My scrappage scheme: 'We thought: well, why not?'

Patrick Walsh from Navan, Co Meath was due to change his wife’s Renault Clio, which was bought under the last scrappage scheme. This 1997 car hadn’t done a lot of miles, but was unlikely to command a huge amount under normal trade-in conditions.

“We had been threatening to buy a new car for the past three or four years, and we knew the Clio would be worth nothing, but the scrappage deal swayed us. We did our homework and looked around a lot of dealerships.

“We had looked at a Skoda, we looked at a Hyundai, a Nissan and a Toyota, but the car and the service we got from the Fiat dealership in Navan was outstanding.

“We had intended to buy a petrol car but then he told us about the diesel Bravo, and once we tried it we loved it. It was also by far the best price.”

Walsh said the deal was not very complicated and that the discount offered was outstanding.

“We paid €15,000 for a car that had been around €22,000, so we were delighted with that. We don’t intend changing this car for a long time – perhaps if there is another scrappage scheme.”

Walsh says that he would have bought a new car to replace the Clio at some point, but it would not have been this year had it not been for the introduction of the scrappage scheme.

“The Clio only had 60,000 miles on it, and we probably would have been able to hang on to it. You don’t really want to be seen to buy a new car the way things are, but our neighbours changed their car and we thought that it would be okay to do it now – and with the Government giving us a few bob, we thought ‘well, why not?’”