Best car for 20-30k with cheap road tax

Santa Claus

My Dad has decided to change his car and is intent on getting something that can avail of the €104 road tax.

So far he's looking at a Volvo s40 1.6d and was thinking of treating himself to an automatic, but from what I can see there's no automatics in that tax band because of higher emissions from autos (he might stretch to the €156 for an auto if there's any with B emissions).

Anyone got any suggestions on what he could get within 30k budget (trade on of 4-5k included in that budget so no cash deals) ?

I know he could prob get a better deal on a nearly new 09 but he's in his 70s and doesn't want to be buying a car that someone else might have driven the arse out of, also he won't buy a toyota under any circumstances as he got ripped off by a toyota dealer in the 80s so no suggestions of prius's please

I don't suppose there's a list available anywhere on the web of 09/10 cars by emissions, as this would be a great help in seeing what qualifies for the €104/156 tax.

Cheers

Leonard Hofstadter

So let me get this straight: there is no problem paying the best part of 30 grand on a car but there is a major problem about having to pay €156 instead of €104 to tax a car for the year:eek::eek:.

I mean €302(band C) is hardly the end of the world, or is it, because (and no offence OP, I know it's not you that's buying:)) if it is then it's best off not buying a new car if the finances are that precious.

OP, tell your dad to live a little and buy the car he wants and stop worrying about 52 euro a year or even 198 euro extra a year, it's peanuts in the wider scheme of things.

Unless he's availaing of the scrappage scheme there is no reason not to broaden the horizons a small bit and stop limiting options for the sake of barely a euro a week;).

The S40 diesel does have an automatic option but it's a 2l diesel and is in band C I think.

bazz26 has one and I remember him saying the 1.6l diesel is underpowered and that the car really needs the 2l diesel.

Diesel autos in lowish tax bands are only in the premium German cars, BMW 320d, 520d are in band C for the auto, band B autos like you say don't really exist just yet:).

bazz26

captainspeed wrote: »

So let me get this straight: there is no problem paying the best part of 30 grand on a car but there is a major problem about having to pay €156 instead of €104 to tax a car for the year:eek::eek:.

I mean €302(band C) is hardly the end of the world, or is it, because (and no offence OP, I know it's not you that's buying:)) if it is then it's best off not buying a new car if the finances are that precious.

OP, tell your dad to live a little and buy the car he wants and stop worrying about 52 euro a year or even 198 euro extra a year, it's peanuts in the wider scheme of things.

Unless he's availaing of the scrappage scheme there is no reason not to broaden the horizons a small bit and stop limiting options for the sake of barely a euro a week;).

The S40 diesel does have an automatic option but it's a 2l diesel and is in band C I think.

bazz26 has one and I remember him saying the 1.6l diesel is underpowered and that the car really needs the 2l diesel.

Diesel autos in lowish tax bands are only in the premium German cars, BMW 320d, 520d are in band C for the auto, band B autos like you say don't really exist just yet:).

Indeed I do and the 1.6d would not pull the skin off a sausage, whatever way Volvo tuned the engine it really struggles in the S40. BTW the S40 is being phased out so you either go with the 3 door C30 or opt for the new S60 which is bigger than the existing S40 but smaller than the old S60, as Volvo are align their models with other manufacturers.

If I had a €30k budget I would not limit myself to €104 tax cars, €104 per year is a drop in the ocean and a very small part of the cost of ownership of a car when spending that sort of money.

My money would also be on a BMW 320d or 520d, the manual costs €156 and the auto costs €302 to tax. That is 177bhp and good mpg for what is still very low motor tax. A 08 manual or auto 520d will be high on my shopping list next year.

Santa Claus

I agree with you Captain, but this is my father we're talking about. He's in his 70s and has not major outgoings except for utilities/insurance/road tax/my mother and golf related gadgets.

The car is a once off purchase that will probably see him to the end of his driving days so he doesn't mind paying for that, whereas the road tax is a recurring charge, so he argues that he could tax a band A car for 3 years with what it would cost him to tax a band C for 1 year.

I know it's blinkered vision but after 40 odd years of giving nearly half the money he earned to the goverment, it causes him physical pain to pay any further forms of tax, and the rest of us mental pain to listen to him.

This is a man who argued with an insurance company in the 80s that he should get an extra discount on his premium as the car was kept in the garage at night and the dog (which was a german sheppard) also slept in the garage so the car was doubly protected from theft, so he has an unique sense of logic when it comes to saving money !

[EDIT] BTW reason for automatic option is that he has a dogy left knee and my mother can't drive so we figure an auto would keep him on the road longer and save us chauffering our mother about . The golf 1.6 DSG seems to be band B so that will be on my list fo cars to try and steer him towards (shame none of the sciroccos are band B, wouldn't mind borrowing that off him).

anthony4335

Would you look at the Honda Civic hybrid, nice looking car, but would not impress anyone with its speed, otherwise not bad to drive and comes with auto

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Honda/Civic/MY10-Hyb/200951196198777/advert?channel=CARS
http://www.carzone.ie/search/Honda/Civic/Hybrid-+/201007196977153/advert?channel=CARS

unkel

My initial thoughts were the same as captainspeed's, but a bit louder

I'm glad I read the thread first. Having read the thread, I'm getting an understanding of what way your dad works, Santa Claus. He'll be pleased to be notified of the following proposition:

Skoda Octavia, 1.2 TSI/77 kW DSG/105bhp, 136 g/km so €156 road tax. From just 19k full list price. No other automatic car this size can touch that price. DSG is better than manual and better than automatic. It can be used either way

unkel

anthony4335 wrote: »

Would you look at the Honda Civic hybrid, nice looking car, but would not impress anyone with its speed, otherwise not bad to drive and comes with auto

It's a lot smaller than the Octavia (19k) and it retails at 29k. Rip-off! That said you do get a VRT discount for using hazardous batteries when you buy a heavy battery guzzling hybrid (is it 2.5k?)

