Car Tax and emissions

markst33

I am thinking of changing my car next year and as far as I understand it, car tax is based on emissions rather than engine size for cars of 2008 and later. (stop me if I am wrong)

One of my criteria for getting a new car is that the tax should be lower than I am currently paying as I imagine I will have the car for 8+ years. I currently have a 2006 Seat Cordoba 1.4 abd the car tax is costing me just shy of €400 per annum. However my sister is driving a 2.0L Audi Estate 2011 and the Tax is costing her €200 per annum.

When I look at the motortax website they are still quoting prices based on engine size.

Does anyone know where I can see or at least can enter a car's make, model and year and see what the tax is going to cost.

These are my criteria. :

5 Doors
1.4 - 1.8
2009-2010 (depending on budget)
Budget about 9k (which includes what I would get for my existing car)
Up to approx 60k miles on the clock

Also which is better ? Diesel or Petrol. I understand that you get better mileage out of diesel but I have also heard that diesel will probably be taxed more heavily at some stage in the future as the belief is that it is more damaging for the environment than petrol.

Thanks in advance.

Mark S.

bazz26

You can put the car's reg into here and it will tell you it's tax rate:
https://www.motortax.ie/OMT/menu.do?page=motortaxinforeg

One word of advice, motor tax is a small part of car ownership yet people tend to totally focus on it when buying a car and forget about other costs associated such as the cost of the car, depreciation, repairs, etc. Alot of people will happily spends thousands more in order to save a few hundred on motor tax. Spending thousands just to save a few hundred in motor tax doesn't make any sense. Take your sister's car as an example, while her Audi costs half your car's annual motor tax, how much more did it cost here to buy the car in the first place and how long would actually take you before the cheaper motor tax would actually pay for itself? Now if you want a change of car then fine but if the sole purpose is to save money on motor tax then motor tax is the white elephant in the room.

Petrol versus diesel will depend on your driving style and annual mileage. Again people only focus on the headline savings. Diesels are not suitable to constant stop/start short trips so if it is mostly city driving you are doing then petrol or a hybrid is most sensible choice.

Idbatterim

just a quick point, your current motor tax is very low, your sisters motor tax is also very low. Her car will be losing thousands a year on depreciation and loan interest isnt cheap at the moment either (if applicable). Also are you sure its not E270 or E280 that she is paying, E200 for that car seems very low emissions, even if it is a diesel...

In terms of diesel v petrol, depends on the mileage you are doing, petrol less to go wrong and quieter more refined engines generally...

markst33

Thanks for the replies guys. I was just using my sisters car as an example of a much larger engine having half the car tax. As I said this is not the reason for me changing car, merely one of the criteria. I don't do a lot of mileage. May 7000-8000 a year if even.

bazz26

markst33 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies guys. I was just using my sisters car as an example of a much larger engine having half the car tax. As I said this is not the reason for me changing car, merely one of the criteria. I don't do a lot of mileage. May 7000-8000 a year if even.

That's very low mileage but what sort of driving does that consist of? If it were motorway mileage then you probably would not have any issues with a diesel but it would still be hard to justify the extra cost up front when your not doing a whole lot of driving to make the savings on fuel. If it's mostly short city trips then best stick with a petrol car, there are still petrol cars with cheap tax.

markst33

I only drive to work about once a fortnight. I drive from Artane to Malahide every thursday for Camera Club and my son plays GAA on Saturdays so I drive to his matches, but thats about it. Down to Dollymount on a Sunday with the dog. So its all shortish trips

bazz26

You don't need a diesel car then.