Car scrappage enquiries rose 18% year-on-year during the summer, according to new data from National Scrap Car.
It found that enquiries rose 47% in June alone, with ‘scrap my car’ searches on Google rising by 650% in the last 12 months.
High repair costs are forcing many drivers to consider scrapping their cars, with YouGov research in the summer revealing that 31% of drivers do not feel confident covering unexpected repair costs.
Meanwhile, figures from the Office of National Statistics found that the cost of motor vehicle maintenance and repair services rose by 21% between 2023 and 2026.
The most commonly scrapped cars in the UK are the Ford Focus, Ford Fiesta, MINI Hatch Cooper and MINI Hatch One, with the Volkswagen Polo and Volkswagen Golf also on the top
The rankings provide a snapshot of the vehicles now reaching the later stages of their lifecycles, with some of the UK’s most familiar and widely owned models dom10 list.
Saul Turner, scrappage expert at National Scrap Car, said: “We’re now seeing high-volume models reach the stage where age, mileage and repair costs start to catch up with them. A car doesn’t have to completely fail to be scrapped. One major engine, gearbox, electrical or emissions-related repair can be enough to make keeping an older vehicle uneconomical.
“What may be changing is how quickly motorists reach that decision point. As repair bills climb, faults that might once have been worth fixing can tip the balance sooner.
“For the market, that could mean more vehicles entering salvage and recycling earlier, increasing the supply of reusable parts while potentially reducing the number of older cars receiving major repairs.”
