Is tax a big factor in a purchase?

RicketyCricket

Wondering if tax is a factor in people's minds when purchasing a car. Currently selling a 05 Honda Accord and tax seems to be putting people off a very reliable car.

Toyotafanboi

Yeah, in an instance like that I'd say tax is a big deciding factor, or at least it is to people who plan on taxing it. To people who can only afford or only chose to buy a car to the value of €1500 or so, they are obviously conscious to keep their motoring costs low so knowing that a tax disc will cost them as much as the purcjase price of the car again is a big deal a lot of the time.

corks finest

For me yes,e180 at present,,,,

corks finest

RicketyCricket wrote: »

Wondering if tax is a factor in people's minds when purchasing a car. Currently selling a 05 Honda Accord and tax seems to be putting people off a very reliable car.

Yeah,id love to have gone for a bigger motor,but tax Ireland is unfair,mine for an insight is e 180,, would have loved a bigger engine,but a definite no no because of tax

I love Sean nos

If it's a significant running cost, then yes.

I've a 08 that costs €280 per quarter and I'll be getting rid of it next year. Absolutely dreading it. Pity, because it's a fun and easy car to drive and it's in absolutely great condition with a full service history.

dar83

For certain people it's the be all and end all. For others, it doesn't even really factor into things.

I personally will buy a car that I want even if the tax costs are high, but given our market, the purchase price of the car usually reflects this fact, so it can help lower that. The only tax bracket I would struggle to consider is the max one on the 2008+ system, as I'd find it very hard to justify over 2k a year on tax, the car would want to be pretty damn special.

grogi

RicketyCricket wrote: »

Wondering if tax is a factor in people's minds when purchasing a car. Currently selling a 05 Honda Accord and tax seems to be putting people off a very reliable car.

Sure it is.

Going from 2.0 to 2.1 comes with a tax difference of €194. That's a lot of money that you are guaranteed to pay... The difference between 2.2 and 1.5 is €538...

Mooooo

RicketyCricket wrote: »

Wondering if tax is a factor in people's minds when purchasing a car. Currently selling a 05 Honda Accord and tax seems to be putting people off a very reliable car.

Are people inquiring about it and pull back when told the tax or have you the tax advertised on the add and get little response? The fact the car is 12 years old means insurance is an issue as well, car here went from 600 last year to a qoute of 1000 this year only thing that changed was car turned 10😒

commited

Depreciation is more of factor for me and a cost most people don't really think about. I appreciate I'm in the minority though, and happy to be so as it makes it possible to buy incredibly nice cars for very little here.

I love Sean nos

Mooooo wrote: »

The fact the car is 12 years old means insurance is an issue as well

Crap. I hadn't even thought of that. My car will be 10 years old next year as well.

James Bond Junior

I've actively sought out cars that have high tax as they are normally way cheaper to buy than their cheap tax counterparts.

bmwguy

James Bond Junior wrote: »

I've actively sought out cars that have high tax as they are normally way cheaper to buy than their cheap tax counterparts.

Me too. I look at overall cost and generally I find it best to buy a petrol car with less than 30mpg and 1000 euro tax gives me the best value as strange as that sounds. Get a huge amount of car for the money in Ireland due to very low demand. But that's a petrolheads view and I understand not everybody is one.

Motoring in total works out at about 5-6k a year for me as depreciation is non existent.

I actually think people don't understand that depreciation is a very real and expensive cost of motoring. Every week there is a thread here someone looking to spend 10k to save money on tax and fuel.

But I can understand people wanting to drive a newer and presumably more reliable car. So each to their own, I just don't like people being misled on costs.

BillyBobBS

Would love a car with a bigger engine but just can not justify paying 700 odd euro for tax. So sad to see obviously brilliant cars with loads of life left in them being sold for peanuts on Donedeal etc.. I suppose the sensible option would be tax on fuel the more you drive the more you pay but this is Ireland so sense doesn't come into it.

bmwguy

BillyBobBS wrote: »

Would love a car with a bigger engine but just can not justify paying 700 odd euro for tax. So sad to see obviously brilliant cars with loads of life left in them being sold for peanuts on Donedeal etc.. I suppose the sensible option would be tax on fuel the more you drive the more you pay but this is Ireland so sense doesn't come into it.

Would you not buy one? If not, why? Are you high mileage? I will say the opposite I love seeing them going for peanuts.

Lots get needlessly broken up for parts though.

grogi

bmwguy wrote: »

Motoring in total works out at about 5-6k a year for me as depreciation is non existent.

The yearly costs (depreciation, taxes, fuel, insurance, servicing etc) sum up to ~7.5k in my family. For TWO cars.

