Budget - who thought up that one?

Well, what a great budget that was eh?
Let me understand this right. If I am an average motorist who owns a car more than 10 years old, and have owned it for more than a year (i.e. since it was nine year old ...or longer) then I can tradeit in against a brand new car, and the governement will give me £1000, backed up by the motor industry giving me a further £1000, giving a £2000 rebate on a new car. Sounds great. except of course for 2 major problems. One, the motor industry have always given discounts if you ask for them, so all that will happen is that they will absorb the £1000 reduction into the list price of the car, knowing they can the afford to knock £1000 off the sale price. So what should have been a £13,000 car is now a £14,000 car less their discount. With it so far?
The second problem is, hwo many people do you know who drive a ten year old car by choice? Those that can afford a new car buy a new one say every three or four years. Those driving ten year old cars do so because that is all they can afford. This scheme wil not suddenly empower them financially to find the £11,000 to go and buy a new car. No, they will continue to run their ten year old car. Or they will take out finance deals to pay for the new car, thus returning us to the state we have just had, where people are borrowing money they can;t possibly afford to pay back!
Of course the GREENS are happy, because old cars are being crushed and old cars are as we all know dirty and smelly and pollute the atmosphere...... well don't be fooled. The majority of pollution a car will cause is in it;s manufacture, not in it's use. It is far greener to eke as much mileage as is possible out of a car once it has been manufactured, tahn to scrap it and make a new one.
Another concern is our great motoring heritage, and the huge cottage industry that supports it. This scheme may well support jobs in the manufacturing side of the motor industry, but it is a real kick in the teeth of the small restoration company, and the back street garages that make a living out of servicing and MOT testing the older and classic motors. If we drive older cars off the road (no pun intended) we dry up the work for these small businesses.
Ten years may well be the expected lifespan of a Eurobox produced by the modern factories of France, Korea, Japan and (shudder to think of it) China, but even the crap turned out by Rover in it's death throes will comfrtably see out 15 years if not 20 with regular servicing and a little TLC. Volvos, Saabs, BMW's, most VW's many Fords and almost all Jaguars will comfortably last 25 to 30 years - it's only fashion and consumer pressure that has made us change them so frequently in the first place. You have only to look at Cyprus, with it's admittedly kinder climate to see that even the cars of the 1970's when rust proofing was unheard of are still regualr sights on the roads. Cuba is an even bigger inspiration, with cars from the 1950's still in regular use, albeit running more modern LADA engines thanks to the communist regime, but still fettled and fixed to provide daily transport.
Where I wonder do the exoticars sit in the Goverment master plan? Is a 1999 Louts Elise now scrap fodder? Is a 1957 Corvette, in prsitne concours condition a classic worth saving or just a discount off a new Focus?
It's all a scam! The government reckon to have funded sufficent to allow 300,000 "old" cars to be scrapped in this scheme. Lets see what happens in the nest year shall we?

As a post script can I add that my 1994 Ford Fiesta Courier Van would be eligible for this scheme - If I had about £10000 I could trade it in for a new one. The new one would be Diesel engined, and no more economicial or less polluting than the one it replaced. In fact, as mine has already caused it's "production pollutuon" as discussed above and has since been converted to run on used Vegetable Oil it is actually carbon neutral and less polluting than the new one.......
Where, then is the sense in replacing it? Until it suffers a major mechanical failure or fails an MOT I will continue to use it, and unless the Government are willing to up the grants to £10,000, when that day finally comes I will spend another £400 or £500 on one of a simliar age and condition and use that.