scrappage scheme eligibility checker - scheme now finished

Scrappage Scheme - £2000 off your new vehicle

The scrappage scheme or vehicle discount scheme is a voluntary scheme for motor dealers announced by the UK government in the 2009 budget. Consumers can get £2,000 off a new car from opted-in dealers if a vehicle over 10 years old is allowed to be scrapped.

The £2,000 grant is made up of £1,000 from government with matched funding from vehicle manufacturers. The scheme will operate until March 2010 or until the government funding has been exhausted. The UK Scrappage Scheme looks set to be extended today, according to latest press reports. The £300 million originally attributed to the scheme has all but run out with the new 59 plate rush fuelling extra registrations of small, cheap to run cars.

Business Secretary Peter Mandelson is set to announce the welcome boost that industry bodies have been lobbying for in the last few months. The UK motor industry employs around 850,000 people according to the SMMT, and with car production lower now than for years, it is felt that more jobs will be at risk if the momentum generated by the scheme is lost.

New car registrations have increased in the last two months, but are still significantly below the levels of 2007, when 2.4 million new cars were registered in the UK.

Governments in the United States and Germany have given much higher levels of financial support than the UK, with 3 billion US Dollars and 5 billion Euros respectively set aside to promote the scheme. In Germany the scheme resulted in 2 million registrations.

The UK government is expected to take the total amount of money available to £500 million, an increase of £200 million.

View the rules of the scrappage scheme