Where are all the cars going....

[johnny_t]

Remembering back to the late '80s or early '90s, it was quite common to see cars that were about 15 - 20 years old all over the place. In fact, a MK 1 Escort seemed to be the car of choice for new drivers around this time.

Now, if you look at the cars on the road, they are nearly all on the new number plate system, and it is unusual to see anything older than an 'N' reg, which is only 1996.

So where have all the cars older than 9 years gone ? Surely they can't al have been scrapped (in fact where have all the scrapyards gone, too) so where are they ??

Also, are modern cars so unreliable that they need replacing after that sort of time ?

 

[petewood]

Everyone has borrowed cheap money to have newer cars.

 

[pickles]

There's no such thing as a scrap yard. Theyr'e all recycling centres now. People get rid of their cars sooner because they are cheap now relatively speaking and finance is too

 

[AdamW]

With old cars people would keep them on the road through tinkering and popping it into the garage from time to time.

But now the garage labour charges are astronomical, and the engines are too complicated to tinker with.

Easier to just get a new one with a new warranty etc.

Or perhaps, the difference between the look of cars from 1985 and 1965 was more significant than between 2005 and 1985. Therefore you just don't spot them so much.

I know someone who runs a 1990 Mk3 Escort.