Newly released data from scrap price comparison service Scrap Car Comparison has revealed the makes and models of car that hit the scrap heap most frequently in 2024, based on the provider’s internal data from the last 12 months.
Scrap Car Comparison’s data has revealed the Ford Focus as the UK’s most scrapped car model for 2024, for the eighth consecutive year.
With the Focus topping the charts as the most sold vehicle in the UK for much of the 2000s, many of the cars sold during this period may now be coming to the end of their life after 20 years on the road – which may be a reason as to why the Focus has topped the charts for the much of the last decade. Making up 6.3% of all vehicles scrapped this year, the proportion of the vehicles being scrapped has also increased, up 2% from 2023.
The Vauxhall Astra and Vauxhall Corsa follow as the second and third most scrapped models of 2023, with the Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Golf completing the top five – a topflight which has been very consistent throughout recent years. Alongside the Ford Focus, all of these models sold in high numbers from 2000-2010, and with the average age of cars scrapped by Scrap Car Comparison in 2024 sitting at 17 years, many of them may have now become unviable to keep on the roads due to high repair costs.
The Peugeot 207 and Volkswagen Polo complete the top 10 for 2024, entering in place of the BMW 3 Series, and Ford Transit which have fallen outside of the most scrapped models this year, instead sitting in 14th and 12th positions respectively. Again, both the Peugeot 207 and Volkswagen Polo featured among the most popular vehicles in the earlier part of the century, so time may be against them as with the other vehicles in the top 10.
After appearing in the list for the first time in 2022, the Mini Hatch (Cooper/One) has again placed in the top 10, making up just over 2% of cars scrapped throughout the past 12 months. With Mini Hatch models scrapped sitting at an average age of 18 years old and 116,506 miles, these are definitely cars that are loved and well used by their owners.
Vauxhall is revealed as the most scrapped car brand of 2024
Despite the Ford Focus topping the charts as the most scrapped car model of 2024, Vauxhall is the car brand that was most scrapped overall in 2024. With the Vauxhall Astra, Corsa and Zafira models all featuring in the top 10 most scrapped models, the most models of any manufacturer, the brand pipped Ford to the post with 17.3% of all cars scrapped being made by Vauxhall.
With the Ford Fiesta also ranking in the top 10 overall, Ford places as the second most scrapped brand, with Volkswagen in third as a result of the Golf ranking in fifth, and Polo in 10th. Peugeot and Renault follow to make up the top five most scrapped brands, joining Vauxhall, Ford and Volkswagen in a topflight that has remained relatively unchanged for the past few years.
Though BMW featured in the top 10 in 2022, the number of vehicles from the brand being scrapped has decreased, with the brand dropping from fifth to eighth position, with the percentage of the vehicles scrapped also falling by nearly 2% year-on-year. On the other hand, Renault has seen a steady increase from sixth to fifth this year – perhaps a trend that could continue in the coming years.
Honda (9th) has also made an appearance in the top ten for the first time since 2021, replacing Mercedes-Benz which has fallen into 14th position this year.
