USED PRICES OF DIESEL CARS SLUMP

The used value of diesel cars has slumped over the course of 2017, with some models seeing prices fall by as much as 26 per cent.

Worries over air pollution and the introduction of scrappage schemes are being blamed for diesel’s continued problems in a year which has seen sales of new diesel cars fall 20 per cent year-on-year.

The average value of used diesel variants of the UK’S most popular cars has fallen by nearly six per cent since the start of the year as pressure grows on cities to introduce charges for the oldest and most polluting vehicles and manufacturers rush to offer scrappage schemes.

Atthesametimetheequivalent petrol models have seen a five per cent climb in their used, according to analysis of more than 24,000 valuations on car comparison website Motorway.co.uk.

The Vauxhall Corsa suffered the greatest fall - 26 per cent – but premium models such as the Audi A3 and BMW 3 Series also suffered, as did diesel variants of some oftheuk’smostpopularcars, including the Ford Fiesta, Nissanqashqaiandvwgolf.

Recent months have seen diesel come under fire from numerous sources. Concerns over the harmful emissions from diesel vehicles have grown in prominence and a number of towns and cities are said to be considering “toxin taxes” that charge the drivers of older, more polluting vehicles for access.

More than a dozen manufacturers have also launched their own scrappage schemes in recent weeks. These programmes offer drivers thousands of pounds off a new car if they trade in their old vehicle for scrap, further harming used values in a market where sales are already down 13 per cent since last year. While some only apply to diesel models many cover any cars that don’t meet at least the Euro 5 emissions standards.