well, cars do usually go through a cycle in terms of their resale value.
After ten or twelve years you have many old buckets that have simply had it, mostly because their owners didn't afford them enough love and care. At some point it's no use keeping those rust buckets alive anymore, because even if they were brought back in shape the resale value would not justify it, so it's actually an economically sound decision to break them.
Yes, in the short term, as you say. And it's a real pity.
But in the end, I think it is kind of a good thing that that reduces the supply of cars, because good, well-maintained specimens, essentially our cars as enthusiasts, will then end up going up in value again. My perception is that at the moment, the divide is starting between scrap-worthy F's and TF's which have had their lifeblood sucked out of them by unloving owners, and cars that have a real shot at being immortalised as modern classics by the enthusiast crowd.
I have a feeling that in ten years' time, a bog standard MGF in good nick will fetch £4,000 to £6,000 with no problem at all. Perhaps 7,000 for a spotless special-edition one.
Maybe now, with so many people breaking these cars, is a good time to stock up on what will in the future be rare parts.
I've been an Audi enthusiast for going on 20 years, and some 15 years ago, Audi cleared out most of their stock of parts for the original Quattro (the one Gene Hunt drove in Ashes to Ashes
). Everything was thrown out at knock down prices. These days, even a faded old Quattro badge will go for a premium on eBay.
What was really heartbreaking though was the senseless wasting of good cars while we had our "cash for clunkers" government scheme here in 2007. I spent loads of time in scrapyards back them hunting for Audi parts, but I was unprepared for the shock of seeing spotless Audi 80s and Audi 100s by the dozens there, cars that were not seldomly in showroom condition, but were given up by their owners to be scrapped for a measly €2,000 from the government.
