944 saved, article in local paper

[Peter Empson]

Bit of a non story this, but it's rare for 944's to get into newspapers so thought I'd post this story, quoted below.

The paper showed a partial picture of the car, it was in white, an early dash model with cookie cutters and a grey Porsche script down the side of the doors.

Classic car enthusiast Kevin Adams was aghast when a car scrappage scheme customer wanted to trade in his Porsche 944 for a Honda Jazz.
Not that Kevin, who is the sales manager for Brayley Honda, in Two Waters Road, Hemel Hempstead, believes there is anything wrong with the new Jazz, of course, it's just that he couldn't bear the thought of the Porsche heading for destruction.

Spotting the pretty 944 on the company's stock list, Kevin immediately offered to buy it from his employer and a deal was struck so that the car could avoid a date with the crusher.

Already the proud owner of two classic Jaguars, Kevin explained: "For such an iconic eighties Porsche to be in this condition with full service history is a rare piece of history and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to save it from being scrapped. Its former owner is also delighted that it will be looked after instead of meeting a sorry end."

Kevin didn't wish to divulge how much he paid for the Porsche but website checks revealed 944s being sold on auction sites in the region of £1,000 to £1,500.

Garage spokesman Stuart Brooks said the government's scrappage scheme, which ended last week, has helped the company to outperform its sales targets.

Across the motor trade, the scrappage scheme has reportedly proved to be very popular, helping to prop up the wider economy as well as giving a timely boost to recession-hit car sales.

One side effect of the scheme that allowed memebers of the public to trade in their gas-guzzling bangers was that a number of classic cars were also sent to hubcap heaven.

Brayley Honda itself saw a few classics, including the now-saved Porsche 944.

In its place Brayley Honda has introduced its own 'scrap club' which offers a guaranteed minimum £2,000 part-exchange value for buyers of a new Honda Civic.

Paul Brayley, the dealer group's managing director: "The scrappage scheme generated a welcome boost to our business and our new 'scrap club' initiative aims to continue the momentum for new car sales this year, which we believe will be equally tough for all car dealers.

"In addition, the introduction of an MOT service and tyre-fitting has brought extra benefits to our customers in 2010."

 

[sulzeruk]

Another one of the current govenrments fantastic ideas! I like the wording of the adverts saying that the public are trading in their gas guzling bangers! I thought that the majority of the pollution was created when the car was manuafactured. More misleading, also the car had to have a current MOT. Maybe the car manuafacturers need to stop churning out cars people don't need!
Alasdair

 

[zcacogp]

Alasdair,

Spot on. A stupid scheme. I have heard of cars having several hundred £'s worth of new parts fitted to them to get them through an MOT in order that they can be scrapped as part of the scrappage scheme ... utterly absurd. And, yes, a LARGE chunk of a car's overall lifecycle pollution is created at the points of manufacture and scrappage; encouraging people into new cars is to increase the overall pollution by some margin. But, of course, the government doesn't think about that sort of thing, do they? Idiots.

Interesting that the chap above managed to save his car from the crusher. I was of the understanding that once a car had been traded in under the scrappage scheme it HAD to be scrapped. I'm clearly wrong. (And glad that a 944 was saved.)


Oli.

P.S. " ... website checks revealed 944s being sold on auction sites in the region of £1,000 to £1,500" Yes, they are. And in the region of £9,000 to £10,000 as well.

 

[TTM]

Don't blame your government, they probably stole the idea from the french government that launched this last year

 

[DavidL]

ORIGINAL: zcacogp

Interesting that the chap above managed to save his car from the crusher. I was of the understanding that once a car had been traded in under the scrappage scheme it HAD to be scrapped. I'm clearly wrong. (And glad that a 944 was saved.)


Oli.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Other stories like this have been at pains to point out that someone bought the vehicle off the owner before he used the scrappge option (for the same mount I suppose).
The problem arises when said vehicle is not worth the 2-3K offered in scrappage buy it would be such a shame to see the car go.

I'm sure that a scrappage car must be scrapped - but then hasn't scrappage finished now? Perhaps some garages are still offering similar deals?

 

[Pastry]

I think the unofficial deals continue. Daft idea and its true most of a cars 'carbon footprint' is generated at manufacture, so keeping old cars running is more eco than the greenwash that is the scrappage scheme. However according to James Lovelock we're irreversably knackered environmentally already no matter what we do with our motor cars.

Still, always nice to hear of a 944 being saved []

 

[evoboy69]

Damn.... I thought I was the only person to have saved a 944 from the jaws of the scrappage scheme....[]

 

[DivineE]

I think you guys are missing the most important wrong in this story. What idiot thought it would be a good idea to trade their 944 for a Jazz! I mean seriously, why? You would actually pay MORE than the cost of a 944 for a city car that will be less economical on motorways, less comfortable to sit in in town, ugly, dull depressing to own and drive, still a 4 seater but too small to fit a bike into so less practical, slow, cheaply made and it'll be a pile of scrap in 60,000miles creating more pollution!

 

[Hilux]

ORIGINAL: DivineE

I think you guys are missing the most important wrong in this story. What idiot thought it would be a good idea to trade their 944 for a Jazz! I mean seriously, why? You would actually pay MORE than the cost of a 944 for a city car that will be less economical on motorways, less comfortable to sit in in town, ugly, dull depressing to own and drive, still a 4 seater but too small to fit a bike into so less practical, slow, cheaply made and it'll be a pile of scrap in 60,000miles creating more pollution!

On the monetary side, the depreciation of a new car will be more than the cost of the old one!!

 

[DavidL]

ORIGINAL: DivineE

I think you guys are missing the most important wrong in this story. What idiot thought it would be a good idea to trade their 944 for a Jazz! I mean seriously, why? You would actually pay MORE than the cost of a 944 for a city car that will be less economical on motorways, less comfortable to sit in in town, ugly, dull depressing to own and drive, still a 4 seater but too small to fit a bike into so less practical, slow, cheaply made and it'll be a pile of scrap in 60,000miles creating more pollution!

I think this is something you either "get" or you don't.
The very fact that we are all on this forum means that we have a common train of thought and probably can't afford a 997 turbo! (in which case we may be less concerned about the plight of an older car)

 

[DivineE]

ORIGINAL: DavidL

I think this is something you either "get" or you don't.
The very fact that we are all on this forum means that we have a common train of thought and probably can't afford a 997 turbo!

??

 

[DavidL]

ORIGINAL: DivineE

ORIGINAL: DavidL

I think this is something you either "get" or you don't.
The very fact that we are all on this forum means that we have a common train of thought and probably can't afford a 997 turbo!

??

editing went a bit awry!