be looking to encouraging and subsidising the development and manufacture of hydrogen fuel cells, rather than electric batteries.

Hydrogen fuel cell cars are expensive at the moment and while hydrogen is plentyful, it takes a bit of effort and technology to "capture" it - though no more so than oil. It contribute zero emmision polution. Water being the only thing that comes from the exhaust.

This could be the future of motoring