Is it going to get harder and harder for us to sell...

Associate
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...our petrol 'guzzling' cars in years to come.

E.G Ted buys a Mondeo St220 second hand now, and after 2 years use wants to upgrade. Is Ted going to find it much harder to sell or do you think this is already the case?

Discuss.
 
Caporegime
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Yes. Even though the governemnt have made it quite difficult to get clear guidelines on the new Tax, my grandparents are looking for a new car and the deciding factor is wether its going to be expensive to tax... so yes, it will be harder, and is already affecting people.
 
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Not really. People will always want to drive performance cars.

Interesting, but those who want to drive performance cars previously only had to contend with fuel costs and a slightly higher tax.

We know that future buyers will have to contend with higher tax costs, how about social issues? Will those who drive fuel guzzling performance cars start to be looked down upon?
 
Soldato
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cars that will become harder to sell are cars that's tax grouping doesn't really tie up with how"good" they are

e.g: lexus is200 is over 400 a year once the new system kicks in
 
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how about social issues? Will those who drive fuel guzzling performance cars start to be looked down upon?

I can't see that happening at all tbh. It will just be even more of a percieved status symbol for the wealthy, in that they can STILL afford to run a high powered and costly car. I don't think people can judge really. Could be a company car etc.
 
Soldato
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When you consider a 1.8 Ford Focus is over £250 per year to tax as an example, it'll make people think twice. Although you'll still get people who don't check this and buy it without realising until the tax is due.
 
Soldato
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my grandparents are looking for a new car and the deciding factor is wether its going to be expensive to tax...

So they're spending thousands, possibly tens of, on a brand new car, and they're concerned about a couple of hundred quid a year?

That's hypothetically speaking as well. People just scream OMGTAXISTOOEXPENSIVELOL and go off and buy a £15k 1.5l Diesel car or something. Same applies to diesels. "it's cheaper to run!!11oneone" "oh but I paid £15k for it"

:rolleyes: ;)

There will always be car enthusiasts who want to drive proper cars, so no I don't think it'll be too difficult to sell. When you buy a car you accept that you're going to make a loss anyway
 
Soldato
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I think the changes to the tax system will definitely affect the values and saleability of larger engined high CO2 cars.

Many of the posts on this forum demonstrate that people pay far more attention to the actual operating costs of the vehicle rather than the purchase price or overall running costs including depreciation, hence people spending £10k on a diesel to save £250 a year or buying a new supermini for £7k because the tax is only £35 a year. Tax has a big psycological factor to it - you don't really get any additional benefit for the extra tax you pay.

There will always be people who will stomach the extra to run a performance car, but they will be in a minority in the grand scheme of things.

High CO2 cars will become very difficult to sell once their values drop to around £5k I reckon. It will drive up the demand for "performance" diesel cars in the long term.

Manufacturers won't take this lying down though. We'll start to see more technology like BMW Efficient Dynamics to drive down CO2 from larger engines and things like engines turning cylinders off when the power isn't required like Mercedes have had on some of their big engines for a while now.
 
Soldato
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It's clear that the attractiveness of "gas guzzlers" is and will continue to fall. Fuel prices are increasing, government is shifting tax policy against them, costs for "other" stuff are increasing leaving people less to spend on fancy cars and social concern about Climate Change is rising.

Anyone buying a "gas guzzler" has to do so knowing that the market he'll be trying to sell it back into in a few years time will be harsher than this one.
 
Man of Honour
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Don't forget the common mans definition of gas guzzler is not the same as the governments. I can hardly be accused of gas guzzling as I drive up the M5 @ 37mpg, yet I will now have to pay 'gas guzzler' tax as the reps in their 320i's storm past at 100mph @ 25mpg.
 
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I certainly wouldnt buy my Focus ST privately now, to run it privately even over the standard 12-15k a year would be too cost prohibitive.

It will be interesting to see how fleet managers approach the new scenario, will us CC drivers be forced to drive Diesels?

I think you will find people buying a super mini for day to day driving, and then having something nice for the weekend.
 
Man of Honour
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I think you will find people buying a super mini for day to day driving, and then having something nice for the weekend.

How does that get around the large road tax issue? It doesn't.

More likely that those who do have large cars will use them more to get their moneys worth. Come March next year I will have to pay £430n a year tax whether I do 1 mile or 100,000 miles in that year. Currently I often walk places, sometimes get public transport, as it's a little easier than the hassle of parking at times.

I'll be using my car as much as possible to get my maximum value from the road tax once I have to pay £430 a year for it.
 
Soldato
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From the company car perspective - I can only assume the monthly cost of the car will increase (due to faster depreciation and higher road tax). This is likely to lift some cars out of some people's company car bandings... and make the new BMWs super attractive.
 
Man of Honour
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It's a tricky one. Imo It's going to create a split between cars that justify their high emissions and those that do not. The cars that will suffer most are the poor emissions and poor performance.
 
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