Car scrappage - is it worth it?

lexilex

I haven't carried on reading the whole thread, but saw you were interested in the Fiat 500, so just wanted to add my thoughts.

Two weeks ago today I went to order one with the scrappage deal. I was told at the time I would be lucky to get one, and was also told the same thing about them never doing any discounts on the 500 as they did not need to.

My name went on to a list, and if there were any spaces when they got to my name I could have the car on scrappage.

I didn't really get it so did my own research.

Fiat used up their allocation of the scrappage money on 5th March. Between then and the following Friday they took provisional scrappage orders, and should they receive any further funding the people on this provisional order would get a car, on a first come first serve basis.

On Friday 12th they stopped taking these provisional orders, and apparently scrappage is now finished at Fiat... or at least this is what I have read.

All provisional orders... or so I am told... were accepted, and I am now the owner of a lovely red Fiat 500, and it is brilliant.

Just thought I would add this information, it may be incorrect, but from what I have been told scrappage is over with Fiat.

flea72

Inactive wrote: »

I disagree, they offer longer warranties because they have faith in their products, comparing Kia with DFS is really clutching at straws, many DFS Suites don't even last a year.

Why would somebody that has had a DFS Suite fail on them, go back and buy another one? .. That is illogical.

its not that the suite has failed, its more the fact that people accept that they got their moneys worth for what they paid

we live in a throw away society, if you get 5yrs out of sofa, people feel they have done well

A cheap car is viewed in much the same way. people know that within a few years, these make of cars have no value to them - once you buy a kia or hyundai you are basically limited to only buying that make again, because they are only valued by their own dealers so have no trade-in value elsewhere - i would say the majority of people if given the choice between a Ford for £300 and a Kia for £300 would choose the ford. even though it is probably twice the age of the Kia, and has been round the clock a few times, mainly because once a kia and hyundai are out of warranty they are just too expensive to keep running

Yes, they are good cars, but only on a short-term basis. The 7yr warranty isnt because they believe in their product, its because they want Joe Public to believe in their product - its a marketing tool, nothing more. as stated above have you read the T&C? maintaining your car to manuf recommendations will be one of the biggest costs over the 7yrs anyway, they have you over a barrel. at least most other manuf let you off the hook after 3yrs

F

gilbert_and_sullivan

[QUOTE=flea72;31046173

Yes, they are good cars, but only on a short-term basis. The 7yr warranty isnt because they believe in their product, its because they want Joe Public to believe in their product - its a marketing tool, nothing more. as stated above have you read the T&C? maintaining your car to manuf recommendations will be one of the biggest costs over the 7yrs anyway, they have you over a barrel. at least most other manuf let you off the hook after 3yrs

F[/QUOTE]

Have you ever owned a Kia or Hyndai, i only ask as my son has owned two and they were the only two cars never to give him a problem, both well out of warranty both totally reliable and perfectly serviceable, and oddly enough easy to sell as there's alot of people out there that removed the blinkers that were encouraged by certain motoring hacks/presenters and pub bores.

I know other people that own Hyundai's and Kia's, not one person feels as you do.

Which cars did you own and what went so wrong to give you such a jaundiced view.

flea72

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

Have you ever owned a Kia or Hyndai, i only ask as my son has owned two and they were the only two cars never to give him a problem, both well out of warranty both totally reliable and perfectly serviceable, and oddly enough easy to sell as there's alot of people out there that removed the blinkers that were encouraged by certain motoring hacks/presenters and pub bores.

I know other people that own Hyundai's and Kia's, not one person feels as you do.

Which cars did you own and what went so wrong to give you such a jaundiced view.

owned a hyundai once, but ive worked for both manuf, nuff said :rotfl:

F

gilbert_and_sullivan

flea72 wrote: »

owned a hyundai once, but ive worked for both manuf, nuff said :rotfl:

F

Well thanks for that informative post.

hows about giving us the low down on whats wrong with their cars, or is there some animosity or history colouring your judgement?

Inactive

flea72 wrote: »

Yes, they are good cars, but only on a short-term basis. The 7yr warranty isnt because they believe in their product, its because they want Joe Public to believe in their product - its a marketing tool, nothing more. as stated above have you read the T&C? maintaining your car to manuf recommendations will be one of the biggest costs over the 7yrs anyway, they have you over a barrel. at least most other manuf let you off the hook after 3yrs

F

That is the biggest load of rubbish I have read on here for a long time.

You mean other manufacturers turn their back on customers after 3 years ( some even less ), not " let you off the hook ".

Lulu58

lexilex wrote: »

I haven't carried on reading the whole thread, but saw you were interested in the Fiat 500, so just wanted to add my thoughts.

