VED rates.
 

Just had my VED reminder through for the end of the month for the ZT, and for the third year in a row it has gone up £10 and is now £300.

Is it now policy for the VED on our cars to go up like this every year as OH is saying its getting to expensive for the miles it does and I could replace it with a smaller, manual (which adds £100 over the manual) and petrol and easily cut the VED in half.

It's a lot, and I'm now struggling to justify paying this, and looking like more every year and "it's fun, a British classic, iconic" don't cut it with someone to whom a car is just a bit of metal to get you from A to B.

One £300 repair bill for the "new" car and there is your saving gone.
Better the devil you know. :D



Blackrose

From what I have seen recently with friends with newish cars £300 wont even cover the labour cost. A mate with an Audi had a £1800 bill to get his 4 year old car through its MOT, emissions and new brakes were the biggest part.( yes it is a diesel )

The gradual increase of ved rates is deliberate to rid the roads of older cars. The powers that be want to continue to prop up the failing car industry with other gems such as congestion charges linked to emissions, and slowing increasing ethanol fuel to properly finish off cars manufactured more than 15-20 years ago.

With a car that is expensive to run, park outside your house or use to drive into a city we will be ‘forced’ to buy newer models, thus provide an ongoing stream of customers for the over production of new cars.

3 of my classic minis became tax free in the last 2 year since turning 40 years old, good job really as I’ve just bought my first Rover 75, a May 2002 Connie SE v6 with ved at £325, which wipes out the savings from the minis!

Is this the key to future classic car motoring? what was your dream car of 1980? No MOT costs and no VED. insurance can be had for under £100...

Its not just our tax going up though, they're hiking it all. My mate has a hybrid. Cost nothing to tax when she got it, but they have slapped a tax on it now. Not large, granted, but the point is they are money grabbing simple as. No matter what you buy, eventually they will find a way to tax it.

Taxes have to increase in line with costs and will always do so.

The answer to your predicament might lie elsewhere. Is the cost of keeping the wife net positive or negative? Does she put a smile on your face in the same way as the Rover?.....;):}

:laughing2:

Mine is a lot being an automatic but I pay mine via DD to DVLA and don't notice the £26.42p each month, have been paying this way since I owned the car.

You do pay 5% more for the privilege but it's a lot less of shock than paying in one hit.

I do the same. To be fair every bill goes up yearly. Council tax, water, insurances. Its not really a shock car tax follows the trend.

There is a reason behind this change. Government has found out that many drivers of Hybrids just keep on running them on petrol only. Company car users are the worst for this. All the tax breaks and using it like a petrol only car.