Interesting Low Tax Runabouts

[benny.c]

I’ve been on the lookout for a cheap shopping/school run car. The criteria was max £5K, Petrol, circa 40mpg, 4 seats, and max £35 tax bracket. In an effort to get something vaguely interesting I also wanted a max 0-60 time of 8 seconds. If you input that criteria in to Autotrader you get loads of Minis, a few Polo GTs and a sprinkling of other random stuff.

I’ve had Minis before so wanted something different and was quite tempted by a few of the Polos. In the end though I went for this. It’s a 2015 Giulietta QV Line 1.4 Multiair. 110K miles, FSH and the price was £3.2K.

I didn't do much research in to low tax band cars beyond using the Autotrader filters. What other semi interesting cars could I have had? I did consider a cheap EV but the shed end of the market is not very inspiring.

Seller’s photo .

Edited by benny.c on Friday 5th June 07:58

[georgeyboy12345]

Yeah they are good in 170 bhp 1.4 guise. I rate them. They are not without their minor niggles. Keep on top of timing belts too. Otherwise, great cars.

[the-norseman]

Is it the 1.4 MA 170? I've got the 1.4 MA 150 had it at Celtic tuning now pushing 205 which makes it drive a lot nicer, wish my tax was £35!

[sixor8]

You could probably skip the mpg filter. For a car to have emissions below 120g (£35 max VED for pre 2017 cars), it would HAVE to be very frugal with the fuel. I had a 2016 Fiat Panda 1.2 petrol for 18 months and it would do high 40s all the time, over 50 mpg on a run.

[benny.c]

Yes it’s the 170. The belt has been done twice so far, last time at 80K miles in late ‘22. There’s a few electrical niggles - mirror controls only work up and down, not left to right, and the steering wheel buttons don’t always work on first push - nothing there that bothers me.

Really happy with it so far though.

[E-bmw]

sixor8 said:

I had a 2016 Fiat Panda 1.2 petrol for 18 months and it would do high 40s all the time, over 50 mpg on a run.

Aren't they (1.2 engine) the wet belt engines?

Not recommended if so.

[E-bmw]

benny.c said:

Yes it s the 170. The belt has been done twice so far, last time at 80K miles in late 22. There s a few electrical niggles - mirror controls only work up and down, not left to right, and the steering wheel buttons don t always work on first push - nothing there that bothers me.

Really happy with it so far though.

Oh, the wonders of Italian electrics.

Each time you operate a switch you wonder if it is going to work.

[benny.c]

I did read that the electrics could be a bit temperamental! Just remembered the electric seat lumber support is a bit random too

sixor8 said:

You could probably skip the mpg filter. For a car to have emissions below 120g (£35 max VED for pre 2017 cars), it would HAVE to be very frugal with the fuel. I had a 2016 Fiat Panda 1.2 petrol for 18 months and it would do high 40s all the time, over 50 mpg on a run.

Yes, I doubt there’s any in that bracket with catastrophic MPG.

[sixor8]

E-bmw said:

sixor8 said:

I had a 2016 Fiat Panda 1.2 petrol for 18 months and it would do high 40s all the time, over 50 mpg on a run.

Aren't they (1.2 engine) the wet belt engines?

Not recommended if so.

No, only Ford and Stellantis products with the puretech engine do them (I think?). It is a rubber cambelt and something I normally avoid, but it had just been done, receipt to prove. It had 99k miles on it and still ran fine, although I had to change the front struts for the MoT, damper leaked badly. I may have another when the EV goes back.

[the-norseman]

Touch wood my 2017 Giulietta has been good with the electrics so far, squeaky,knocky suspension on the other hand...

[benny.c]

The driver's seat is a bit squeaky I will admit. The suspension seems OK - quite firm (maybe because it's the QV line?) but it is very comfortable and smooth.

I've squirted some contact cleaner in to the steering wheel buttons and they seem a bit better

[georgeyboy12345]

benny.c said:

Yes it s the 170. The belt has been done twice so far, last time at 80K miles in late 22. There s a few electrical niggles - mirror controls only work up and down, not left to right, and the steering wheel buttons don t always work on first push - nothing there that bothers me.