Two weeks ago today I went to order one with the scrappage deal. I was told at the time I would be lucky to get one, and was also told the same thing about them never doing any discounts on the 500 as they did not need to.

My name went on to a list, and if there were any spaces when they got to my name I could have the car on scrappage.

I didn't really get it so did my own research.

Fiat used up their allocation of the scrappage money on 5th March. Between then and the following Friday they took provisional scrappage orders, and should they receive any further funding the people on this provisional order would get a car, on a first come first serve basis.

On Friday 12th they stopped taking these provisional orders, and apparently scrappage is now finished at Fiat... or at least this is what I have read.

All provisional orders... or so I am told... were accepted, and I am now the owner of a lovely red Fiat 500, and it is brilliant.

Just thought I would add this information, it may be incorrect, but from what I have been told scrappage is over with Fiat.

Thanks for the post lexilex.

Interesting the different stories told me dealers!! I test drove one about 10 days ago and was advised that 'the clock was ticking' and Fiat's total allocation would be finished in the next day or two. They were still calling me a week later to see if I wanted to place an order!

I was also told there would be a 16 week wait for the car so it's interesting you have got yours so quickly, unless it was a 'standard' model that they had in stock I guess.

Hope you enjoy your car - they are seriously cute (if you're male you probably don't want to hear that :rotfl:). I love all the retro styling. What do you think of visibility at the rear? I thought the rear window columns were too wide and made visibility quite poor at the back.

Lulu

lexilex

Lulu58 wrote: »

Thanks for the post lexilex.

Interesting the different stories told me dealers!! I test drove one about 10 days ago and was advised that 'the clock was ticking' and Fiat's total allocation would be finished in the next day or two. They were still calling me a week later to see if I wanted to place an order!

I was also told there would be a 16 week wait for the car so it's interesting you have got yours so quickly, unless it was a 'standard' model that they had in stock I guess.

Hope you enjoy your car - they are seriously cute (if you're male you probably don't want to hear that :rotfl:). I love all the retro styling. What do you think of visibility at the rear? I thought the rear window columns were too wide and made visibility quite poor at the back.

Lulu

To be honest, the dealer said very little, just that my name would go on a list. The rest of the info was from somebody on a fiat forum.

The car is looooovely, I love the interior. The dealer I went to had loads in stock, in every colour you could think of and with different extras. Apparently the long wait is down to BSM driving school ordering a huge amount of them.

It has taken a bit of getting used to, my old car was 13 years old, and I had to have my foot fully down on the accelerator, with this I hardly have to touch it, which resulted in a lot of leg cramp! I love it though.

GET ONE!

DaleN

Have you considered one of these short term car hire companies as an alternative to owning your own car? (Assuming such a service exists where you live, of course!) Streetcar is one I have heard of; there are probably others. I have no personal experience of them, but if you use your car as little as you say then it might be more cost effective to pay by the hour than to lay out £10k up front and write it down over 10 years.

Just check the subscription + hourly rate and work out roughly how much you would actually use it, and compare that with the cost of a new car plus maintenance, MOT, insurance, etc. over 10 years. Remember to factor in a few days of longer term rental for those occasions when you might have used your car to do a longer trip.

One advantage is that you aren't faced with a gradually aging vehicle with the club, and there are no maintenance costs. This might also be an opportunity to re-evaluate alternative transportation for those shorter trips, for example getting a bicycle

Lulu58

DaleN wrote: »

Have you considered one of these short term car hire companies as an alternative to owning your own car? (Assuming such a service exists where you live, of course!) Streetcar is one I have heard of; there are probably others. I have no personal experience of them, but if you use your car as little as you say then it might be more cost effective to pay by the hour than to lay out £10k up front and write it down over 10 years.

Just check the subscription + hourly rate and work out roughly how much you would actually use it, and compare that with the cost of a new car plus maintenance, MOT, insurance, etc. over 10 years. Remember to factor in a few days of longer term rental for those occasions when you might have used your car to do a longer trip.

One advantage is that you aren't faced with a gradually aging vehicle with the club, and there are no maintenance costs. This might also be an opportunity to re-evaluate alternative transportation for those shorter trips, for example getting a bicycle

Thanks for your post, DaleN. You've raised some good points. :T

I did look at car hire/share clubs in my area and there are none. The nearest one (10 miles away and on a difficult public transport route) was taken over and closed down! I also checked Streetcar and the nearest one to me is 15 miles away.

The reason my mileage is so low now is that I walk more, get the train, combine trips etc. It is a conscious effort to be more active and reduce driving. That said, you can't beat having your own car for convenience.

I have also bought a bike ... but I'm very wobbly and terrified of going out on the road. I bike on the canal a bit, but have to get off every time someone comes the other way, and as for the dogs ... don't get me started!

Lulu