Re: Road Taxes...

[Jan van de Wouw <delorean@xxxx>]

On 29-07-2002 14:43, Daniel Willis wrote:

> We used to have a system of say £80 for six months and £160 for a year
> (was less) but then it changed to engine size.. so little 1100cc
> engines got away with £100 a year etc.
> The DeLorean was always going to be top bracket...
> Now tax is measured on the Co2 emissions of a vehicle. Clean gets cheap...
> dirty (more powerful/diesel) gets expensive.

It's even more ridiculous here:
You pay for the weight of your car, so an Escort weiging 800kg
pays less than a DeLorean weiging allmost 1300kg.
For a Diesel you pay more because it's "bad for the environment",
but for a car on LPG you pay more too, even if it's cleaner than petrol!
You pay more for either Diesel or LPG anyway, since those cars tend to
be heavier; LPG requires a tank, while a Diesel engine has higher
compression and such, and reinforcements cost weight...

But then it gets worse; if you have a car on a so called "Gray Licence",
you pay LESS tax even if it's heavier or runs on Diesel.
"Gray Licenses" are supposed to go on "Trade Vehicles", like vans or
pickups, but with the old system cars like a Vitara, a Samurai or and Escort
with no rear seat and no rear side windows would be concidered for that too.

With the currenst system your car has to be able to hold the "Tax Cube"
(rough translation), a certain volume of which height and length have minima
and these have to fit the car within certain measurements between the
wheels. That's why you see all those cars with a "bathtub" on the roof; to
be able to hold that volume...
All very confusing...

Let's hope my D survives at least another 4 years; after it's 25th birthday
it's officially an oldtimer and I don't have to pay road tax anymore NOR do
I have top get the yearly inspection done ("APK", what you seem to call
"MOT")...
"If you keep a car running for 25 years, you'll probably keep it safe too,
so why should we check?" and "You won't drive a classic that much, so if you
don't use the road, why pay for it?" are the thoughts behind that...

Funny; that's why all those old Volvo's are getting quite popular here; no
road tax, no MOT, but reliable and comfortable enough to drive in everyday
traffic for tens of thousands of kilometers a year...

Ah well... While you pay less road taxes, we get taxed a bit less on fuel,
even if those taxes are rediculous too...

JAN van de Wouw
Thinking Different... Using a Mac...
Living the Dream... Driving a DeLorean...

#05141 "Dagger" since Sept. 2000

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