Old bangers keep on rolling as drivers refuse to trade them in

The average age of a car on Britain’s roads is at its highest level since the turn of the millennium.

Last year, the figure for cars and vans was 8.1 years, which is believed to be the first time that it has risen above eight since at least 2000.

Statistics published by the Department for Transport showed that petrol cars were generally older, with an average of 9.1 years compared with 6.6 years for diesel cars.

The data also showed that approximately 17 per cent of cars were more than 13 years old. Analysis carried out by The Times suggested that the proportion of such older vehicles had almost tripled over the last 20 years.

Meanwhile, there were 3.1 million vehicles registered for the first time during 2017, which was about six per cent fewer than during the previous year and the first decrease in the number of new registrations since 2011.

The ageing profile of the car fleet and the drop in new car registrations suggests that motorists are opting to hang on to older vehicles for longer.

The Government has admitted that the drop in registrations might be due “in part” to a change in the amount of Vehicle Excise Duty on newly registered cars which came into effect in April last year.

The change made the first and subsequent years of tax more expensive for low-emission, non-electric cars.

The drop in new car registrations has been blamed on a fall in the number of new diesel vehicles registered in 2017, which was down 17 per cent compared with 2016.

However, there was a significant increase in the number of ultra low emission vehicles (ULEV) registered as motorists increasingly sought more environmentally friendly cars.

During 2017 more than 53,000 new ULEVS were registered, an increase of 27 per cent on 2016.

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said that the “continued demonisation of diesel has contributed to the reduction of new vehicle sales” with motorists agonising over what fuel type to buy next.

He said: “Clearly some are putting their faith in pure electric vehicles, which have increased by almost a third over the last 12 months.

“This is a positive sign, but more must be done to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles, with more charging points being installed across the country.

“However, the changes in Vehicle Excise Duty announced in 2015, which are now in place, have meant that some gas-guzzling vehicles are cheaper to run than they once were.”

At the end of 2017 the total number of licensed vehicles on the road was 37.7 million, a 1.3 per cent increase compared to 2016.