£490 road tax, does it put you off?

[Mr Gear]

GetCarter said:

Buggerlugz said:

So buying a car and swallowing 16 grand deprecitiation in 4 years is ok ?

Let me let you into a little secret, 4 years later its still the same car, saying its ok to pay heavy rfl when your also taking on £4k a year depreciation is ok but when the price has bottomed out and your covering arond £500 a year depreciation is fking ludicrous.

Give your head a shake

This really depends on how much money you earn. Can you imagine Luis Suárez going out and buying a second hand car? Just because you don't do it, doesn't mean that others shouldn't... and btw, that four year old car you buy. Someone else had to buy it first!

HTH

In a way, you should be thankful. The depreciation on most highly-taxed cars is horrendous. You can now pick them up as something of a bargain. RX8 anyone?

As long as someone is rich enough or silly enough to fork out the original cost and foot the bill for the depreciation, all you have to worry about is the VED.

[jonah35]

Buggerlugz said:

So buying a car and swallowing 16 grand deprecitiation in 4 years is ok ?

Let me let you into a little secret, 4 years later its still the same car, saying its ok to pay heavy rfl when your also taking on £4k a year depreciation is ok but when the price has bottomed out and your covering arond £500 a year depreciation is fking ludicrous.

Give your head a shake

New cars are still better than a 3 year old car that has been used by another bloke for 3 years. You could buy second hand clothes but you probably dont. If you can afford it why not.

[Panda P]

Personally I think the performance of the car needs to reflect the price.

Golf R32? No
350Z? No

I actually got rid of my old 335i pre-Efficient Dynamics because again, I didn't feel it was enough of a car to justify the tax however, the M3 is fully justified.

[clubsport78]

When I was looking to buy my R32, I did initially look only at the early 55/06 plate ones in the lower tax bracket. I ended up with a 2007 higher bracket car. (Buying on condition and I got it for what I feel was a fair price)

So, initially yes it did put me off, but when I really thought about it, paying £200 more for tax over an earlier model really is the least of your worries. If you are worrying about it then in all honesty you probably need to be looking at more economical cars.

I don't like throwing money away as much as the next man and giving £475 to the government for the pleasure of owning a car I like (and to drive it on our patchwork roads) is a bit of a kick in the plums, but in the grand scheme of things it doesn't really figure all that highly.

It's almost worth doing for the look of horror people give you when they realise how much you pay. This is usually followed by them then smugly telling you that their super eco bluegreenefficiencymotion only costs £30 a year :/

[dfen5]

I run a newish L200, big part of the decision was the equivalent size of car's road tax. Also run a 16 year old Rav4, runs fine, no way would I get a newer one and pay the £490 per year, this one will run 'till it dies, and then be replaced with an un-dead one.

[RobM77]

Panda P said:

Personally I think the performance of the car needs to reflect the price.

Golf R32? No
350Z? No

I actually got rid of my old 335i pre-Efficient Dynamics because again, I didn't feel it was enough of a car to justify the tax however, the M3 is fully justified.

I think that's a very important principle in choosing and buying cars that's often overlooked. I bought my present daily driver, a 320d, because after years of racing fairly quick cars, the faster 3 none M series models like the 330i or 335i didn't really feel much different in a straight line to the 20d, and everything else about them other than the straight line performance was the same (or actually worse if you spec big wheels and low profile tyres). It just wasn't worth the extra money for me. My teammate at the time had a 320d as well for the same reasons and our driving coach had an older 320i (cable throttle, avoiding the DBW issues that blight more recent petrol models from BMW). The M3 was different though - that caught my eye though because I felt it truly offered a lot more than the base spec 3 series and was worth the extra money. My previous team mate had an M3 for that reason. Regarding the 335i, would I pay more in tax and fuel for near identical handling and three seconds off the 0-60 time? Not with my priorities in a car, no. M3? yes please!