I actually think people don't understand that depreciation is a very real and expensive cost of motoring. Every week there is a thread here someone looking to spend 10k to save money on tax and fuel.

You are right - typically they don't.

kokiyou

bmwguy and grogi, what would you consider to be the most economical car to drive for 18k Km per year (non-EV as I live in an apartment) and mostly National Road driving. In my situation it would also be a first car - so no huge engines - not that they are economical, large car/boot/children perks are not needed. Budget would be up to 15k but due to depreciation I would imagine 5-10k would be a lot better...

RicketyCricket

Mooooo wrote: »

Are people inquiring about it and pull back when told the tax or have you the tax advertised on the add and get little response? The fact the car is 12 years old means insurance is an issue as well, car here went from 600 last year to a qoute of 1000 this year only thing that changed was car turned 10��

I have the tax advertised, just getting little response. Hadn't thought about the insurance side of it, mainly because my own didnt increase too much after it turned 10. 600 to 1000 is a very big jump. There's no happy medium for a big engine car. Buy old and get screwed in tax and insurance, buy newer and pay a fortune for the car and watch it lose value.

ancuncha

People do look at the cost of tax, but usually fail to look at the rest of the costs (in my experiance)
The person with the smaller car gets frightened by the big tax on a bigger car

However a few years back now, i had an escort 1.4 petrol doing around 40 mpg, i change to an Octavia 1.9tdi
Taking in to consideration, mpg over 10k miles per year, tax and insurance i was €450 better off in the Octavia in the year

I figured out the break point between the escort and ocativa was around 5k miles per year (i.e. escort cheaper under 5k, octavia cheaper over 5k), just goes to show that mpg on cars is far more important than people give credit for

Now mind i never took depreciation into account

Toyotafanboi

Yeah, but on principal alone, even if the car is reliable, frugal and a comparative bargain, I just wouldn't be too interested in paying €1k + pa for a sheet of paper for the windscreen, personally no matter what the car.

Maybe if my income doubled or something. Maybe.

DaveyDave

I factor tax into the overall running costs. If insurance and fuel consumption is reasonable I wouldn't mind a slightly higher tax as long as I can afford it overall each month.

It would turn me off a specific model of car though. The Golf R DSG is €570 and the Impreza WRX STI is €2,500. No way I could pay that. Of course it's not about the cost but which car is better to drive, you'd pay a bit extra for the car you want but apparently the STI isn't a great car and you can't buy it here anymore anyway :P

bmwguy

kokiyou wrote: »

bmwguy and grogi, what would you consider to be the most economical car to drive for 18k Km per year (non-EV as I live in an apartment) and mostly National Road driving. In my situation it would also be a first car - so no huge engines - not that they are economical, large car/boot/children perks are not needed. Budget would be up to 15k but due to depreciation I would imagine 5-10k would be a lot better...

Without doing a load of research something like a VW Polo or Hyundai i20 that sort of car. Maybe an i30. Always in demand so don't lose value as fast.
18k mms you could go petrol.or diesel.
With cost primarily a factor, I would say diesel Hyundai. Massively popular. They will still be under manufacturers warranty too.

Autosport

I personally don't think of the tax when I'm looking at the car, I look at yearly costs and if I love the car enough to take the depreciation hit

job seeker

Going from a yaris with 199 tax, to a 1.4 civic which is 385 per year. (I only tax yearly.) I'd be lieing if I. Said my eyes didn't water the first time I taxed it. It's enough to be spending on tax for now. As I'm only on 9.65 p/h at work. hope to not be worrying about tax though in about 10 years time. :pac:

bmwguy

bmwguy wrote: »

I actually think people don't understand that depreciation is a very real and expensive cost of motoring. Every week there is a thread here someone looking to spend 10k to save money on tax and fuel.

Deprecation is not as much of a day to day drain though as a big tax bill every year and you are also generally saving a lot of running/repair costs also with a new/newer car.

Also depreciation is a cost for you to drive a nicer car while high tax just feels like you are being robbed by the government. There is a big difference.

mossy50

went from a 2005 bmw with 514 tax to a 132 vw passat with 200 to tax

biko

Poll added

It's a huge factor. If diesel A4s and 520s were the guts of a grand/annum to tax (if done quarterly) rather than the small amount they are now many folk would have stayed in Focus sized cars etc.

It wasn't the good mpg that got people into larger diesels, it was the low tax and reduced VRT.

bmwguy

bmwguy wrote: »

............

I actually think people don't understand that depreciation is a very real and expensive cost of motoring. Every week there is a thread here someone looking to spend 10k to save money on tax and fuel.

