Does road tax influence your purchasing decisions?

[Kiltox]

As always based on the ranting of a nutter on Twitter I thought this would be an interesting discussion. 

Now this is a little confused in which point he’s actually angry about, but the gist of it is

£150 Astra is as worthless as it is because the VED is £265 a year, and it’d definitely be worth loads more if that pesky tax man wasn’t so keen on getting his slice 

I think it’s as worthless as it is because a 2006 Astra is less desirable than syphillis, rather than the cost of tax being a real issue

 

 

[Kiltox]

I think there is an uplift in values of stuff that’s £20 or £35, but that’s not really the question. 

[cobblers]

Nutters will spend thousands to save hundreds. 

My mate had a VW T5 that was in the £MEGA band because it was registered in an awkward year. Perfectly good van, he sold it for £8k and spend £13k on a near identical replacement, two years newer, to save £300 a year.

I'd avoid the £700 tax band for a "special" vehicle I rarely used, but other than that, I'm not arsed really. a few hundred quid a year pales in comparison with every other cost of running a vehicle.

I'm also used to driving old stuff where the tax has always been equivalent of whatever £150 was worth in 2000, so £265 a year is "just what road tax costs" in my head

[loserone]

It definitely has an influence as I can't afford to tax 12 cars. 

 

Whilst I had the l322 there were probably only three months where either the fuel costs or the repair costs exceeded the tax for that month, so it was definitely a significant chunk.  Only fair that it is though.

[DavieW]

 It did put me off  a Honda S2000 at the end of 2024. 

 

[SiC]

I'm probably different as I want to buy cars that are fun and have decent amounts of power.

It's generally one of those pick two triangles.

        Fun

    /          \

Fast   -  Cheap

Got to pay to play!

 

Problem is people solely ignore factoring in the purchase price when seeing cheap.

The £395 p/a tax on a older petrol may grate a bit but as I said to my wife's friend with that old Astra auto, it's cheaper than her £10k+ 116i that shat two engines in less than 2 years...

Personally I don't mind people worrying about it as it means that faster cars are available for much cheaper due to people worrying about the tax band they're in.

[cort16]

34 minutes ago, cobblers said:

Nutters will spend thousands to save hundreds. 

My mate had a VW T5 that was in the £MEGA band because it was registered in an awkward year. Perfectly good van, he sold it for £8k and spend £13k on a near identical replacement, two years newer, to save £300 a year.

I'd avoid the £700 tax band for a "special" vehicle I rarely used, but other than that, I'm not arsed really. a few hundred quid a year pales in comparison with every other cost of running a vehicle.

I'm also used to driving old stuff where the tax has always been equivalent of whatever £150 was worth in 2000, so £265 a year is "just what road tax costs" in my head

it's like those folk who go to huge lengths including commiting fraud by sticking old vin plates on newer Land Rovers to save a couple of hundred quid a year.  It never made sense to me. 

I would spend the mega 700 quid tax on something I really wanted to own like when i got my Citroen C6.  However I was looking at a tidy mk3 Mondeo v6 the other day on Facebook, which was £1500. The tax was £760. For me that's just not worth it.  I suspect that car is pretty much worthless now. 

[wesacosa]

my current Panda is the only car I've ever chosen specifically because of tax (£35) but something had to give as I pay hundreds on my hobby cars for tax and insurance, plus get screwed on the ULEZ for them now too and the Dartford crossing which I used 4 days a week is now nearly 6 quid a day so something had to give

It would have to be something pretty special for the 700 tax band and even then not sure I could do it

[Imhotep]

I’ve never owned anything in the £765 band but my two cars cost nearly £800 a year in tax between them. I just see it as an expense of running the car, same as fuel, insurance, etc. 

[dave j]

I have been looking at getting a mk1 TT next and they are mostly £430 tax but a 2006 mk1 is in the £730? Tax bracket! So I would still like a MK1 TT, just not an 06 plate one!

[SiC]

2 minutes ago, dave j said:

I have been looking at getting a mk1 TT next and they are mostly £430 tax but a 2006 mk1 is in the £730? Tax bracket! So I would still like a MK1 TT, just not an 06 plate one!

To add insult to injury, most of these later ones are the 180 not 225 too! 

Things like the TT, there are plenty on the older lower tax thresholds that make it worth holding out a bit longer if you want a TT.

My mums Cayman that I'm currently a custodian of is the £700+ tax bracket. Annoying especially as a few months newer they got them into the ~£400 bracket. However a fun/toy car like that you park up over winter and SORN to not get ruined by the weather. That halves the tax payable over the year.

[SiC]

It's stuff like this that has a hard time at £735 p/a tax.

If you need a people carrying box, why would you get this over an equivalent price Touran/Scenic/etc with a much lower tax band, better performance, styling and parts/mechanics availability. Tbh I'm amazed they think they can get anyone to pay this price. Maybe hoping someone desperate won't notice the tax band until after buying it?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202601249395453?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android-app

That is true Autoshite. (Too Autoshite for me to ever buy one though)

[M'coli]

I'm a Scot living in Yorkshire - draw your own conclusions on how I voted!

#titusacrabsarse

[Markeh]

The new £40k RRP supplement did influence my decision to look at other vehicles. At the time to get an automatic Qashqai in the spec I would have wanted put me over the threshold and I wasn't willing to pay that much extra tax for effectively the same car.

My mate sort of chose a low tax band vehicle because her works car parking permits are priced according to CO2 emissions.

[horriblemercedes]

No, not at all. If I was considering two cars and one was registered on 20th March 2006 and the other on 25th March 2006, it might. But overall I'd still pick whichever example of the two was better.

