The government is to extend its car scrappage scheme.
The scheme, which started in May, originally gave consumers £2,000 off a new car if they trade in one at least 10 years old.
£1,000 came from the Government and £1,000 from the manufacturer. Some manufacturers, such as Nissan had already increased the offer for cars of just 8 years old.
The Government will now work with manufacturers to extend the benefits to van owners with vans over 8 years old.
Car owners will also get a boost, with the age qualification changed by 6 months to extend the benefits to cars registered on or before 29 Feb 2000 (V registration). The car that you trade in must be scrapped and you need to have owned it for 12 months.
The initiative was originally due to end in February, or when the £300m the government allocated ran out, whichever happened first. However, the scheme has been popular so the original money was likely to run out by the end of October.
The Government has therefore announced that it will fund another 100,000 cars.
The original 150,000 cars have been sold within 5-6 months, so that means if sales continue at the current rate, the extension will last until the end of January 2010 or sometime in February 2010.
But, beware, Used Car Expert recommends loking at the deals availabe on nearly new cars first because on many models, you can save more than £2,000 over the list price: