It has never been such a viable proposition to scrap a car, particularly if the car in question is in current use, but in reality is an economic write-off. Old cars, with a minimal resale value, that are experiencing mechanical issues are essentially deemed an economic write-off when the cost of repairing them exceeds the value of the vehicle, and, with scrap yards offering top dollar for a scrap car, it may be time to cash in.

In today's depressed economic climate the temptation to avoid replacing high cost items, such as cars and white goods, is great. Even when these items start malfunctioning it is deemed more cost effective to patch them up and carry on regardless. It is perceived that a quick fix will only cost a fraction of what it would cost to replace the item, and should in theory extend the life of the goods in question, thereby justifying the cost of maintenance.

This approach is perhaps justifiable when it comes to cookers and other household items as a failure to get the grill working in the morning isn't going to make anyone late for work. On the other hand, the failure to start a car in the morning can have dire financial consequences. We rely on our cars for critical functions. Getting to work is only one of the essentially vital tasks they perform. We also rely on them to collect the children from school, and meeting appointments with the doctor as well as the weekly shop. A failure to meet any of these commitments will have extremely problematical consequences. Generally speaking, we have very little back-up for a broken down car. Public transport is all very well, but unless it is regularly used, the ins and outs of taking advantage of these services are beguiling. It may be reasonably straightforward to figure out which bus to take every day to work, and perhaps even which bus to use to collect the children from school, but if an extended period without a car is a very real prospect, then figuring out how to get the kids to their various activities and appointments as well as negotiating the weekly shop, (something that is relatively easy in a car, but is a whole lot more arduous when you have to carry the shopping to and from a bus stop!), then the problem of researching all of the different routes and times very quickly turns into a logistical nightmare. This alone should be enough to put any sensible person off the idea of being without their car for a single day, but that's even before they have calculated the cost. Not only will they have to factor in a lot more time to their typical day to account for the fact that they are not travelling from door to door as normal, as well as the fact that buses run to a timetable, and won't always correlate to times of appointments and activities, and are regularly late, but without the advantage of a monthly saver or season ticket, the cost of transporting one adult and a couple of kids for a week would be exorbitant. Add this to the bill from the garage, as well as the road tax and insurance etc, and the financial consequences of an unreliable car soon tot up to daunting proportions. Ultimately, replacing the car is the only viable option.