[B'stard Child]

clubsport78 said:

It's almost worth doing for the look of horror people give you when they realise how much you pay. This is usually followed by them then smugly telling you that their super eco bluegreenefficiencymotion only costs £30 a year :/

That's normally my cue to ask what it's lost per year

[RobM77]

B'stard Child said:

clubsport78 said:

It's almost worth doing for the look of horror people give you when they realise how much you pay. This is usually followed by them then smugly telling you that their super eco bluegreenefficiencymotion only costs £30 a year :/

That's normally my cue to ask what it's lost per year

And they'll normally have lost more in depreciation. However, even if they haven't, you presumably like cars and they're one of your passions in life, so like me you pay for them. Would I want a Prius or Golf because it was cheaper?! That's like someone telling me their holiday has cost £200 less than mine because they surfed every day rather than going scuba diving. We all have our passions and interests in life and sometimes you have to pay more money for them than the next man's cheaper hobby. Personally I couldn't care a less what my neighbour pays in road tax, so long as we're both happy - I wouldn't swap my 2-Eleven for their Focus!

[clubsport78]

RobM77 said:

B'stard Child said:

clubsport78 said:

It's almost worth doing for the look of horror people give you when they realise how much you pay. This is usually followed by them then smugly telling you that their super eco bluegreenefficiencymotion only costs £30 a year :/

That's normally my cue to ask what it's lost per year

And they'll normally have lost more in depreciation. However, even if they haven't, you presumably like cars and they're one of your passions in life, so like me you pay for them. Would I want a Prius or Golf because it was cheaper?! That's like someone telling me their holiday has cost £200 less than mine because they surfed every day rather than going scuba diving. We all have our passions and interests in life and sometimes you have to pay more money for them than the next man's cheaper hobby. Personally I couldn't care a less what my neighbour pays in road tax, so long as we're both happy - I wouldn't swap my 2-Eleven for their Focus!

Yep, cars are without doubt a passion of mine. I choose to spend my money on having a car I want, probably at the sacrifice of having nice holidays each year or boozing it up every weekend like many others would prefer, but that is a choice I have made. I realise that my Golf isn't exactly the fastest or best car on the planet, but it is one from my (somewhat extensive!) list that i wanted to try and I'm pretty glad that I have done so.

[RobM77]

clubsport78 said:

RobM77 said:

B'stard Child said:

clubsport78 said:

It's almost worth doing for the look of horror people give you when they realise how much you pay. This is usually followed by them then smugly telling you that their super eco bluegreenefficiencymotion only costs £30 a year :/

That's normally my cue to ask what it's lost per year

And they'll normally have lost more in depreciation. However, even if they haven't, you presumably like cars and they're one of your passions in life, so like me you pay for them. Would I want a Prius or Golf because it was cheaper?! That's like someone telling me their holiday has cost £200 less than mine because they surfed every day rather than going scuba diving. We all have our passions and interests in life and sometimes you have to pay more money for them than the next man's cheaper hobby. Personally I couldn't care a less what my neighbour pays in road tax, so long as we're both happy - I wouldn't swap my 2-Eleven for their Focus!

Yep, cars are without doubt a passion of mine. I choose to spend my money on having a car I want, probably at the sacrifice of having nice holidays each year or boozing it up every weekend like many others would prefer, but that is a choice I have made. I realise that my Golf isn't exactly the fastest or best car on the planet, but it is one from my (somewhat extensive!) list that i wanted to try and I'm pretty glad that I have done so.

Oh, and with reference to your 'faster' comment, of course it's not all about speed. Almost all of us could have bought faster cars for the money, but that's as relevant as saying an audiophile could have bought a louder hi-fi It's a hobby or a passion, so comparing one's budget to an A to B driver in a Prius is pointless imho.

[Buggerlugz]

jonah35 said:

New cars are still better than a 3 year old car that has been used by another bloke for 3 years. You could buy second hand clothes but you probably dont. If you can afford it why not.

second hand clothes arent taxed tho so your point is redundant

[RobM77]

Buggerlugz said:

jonah35 said:

New cars are still better than a 3 year old car that has been used by another bloke for 3 years. You could buy second hand clothes but you probably dont. If you can afford it why not.

second hand clothes arent taxed tho so your point is redundant

I'd always rather have new everything, but it's a strange comparison, as clothes typically cost under £500 and are within reach of most people as new purchases. Similarly, computers and gadgets are usually under £2k, so I'd just buy new. Even motorbikes are so affordable that I'd just buy a new one; saving £5k isn't really of enough interest to me to buy a pre worn secondhand bike . Cars though are a whole different prospect, as the most desirable ones can be £50k+ new, so given my budget of up to £30k I'd rather have a secondhand car than a new one. I've never bought a new car and I doubt I ever will, as for every price bracket up to £40k I'd rather buy used.