Scrappage to scupper post-lockdown prospects for garages?
Published: 04 June, 2020
Independent garages expecting a surge in customer demand resulting from motorists being unwilling or unable to buy a new car in the wake of COVID-19 and post-lockdown uncertainty could soon have to contend with a scrappage scheme.
Car manufacturers and the franchised dealer sector are discussing with government a potential £1.5 billion scrappage scheme, The Guardian has reported. The proposed market stimulus package being hammered out in secret talks would see £2,500 taken off the price of a new car, with the aim to achieve an extra 600,000 sales.
Such a nationally sanctioned scheme ran in 2009 and led to 400,000 additional sales. Were scrappage to return, it would remove older cars that are serviced in the aftermarket from the road. They would be replaced with new cars more likely to be seen in dealer workshops for repairs and maintenance.
The scheme is likely not to discriminate between diesel and petrol cars, and EVs and hybrids. In correspondence between government and the SMMT, the trade body asserted that the scheme would need to “support the entire market, not just disproportionately favouring specific segments or technologies, recognising the diverse nature of UK automotive manufacturing”.
In a letter sent in May to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Business Secretary Alok Sharma, SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes said the “primary benefit would be in jump-starting the market, the sector and the economy without further drain on the public purse.”
However, the IAAF says a new scrappage scheme may not necessarily be the answer. IAAF Chief Executive Wendy Williamson said: “Motorists are currently under great pressure, and they should not be penalised for keeping hold of vehicles that are in good working condition and can continue to be serviced, repaired and maintained long into the future.
“If introduced, it could have a significantly negative effect on public mobility and the automotive aftermarket long term, especially as most of the vehicles eligible for the scheme will still be very much roadworthy.
“Not only is this unfair to consumers, but it is putting the aftermarket at great risk, as it will result in a direct decrease in the number of vehicles entering independent garages. With a newer vehicle parc, there is also a risk that VMs could potentially gain a monopoly on access to vehicle technical condition data, raising the question of data access.
“It’s crucial that any proposals are reviewed as the economic impact of a scrappage scheme could be detrimental to the aftermarket and place an unnecessary financial burden on the consumer.”
Wendy added: “With the forthcoming block exemption legislation renewal due in 2023, the aftermarket should have the same access rights as the franchised sector, providing the workshop is equipped with appropriate tools and equipment, thus creating a level playing field for all.
Just this week, franchised dealer showrooms opened on Monday (1 June), while today (Thursday 4 May) saw the release of the worst May new car sales figures since 1952.
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- Feeling the pressure
Issues with tyre pressure monitoring systems will become much more prominent and regular in the majority of workshops all over the UK. Since 2014, every car sold new in the European Union was required has to have a form of TPMS. There is no way of escaping it. As a technician you can try and hide from it if you like, but it will find you and it will make your brain engage when that little warning light ‘pings' on the dashboard.
The thing that a lot of techs don't know is that the first form of TPMS was first put into practice in the late 1980s, so it is not as if it’s a new idea. Back then, it was mainly for high-end luxury cars. Now a very high percentage of low-priced to mid-range priced vehicles are fitted with a TPMS system. You can even buy a retro-fit system and put it onto your motorcycle if you wanted to!
Types
There are two different types of monitoring systems. The first is a direct system in which the sensors are held within the wheels. These send a radio signal to the car and this is converted into a real-time display on the dashboard for the driver to keep a close eye on all of the pressures individually. The second is the indirect system. This one cannot show you a real-time value as there aren’t any TPMS sensors to send a radio signal back to the car. Instead this works via the cars wheel speed sensors/ABS sensors, to put it simply- it counts the rotations of each wheel and recognizes a fault if one wheel turns quicker than the other three. Clever or what? Well, not really, if all four tyres lose pressure.
Prod and cons
When it comes to TPMS pros and cons, my personal thoughts are that these systems, particularly the direct system will make for safer roads and therefore save lives. Not only that, the fact is that it is going to save your tyres, and by keeping the optimum pressure in them, saving your tyres will save you money, and if you save your money you will then be able to afford to buy new sensors if (when) they break... and they do break, whether it’s the core (due to bad practice when fitting tyres and not replacing something as simple as the core and the valve cap) ,a leak from the base of the stem or simply the battery going flat inside a sensor... (majority not interchangeable).
The simple fact is they do go wrong sometimes. Besides the main disadvantage of the indirect system that I mentioned earlier, if they do go wrong and it is obvious that the TPMS system isn’t working correctly, come MOT time the car will get a major fail. However, if the car is registered before January 2012, this doesn’t matter, which probably wasn’t the best decision ever made. I think any car equipped with a TPMS system from the factory should have it working. Simple as that, but that’s just my opinion.
Optimum
If one or more pressures are low and the tyres look ‘obviously Under Inflated’ then that induces a pass with a minor defect. The facts is that thousands of accidents and hundreds of deaths occur every year due to under inflated tyres resulting in tread separation and ultimately failure of the tyre.
In short, tell your customers if they want better fuel efficiency, better handling and optimum braking, they might want to check their pressures, even when the MOT is not looming.
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