Santa Claus

unkel wrote: »

Skoda Octavia, 1.2 TSI/77 kW DSG/105bhp, 136 g/km so €156 road tax. From just 19k full list price. No other automatic car this size can touch that price. DSG is better than manual and better than automatic. It can be used either way

I like it Unkel...plenty big enough to fit the golf clubs and caddy car and has 4 doors for giving people a lift (old people and 2 doors cars just don't work i think). Plus if he goes mad and gets the top "Elegance" spec for 21k he'll get parking sensors, rain sensing windscreen wipers, bi-zone climate control and cruise control !

Thanks for the hybrid suggestion Anthony but I think the concept of an electric car is too much for him...he'd be expecting it to come with an extension cable that he'd have to plug in overnight !

Berty

VRs ftw

Leonard Hofstadter

If the OP's dad is doing mostly town driving then a petrol is better, diesels have DPFs and DMFs that tend to give a lot of bother after a few years, especially on cars that do mostly stop start driving.

That said, a DI petrol is going to need a good workout too from time to time because it will suffer from carbon build ups if you drive them like a nun, and stripping the head down to get rid of excess carbon in the valves etc ain't cheap:)!

Santa Claus

captainspeed wrote: »

If the OP's dad is doing mostly town driving then a petrol is better, diesels have DPFs and DMFs that tend to give a lot of bother after a few years, especially on cars that do mostly stop start driving.

That said, a DI petrol is going to need a good workout too from time to time because it will suffer from carbon build ups if you drive them like a nun, and stripping the head down to get rid of excess carbon in the valves etc ain't cheap:)!

He's had a 03 petrol car since new that has 33k on it and it runs as good as the day he bought it new. All it's ever needed is annual service by local mechanic, 1 new set of tires and a set of brake shoes (plus oil and the usual annual stuff). He's also had 5 diesels over the years and never got stung for anything above the usual maintenance costs (apart from rolling one, when a truck jack-knifed in front of him and he swerved too hard).

vectra

Berty wrote: »

VRs ftw

+1

Vertakill

Santa Claus wrote: »

I know it's blinkered vision but after 40 odd years of giving nearly half the money he earned to the goverment, it causes him physical pain to pay any further forms of tax, and the rest of us mental pain to listen to him.

This is a man who argued with an insurance company in the 80s that he should get an extra discount on his premium as the car was kept in the garage at night and the dog (which was a german sheppard) also slept in the garage so the car was doubly protected from theft, so he has an unique sense of logic when it comes to saving money !

Must say, that made me laugh - in a good way.

I'd still maybe have a look at in the dreaded 'not-so-cheap' tax zone and see if there's something that's really luxurious that he'll really enjoy and I bet that'd take his mind off the tax thing. Nobody's saying go out and by a Hummer or something, but don't limit yourselves TOO much.

Leonard Hofstadter

Santa Claus wrote: »

He's had a 03 petrol car since new that has 33k on it and it runs as good as the day he bought it new. All it's ever needed is annual service by local mechanic, 1 new set of tires and a set of brake shoes (plus oil and the usual annual stuff). He's also had 5 diesels over the years and never got stung for anything above the usual maintenance costs (apart from rolling one, when a truck jack-knifed in front of him and he swerved too hard).

How recently has he had a diesel?

If it isn't within the past 5-10 years then you'll find a big change from diesels of old.

They are significantly more powerful than before, not to mention a lot quieter and a good bit more frugal as well, but this has come at quite a heavy price, namely reliability.

Back in the old days diesels would do 200,000 miles without even a thought. It was said about old E-classes from the 80s that the petrols only could do 300,000 miles while the diesels were good for 500,000 miles, such was the level of quality there.

To be honest with all the complication in modern ones it would be a near miracle for a modern diesel to reach 100,000 miles let alone 200,000 miles without at some stage having had to change a DMF or injectors, which are very expensive. You could also have to change a DPF, replace an EGR valve, and lets not forget turbos, which are mega bucks.

Petrols have changed a lot less over the years, and because they never had performance or noise deficancies they probably didn't need to but petrols are far more reliable these days in general.

This is also starting to change with the adoption of direct injection and turbocharging.

DI petrols will give trouble if they don't get good runs out the country(they need to be thrashed from time to time to burn off the excess carbon), they suffer from carbon build ups which are expensive to remove because the cylinder head needs to be taken off.

I'd still rather take my chances on a petrol if it is mostly short distance driving, I would expect that DI petrols have come a long way from GDI in the 90s and should not be anything like as prone to the problem as GDI was back then but I'd make sure if your Dad goes for a DI petrol to fill it up with high octane fuel(E5 has a much higher octane than regular fuel) and thrash it from time to time, that tends to dealy carbon build ups for a while anyway:).