But I can understand people wanting to drive a newer and presumably more reliable car. So each to their own, I just don't like people being misled on costs.

Indeed

Chelsea Gorgeous Seaplane wrote: »

Deprecation is not as much of a day to day drain though as a big tax bill every year and you are also generally saving a lot of running/repair costs also with a new/newer car.............

Anyone is control of their finances would recognise that depreciation is indeed a drain, they have bought outright or are paying monthly for a depreciating object.

duffman3833

im thinking of going back to an old sub €3k car as i just feel the depreciation is a killer. bought a Mazda 3 1.6d for 10k nearly 2 years ago, dealers only offering 5k trade in, on a 10k car. So i did the math and getting an older car, even with the higher tax isn't losing me as much as newer cars, however i wouldn't get a car that's €1800 to tax. max id probable go is 2.2l engine

Idbatterim

I test drove a 2006 S500 the other day, beauty of a thing BUT I want it in black and long wheel base only, which it wasnt. I am prepared to be done with outrageous tax, but only if the car is outrageous...

im thinking of going back to an old sub €3k car as i just feel the depreciation is a killer. bought a Mazda 3 1.6d for 10k nearly 2 years ago, dealers only offering 5k trade in, on a 10k car. So i did the math and getting an older car, even with the higher tax isn't losing me as much as newer cars, however i wouldn't get a car that's €1800 to tax. max id probable go is 2.2l engine

no point now, keep the one you have. If in future you change, yeah go for something 2-4k etc. Although by that stage all cars probably even in that price will be taxed on emissions...

Depreciation is more of factor for me and a cost most people don't really think about. I appreciate I'm in the minority though, and happy to be so as it makes it possible to buy incredibly nice cars for very little here.

Depreciation and loan interest (if applicable) There was mention of the 520d bmw's and their low tax from 2008. I work beside a bmw garage, chat to the lads there quite a bit. DEAR GOD the depreciation for people who were looking to "trade up" their 520d for a year or two newer model. They lost about ten thousand a year on depreciation, yet their concern is the motor tax. LOL the tax as a cost is a drop in the ocean! Its not even worth mentioning with that kind of depreciation...

bmwguy

Chelsea Gorgeous Seaplane wrote: »

Deprecation is not as much of a day to day drain though as a big tax bill every year and you are also generally saving a lot of running/repair costs also with a new/newer car.

Also depreciation is a cost for you to drive a nicer car while high tax just feels like you are being robbed by the government. There is a big difference.

I'll play devils advocate here and say tax is a cost of driving a nicer car depreciation is the cost of driving a newer and (usually) a more reliable car.

Its a pain paying the tax but I look at everything as a whole and like to drive older, cheaper cars and hope to god nothing massive goes wrong. But it hasn't so far in over 15 years driving and 10 years driving cars I couldn't afford to but new!

I'm not saying its the right way but its the right way for me.

Every now and again I get tempted by newer cars on finance but the stuff I like is generally high end stuff and the depreciation is eye watering on them.

Idbatterim

I'll play devils advocate here and say tax is a cost of driving a nicer car depreciation is the cost of driving a newer and (usually) a more reliable car.

THIS!

commited

Idbatterim wrote: »

Depreciation and loan interest (if applicable) There was mention of the 520d bmw's and their low tax from 2008. I work beside a bmw garage, chat to the lads there quite a bit. DEAR GOD the depreciation for people who were looking to "trade up" their 520d for a year or two newer model. They lost about ten thousand a year on depreciation, yet their concern is the motor tax. LOL the tax as a cost is a drop in the ocean! Its not even worth mentioning with that kind of depreciation...

100% agree, I think the 520d was one of the best examples in the market to demonstrate the craziness, same goes for 1.9/2.0 TDI Passats..

The previous (original owner of my car) stomached €70k+ depreciation over 10 years, as well as €1500/year tax. I love people like that.

TheShow

i wouldnt buy any car on the old tax scheme. so would only look at anything post 2008. and wouldnt pay more that 280 pa in tax.

Idbatterim

i wouldnt buy any car on the old tax scheme. so would only look at anything post 2008. and wouldnt pay more that 280 pa in tax.

value is far more important to me than price...

Nuw

I don't really look at the tax per se, but I somehow have in the back of my mind that more than 700 is hard to justify for me... I don't a lot of miles anymore though.

When I was driving around 50K miles/year, the comfort, performance and reliability (in that order) of the car were far more important than tax, which was just part of running cost (petrol would have been the main one back then).

McCrack

Motor tax-

3 months on, 6 months off

Rinse and repeat

Winning

biko

Let's drop the defrauding side of this discussion.