Really happy with it so far though.

It’ll probably be a good idea to get the belt replaced by next year - manufacturer’s recommendation is every 5 years or 72k, whichever comes first. I’d get it done sooner rather than later, you don’t want it failing on you. It’ll be around £500 at an independent Alfa specialist (don’t take it to any old garage).

From the sounds of it, you bought it then?

[georgeyboy12345]

E-bmw said:

sixor8 said:

I had a 2016 Fiat Panda 1.2 petrol for 18 months and it would do high 40s all the time, over 50 mpg on a run.

Aren't they (1.2 engine) the wet belt engines?

Not recommended if so.

Don’t assume every 1.2 has a wet belt! Pretty sure these are still using the old FIRE motor that has been in service since the mid-80s! These have the same 72k/5yr timing belt interval as the Alfa.

[benny.c]

georgeyboy12345 said:

It ll probably be a good idea to get the belt replaced by next year - manufacturer s recommendation is every 5 years or 72k, whichever comes first. I d get it done sooner rather than later, you don t want it failing on you. It ll be around £500 at an independent Alfa specialist (don t take it to any old garage).

From the sounds of it, you bought it then?

Yes, I picked it up on Tuesday and thanks for the info on the belt. It was last done by MVC in Sale so I’ll probably take it there as they aren’t that far from me. Unless there are any closer in Liverpool, Chester or N. Wales.

[Paddymcc]

thats a nice looking motor!

How did Alfa manage to get that into the £35 tax bracket but the Abarth wasnt?

[Agent57]

How reliable is Autotrader in quoting annual car tax?

I notice an asterisk by the amount with no explanation.

Don't get me started on standalone asterisks. There should be a law against it.

No I did not read for miles and miles afterwards in case an explanation for the asterisk was there.

[benny.c]

Paddymcc said:

thats a nice looking motor!

How did Alfa manage to get that into the £35 tax bracket but the Abarth wasnt?

Cheers. Not sure how it came about but from what I can work out there was a very limited time when it happened. Facelift 2014/15 Multiair with the auto TCT.

Agent57 said:

How reliable is Autotrader in quoting annual car tax?

Not sure how accurate it is but I asked the seller to confirm before going to view it.

[E-bmw]

georgeyboy12345 said:

E-bmw said:

sixor8 said:

I had a 2016 Fiat Panda 1.2 petrol for 18 months and it would do high 40s all the time, over 50 mpg on a run.

Aren't they (1.2 engine) the wet belt engines?

Not recommended if so.

Don t assume every 1.2 has a wet belt!

I don't assume every 1.2 is a wet belt engine, I just (obviously mistakenly) thought these were the same as the Citroen (ETC) 1.2 wet belt engines.

[ZX10R NIN]

sixor8 said:

No, only Ford and Stellantis products with the puretech engine do them (I think?). It is a rubber cambelt and something I normally avoid, but it had just been done, receipt to prove. It had 99k miles on it and still ran fine, although I had to change the front struts for the MoT, damper leaked badly. I may have another when the EV goes back.

Also Honda on it's 1.0T & it is no more reliable than the Ford or PSA options

[georgeyboy12345]

benny.c said:

georgeyboy12345 said:

It ll probably be a good idea to get the belt replaced by next year - manufacturer s recommendation is every 5 years or 72k, whichever comes first. I d get it done sooner rather than later, you don t want it failing on you. It ll be around £500 at an independent Alfa specialist (don t take it to any old garage).

From the sounds of it, you bought it then?

Yes, I picked it up on Tuesday and thanks for the info on the belt. It was last done by MVC in Sale so I ll probably take it there as they aren t that far from me. Unless there are any closer in Liverpool, Chester or N. Wales.

Nice. MVC are supposed to be highly regarded, but I took my old Alfa there once and wasn’t that impressed - they tried upselling a load of work that wasn’t required, put a load of rubbish about underbody corrosion on my MOT and overtightened the oil plug on my car, requiring it to need a new sump.

Nowhere near you unfortunately, but when I lived in the North East, there was an independent specliast called QSP in Ferryhill who were fantastic.