Car tax

[AClownsPocket]

Have the thresholds changed recently?

We bought a 2007 335i coupe last October and picked that over an M3 as the tax thresholds were half the price. Just been and taxed it today and its £445 for the year which is not what I expected.

Should have bought the M3 to begin with!!

[Shadow R1]

If its registered after march 06(which your bm was), the bands expanded to include the higher ones.
So if you had a late 05, the highest band is £260.

I think its going to be the reason alot of cars sat unsold in dealers, especially things that arnt worth much, say a Vectra, or Mondeo, with the bigger engines.

[FreeLitres]

The £200 difference in tax was the decider then? Really?

[ensignia]

You based an expensive car purchase on the cost of Road Tax?

[AClownsPocket]

ensignia said:

You based an expensive car purchase on the cost of Road Tax?

That and the £500 difference in insurance costs. We bought the car second hand, and we factored in all the ongoing costs. Don't see why that would surprise. The M3 would have been an E46 BTW, not a V8.

[madmover]

Can totally understand buying cars based on their running costs and it sounds like the OP took the right approach and was sensible in sitting down and working out the running costs which so many people dont seem to do. The amount of people i have met that constantly moan about expenses they incur as a result of owning cars which could easily be predicted before they had bought the car is amazing. Unfortunately it seems like the OP didn't realize which is easily done the difference in Tax Bandings from the late 05 to the 06 registered cars. Im looking at a 350Z at present and the 313 varient the newer one basically with 208 bhp falls in the same bracket and is £460 per annum where as the 295bhp model registered a few months earlier is £260 per annum and for someone young like myself saving for a buy to let property at the same time while being self employed while cash flow is tight but still wishing to own what I class as a fun and reasonable car which many may not but the fact insurance is reasonable on them for me too has a major factor, £200 difference is sizable. im not saying id buy it just because of this but it would be taken into consideration and in my situation id buy one of the variants that falls under the £260 bracket as I believe they would be i) easier to resell and ii) save myself £200 per annum for the sake of buying a car registered a few months before with just short of 18bhp less which wouldnt bother me in the slightest. Sorry to hear of your missfortune OP but on the plus side you still have an awesome car and I think that you will throughly enjoy it. Just think at least your saving money on the insurance still and some of the running costs will be cheaper... Parents have a 330i E90 Which i do love and enjoy throughly so Im sure a 335i will be even more fun and a great car to own!

[AClownsPocket]

Madmover, you and I read the same page

I did get the mixup, I've done a bit more digging and according to Parkers, cars registered after 1st Sep 2007 are 218 G/KM hence lower tax, unfortunately, I think mine was one of the last registered earlier cars (29 Sep 2007) as it shows 228 on the V5. My own mistake, but, hey ho, I can still enjoy the car. Just a bit of a bugger I missed it.

I suppose as long as I can afford to run it, I just take the hit. When it gets too much, I sell it and buy a slightly later model

[Lordglenmorangie]

Last bit of NU Labour madness , cheers Blair and co. every time I tax the car it remindes me never to vote for the tossers again, so think on Ed .