 

It means an extra £300 or so per year. That isn't really a massive cost in running a car, and it would be a shame for £300/year to stop you from buying what you want/like

[tooSavvy]

@Kiltox... "£150 Astra is as worthless as it is because the VED is £265 a year, and it’d definitely be worth loads more if that pesky tax man wasn’t so keen on getting his slice 

I think it’s as worthless as it is because a 2006 Astra is less desirable than syphillis, rather than the cost of tax being a real issue".

Yes... well, that said 🙄

My 2008 'dose' is worthless+ high tax...

I may grimace, but swan around nonetheless 😋

2¢

🚙💨

[warninglight]

I ticked Yes and Yes, as it was one of the factors on my latest purchase.

I wanted a daily that could tow 3500kg but be a decent distance cruiser too. I've had a few £700+ tax bands cars in the past and it's a bit sickening. 

I ended up with a 2014 ML350 which is in the £400ish band, no doubt due to emissions cheating. It's also ULEZ though that's not an issue for me, maybe twice a year I'll drive into one, though my nearest 2 zones are Glasgow and Edinburgh which are hefty fines.

The following day I also ended up with a 2016 Disco 4 which is still here and for sale. That's also £400ish so not only am I saving £600 per year by having TWO, I've SORNd the Disco so I'm saving £1000 per year. Take that, DVLA.

If I was going out to spend £2k on a Disco 3, I'd be aiming for a 2005 one instead of a 2006 for the same reasons. Likewise if I upped the budget I'd go for a 2014 Disco 4 over a 2013 if they were similar money.

 

[sierraman]

It wouldn’t if it was something I actually wanted. But I’m not paying several hundred quid to tax something crap like a Mondeo petrol automatic. 

[warch]

As of next month I will be paying a grand total of £0,00 to tax my three car fleet. 

I wouldn't object to 700 quid for something properly big and polluting like a VXR8 or Discovery 3, but no way would I pay that to drive something like a petrol Tacuma.

Back before we had kids I bought a MINI Cooper (R50). I really wanted the Cooper S (R53) but didn't want to pay the extra road tax. This was back before you could pay road tax monthly which I find means you don't really notice the cost as much though. 

 

[The Old Bloke Next Door]

06 Freelander Mk 1 diesel manual is £760 compared to the same year auto  about £420, both use the same motor with the same emmissions. To be certain the V5C doc, ref. no. needs to be checked.

Main cost issue for me is the insurance, my 2000 Freelander manual with full no claims was £335 comp, my other Mk 1 a 2004 diesel auto with an introductary one year discount was £965, both with First Direct.

[danthecapriman]

Road tax price wouldn’t influence my vehicle buying decisions. The way I see it is it’s one of the few ‘vices’ I’m still allowed so I’ll pick whatever I want.

But I did select avoiding the £700 bracket. But purely for the reason that there’s nothing in that particular bracket that I’d actually want to own! It’s just modern junk imho so not for me. 
Everything I want is firmly in tax exempt or the really old non emissions based tax territory.

 

[eddyramrod]

Doesn't affect me at all.  One on Motability, no issue there; one that's VERY old and therefore free.  No plans to ever-again buy a car for which I would have to pay RFL.

[Knotty Ash Towers]

Anything above £400 gets an "Ahm oot" from me.

[hairnet]

2 quid a day for it to be parked outside the house when on occasion you might not use it for a week?

no

that buys a meal so still no

and im not stingy when ill rip somewhere far away with no notice

[Bren]

My insignia was £35 a year. It's only redeeming feature.

The 545 I had before was £415. And rising.

And that's the issue. Something now that is £765 a year will be past the £800 barrier in the near future. It's a lot of money for something that seems to have no tangible benefits. It doesn't appear to get spent on the roads.

[Peter C]

I intend to make my fleet of jalopies tax free in the next two years and only acquire more tax exempt cars in the future.

Tax exempt also means ULEZ exempt and not having to pay both for three cars would save me over £1k per annum. Win.

[DSdriver]

I have one car on full fat road tax (the Saab 9-5 aero hot) 

one on Road tax lite ( the Saab 9-3 floppytop)

and one on alcohol free (the Citroen DS)

Law of averages. 😀

[drewd]

I actively avoid anything in the really high brackets.

I've currently got two cars costing £395 and £265 PA. The £395 car (Merc W203) was closer to £300 than £400 when I got it three years ago, and whilst I find £300 ok I'm less keen about it being nearly £400. That said, it's a known quantity and not worth much, so I'd not change it for something cheaper based purely on road tax. It's less than half a tank of fuel each month. The £265 car (Saab 9-3) was bought as I needed something cheap last summer.

My current cars are old and a bit rough around the edges, but they're still cheap motoring in the grand scheme of things.

[Tayne]

Can we have an option on the poll for “I wouldn’t have that Astra if you paid me £265 to take it away” please.

Like @cobblers above, road tax for me has been about £200 for 20 years or so. I had a free 15 months and I’m now back to £195.

I’d pay more for a sports car or big truck but would try and find cheaper tax on a generic AnCar. That said, I’d take the hit if the generic AnCar was in great condition with good history at a bargain price.

12,000 miles at 40mpg would cost at least £1800 so road tax is less of a component.

[w00dy]

The mega-bracket does put me off, but it depends on the car. If I want it enough then I will swallow the cost nad perhaps SORN it for part of the year. 

So far I've voided the big tax as I only really like cars made before 2006 anyway and I would be unlikely to have a mega-tax daily. If I don't even get a disc I'd rather have the change to spend on something tangible and it feels like a little win in the V8 6-series sort of like the first 300 in maintenance each year is free.

300-400 feels ok given how new stuff is all 200 now.