According to AA Financial Services over one fifth of people who own cars aged 10 years or older still say they were thinking about using the scrappage scheme to buy a new car but time is running out for those yet to make a decision.
The scheme is due to end on 31st March or sooner if the funding runs out, but there are now fewer than 24,000 scrappage registrations remaining.*
The savings, car loans and credit card provider says that its AA/Populus Car Purchase Index survey of AA members suggested that while 4 per cent of the 13,489 respondents said they were taking advantage of the scheme, over a fifth (22%) said were thinking about using it. Another 4 per cent had already traded their ageing car for a new one.
Mark Huggins, director of AA Financial Services says: “Although there’s not much time left, now is a perfect time to trade in your old car. Under the ‘bangers for cash’ scheme it’s worth £2,000 – but when the scheme ends, which could be before the end of the month, its value will simply be what you can barter on the forecourt and the chances are it could up at the breakers yard in exchange for just a few pounds.
“Not only will buyers get their hands on a new ’10’ plate car but it also seems that many people have cash available to buy them. In fact, the survey showed that two-fifths of car buyers (41 per cent) plan to use their savings to buy their next car while the number of people saving with an AA Savings account is almost one-and-a-half times more (49 per cent) as this time last year,” he says.
* According to Department for Business Innovation & Skills as at 2nd March 2010
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