Road Tax - bad news

[dbslk]

Looks like us UK owners of 350s and above are going to fall foul of the increase in Road Tax [:(]

£210!

[Easty]

Hey i won't miss that.. I guess I'll pay it here ina sence though. As the roads are so bloody aweful I'll need to replace all my wheels in 12 months. think i'd prefer the 210 quid mate. ;)

[Slk-Gill]

Yeah but the difference over the band below is equivalent to half a tank of petrol a year.

The whole 210 notes is only 3 1/2 tank fills over a year

[steve-p]

A government sponsored report a few years ago suggested that road tax be abolished. Since fuel duty already taxes vehicles proportionately according to their weight and efficiency, and drivers according to their mileage and usage pattern, it is as fair it could be. So, road tax achieves nothing, except fund the welfare state a bit more. Of course, Gordon Brown chose to ignore the findings of the report for about the fifth year running.

[silver_slk_55]

As someone on the news last night pointed out - hey, it's a 50,000 quid car - is someone really going to be concerned about 200 quid road tax??? - i.e. it ain't going to make a difference.

[3.2 quattro]

I'm thinking of changing mine for one of those Smart or Honda thingys.[:p]

[GordonH]

If you have the 7 speed transmission the emissions are actually below the 2.5g limit for the new road tax! The manual is right on the limit.

The spec is well hidden in the UK version of the manual and the brochure/sales booklet.

[owen]

Not much to boast about, but I do actually have one of those Smart things and have tonight paid my £40 for a year's tax on it, on-line. If I had a diesel version, it would have been zero. I suppose my smile will disappear when I tax the SLK in July!

[rmclachlan]

I can't see this change in tax bandings will make the slightest bit of difference. On a 40-50k car the difference in tax between the highest and the next band is around £120. So if say the car cost £40,120 as opposed to £40,000 would that stop you buying it. No, I think not. It is just another way of getting some cash out of you - it will have absolutely no effect at all.

[Topaz]

We all know that Gordon is a prat & has no idea about motoring because he doesn't have a bloody licence. If he was serious about trying to prevent the public buying 'gas guzzlers' he should have abolished road tax as previously suggested.I am changing my car.I'm getting a BMW 645 but I waited until after the budget before I chose the engine size.The 3 litre comes in the same tax bracket as the V84.4 or a few quid below so where the incentive Gordon you robbing git. Anyway my neighbours smokey Diesel pollutes the air more that a cat equipped V8.Finally, we can't tell him what to spend the money on so wht should he tell me what I can spend my money (after tax) on. Rant over.