It’s a load of scrap
The car scrappage scheme – it seems to doing rather well. It has stimulated car sales to the extent that we’re already halfway through the government’s grant allocation of £300m with orders reaching 154,927.
The majority of the ‘cash for clunkers’ has gone towards stimulating sales of smaller cars. Hyundai has done well with its i10 model, the manufacturer entering the best selling top 10 car makers for the first time ever in July.
Removing older cars – and vans – has also had the desired side-effect of lowering CO2 emissions (as well as providing drivers with safer cars equipped with anti-lock ABS brakes, airbags and, in some cases, anti-skid ESC technology).
According to the Department for Business, Skills and Innovation, new cars bought under the scheme have CO2 emissions that are 25% lower than the cars scrapped. The average CO2 figure for scrapped cars is estimated to be at least 179g/km, compared to a much lower 134g/km emissions average for cars bought through the scheme. In terms of company car tax, that’s equivalent to swapping a petrol car in the 23% company car tax category for one in the 15% company car tax band. That’s a big drop.
If you think you and your business could benefit from the £2000 incentive (£1000 each from the government and participating car makers), then it’s worth thinking about it fast before the funds are exhausted.
To qualify for the scheme, your existing car or small van (not exceeding 3.5 tonnes) must have been registered in UK on or before 31 August 1999 and currently you must be the registered keeper (and continuously for 12 calendar months before the order date of the new vehicle).
The new vehicle can be a car or small van up to 3.5 tonnes and must be declared new at first registration in the UK with no former keepers. It must be registered to the same registered keeper as the vehicle to be scrapped. Your local dealer will take care of the paperwork for you.
Clogged up diesel particulate filters
A friend of mine runs a small business called Turning Circle Solutions. I helped Tim, as I have before, with his choice of car. With two Audi A3s under his belt, Tim wanted a change and I helped him draw up a short list.
Eventually Tim settled on a rather plush Jaguar X-Type estate diesel.
So far so good. Until Tim’s Jaguar went into limp home mode one day. It’s the classic issue of the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) clogging up.
DPFs are useful because they remove most of that horrendous black tailpipe soot produced by diesel engines. However, as the soot collects, it also needs to burn off at a high temperature. This has to be done on the motorway where a consistently high speed generates the necessary heat for burn off to take place.
But, unless you mix your town driving with motorway work, then you could experience exactly the same issue as Tim. And a replacement DPF can cost up to £1000.
My advice is to consider what you need the car for before you place your order. Small businesses shouldn’t automatically consider a diesel is the best solution just because it has become almost the de facto choice for company car drivers on large company car fleets.
If your driving is mainly town or urban based then you would be much better off with an economical petrol car. If you do have mixed driving requirements, make sure you regularly combine longer journeys with the shorter ones. Otherwise you could come unstuck.
Like Tim.
Seat belt anniversary
Let’s hear it for seat belts. This remarkable life-saving device is now 50 years old. And our thanks must go to Volvo. And, in particular, Nils Bohlin.
Nils, an engineer, had been working for SAAB’s aero company where he had designed the catapult seat for the Swedish fighter aircraft J35 Draken. But then he was recruited by Volvo.
For Bohlin this must have been a radical adjustment: at SAAB his job was to throw people out of a speeding vehicle; at Volvo, his job was to keep people in their place.
In 1958 Volvo patent Nils Bohlin’s three-point safety belt. His design had four important properties: 1) The system consisted of a lap belt and a diagonal belt; 2) the belts were anchored at a low attachment point beside the seat; 3) the belt geometry formed a V shape with the point directed toward the floor, and; 4) the belt stayed in position and did not move in an impact.
In 1959, the three-point belt was launched in the Volvo Amazon (120) and PV 544, making Volvo the very first car maker in the world to equip its cars as standard with three-point safety belts.
According to Department for Transport research, annually about 565 people die in traffic accidents by not wearing a seatbelt. In 2007, over 300 of these might have survived had they been belted in. Combined with airbags, the 50-year-old three-point seatbelt is a major life saver.
So thanks Nils – and Volvo.
Ralph Morton
Editor, www.BusinessCarManager.co.uk
Business Car Manager is the business motoring magazine for small businesses. You can access it for free by logging on to www.BusinessCarManager.co.uk.
