Old cars in the London area.

[NomoneyNohoney]

About 15 years ago, I bought a 7 year old low mileage diesel car, planning towards my old age. I was thinking that as I aged, our mileage would decrease, and diesel was the economic fuel. At that time, it was vaguely encouraged by the Government.

Since then, diesel cars have become unacceptable, especially in cities, and now in London, with the ULEZ zone entering force, my diesel car would cost £12.50 each day to drive in the zone. Parked = free, but being used, £12.50 per day. The other discouragement is that as the car has aged, its become less reliable, and if sold, was only worth about £450.00 plus was getting used less and less. The days of pleasure in driving (for me) seem to have gone.

Enter that nice Mr. Sadiq Khan. To bribe Londoners to get rid of the cars that are so dangerous, he offered a Scrappage Allowance.
The economics were simple - my old car worth about £450 was offered and approved for scrappage. I received £281.00 scrap value from the disposal company, and then £2000 from that nice Mr. Khan.

I don't have a car at the moment. I do have £2281.00 in the bank, and don't pay car insurance and road tax each month. It may offend my social standing, but each month, we say: "Thank you Mr. Khan! Thank you TFL! " Not only that, think of all the lives we have improved by our generous gesture of giving up our car.

Perhaps worth considering if any of you are in London area, and have elderly vehicles. Afaik the £2000 is a flat sum, irrespective of vehicle. It just need to be taxed,MOT'd and insured, and you can offer it to TFL for approval. If they've still got funds, and they give you the go ahead, you know what to do. One car per family apparently.

[Lootman]

Afaik the £2000 is a flat sum, irrespective of vehicle. It just need to be taxed,MOT'd and insured, and you can offer it to TFL for approval. If they've still got funds, and they give you the go ahead, you know what to do. One car per family apparently.

Does that imply that no old car can be worth less than £2,000, since the scrappage allowance basically sets a floor under the price?

Or is there an arbitrage opportunity here: buy an old car in a rural area, take it to London, and then scrap it for the £2000?

[Mike4]

Afaik the £2000 is a flat sum, irrespective of vehicle. It just need to be taxed,MOT'd and insured, and you can offer it to TFL for approval. If they've still got funds, and they give you the go ahead, you know what to do. One car per family apparently.

Does that imply that no old car can be worth less than £2,000, since the scrappage allowance basically sets a floor under the price?

Or is there an arbitrage opportunity here: buy an old car in a rural area, take it to London, and then scrap it for the £2000?

I suspect the car needs to be registered to an address inside the ULEZ. ISTR a bit of a fuss being kicked up by people living 1/2" outside the ULEZ but working inside it, being denied the scrappage allowance.

And at a tangent, I find myself wondering if the OP's car really did get scrapped, or if its all spruced up and on some car lot miles away with a £2,000 price tag in the windscreen.

[NomoneyNohoney]

The funds from TFL were only released after a Certificate of Destruction was issued by their approved scrapper. It's galling because I have another old car in the garage which I need rid of, that will only get scrap metal value (which is falling as the scrappies are flooded with old cars now.)

I still see an opportunity for a driver to buy an old non-compliant car from an unwary vendor, for a few hundred pounds, tax mot & insure it ( having already checked TFL funds are still available) and then get it scrapped for a nice profit.

I do have a friend who lives maybe ten miles away. He's outside the London Boroughs zone, and is upset he can't scrap any of his four cars for anything but metal value..

Ps. The car was taken away on a Friday. By next Wednesday the Cert of Destruction had been issued.

[mutantpoodle]

I might be wrong but

as I understand it the car must have been owned for at least 12 months
as well as taxed and insured/Motd

but fortunately my little 2007 banger passes...this years rules...only a question of time before grip tightend...if Ghengis keeps his job

[swill453]

I might be wrong but

as I understand it the car must have been owned for at least 12 months
as well as taxed and insured/Motd

It's a bit more than that, it must have been registered to you, at your address, since 30 January 2022 or before.

https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra- ... motorcycle

Scott.

[Mike4]

I might be wrong but

as I understand it the car must have been owned for at least 12 months
as well as taxed and insured/Motd

It's a bit more than that, it must have been registered to you, at your address, since 30 January 2022 or before.

https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra- ... motorcycle

Scott.

It's a bit more than that, too!

"To apply, you must live within one of the 32 London boroughs or the City of London"