Road Tax

[Jenny Smedley]

Hi, can anyone untangle the road tax situation now? We've just been charged £325 for a year - mostly it seems because we've been put in band I for emissions and because our car is counted as having been first registered 2021, when of course it's a 2007 car. It's also a 2.4 engine, so it seems a bit unfair. Also we can't fathom if it will always be this expensive now or if that's just for the first year. 

[Rojie]

46 minutes ago, Jenny Smedley said:

Hi, can anyone untangle the road tax situation now? We've just been charged £325 for a year - mostly it seems because we've been put in band I for emissions and because our car is counted as having been first registered 2021, when of course it's a 2007 car. It's also a 2.4 engine, so it seems a bit unfair. Also we can't fathom if it will always be this expensive now or if that's just for the first year. 

 

Hi Jenny,

 

What was it last year ?

 

I seem to recall about 290, so in these times of high(er) inflation, 325 sounds about right !!

[dezufo]

That is the going rate for the series 10 Alphards, I pay the same for a 2003

 

[ALSALPHARD]

Hi, yep they slapped another 10% on last years price in line with inflation.

I pay just under £29 a month, quite a bit considering i only do a couple of thousand miles a year in it.

[GB57]

As far as I am aware, Japanese Imports ( and any other non domestic market imported used cars ) are not taxed according to emissions - it is based purely on whether it is under 1.5 litres or over that. So if you drive an imported 6 litre V12 car, it will only cost you the same as for a 2.4 Alphard.  Presumably it is because the emissions have not been officially tested and authenticated for our market.

[Alan Hutchinson]

Hi, I am insured with Admiral with comprehensive cover. I have a 2004 3.0 litre V6 which I've had for 18 months. This was my first year with Admiral.

On 27/4 this year I was charged £246.95

[derek sullivan]

Hi Alan, im sorry because im a little bit confused, but im sure you will put us right, the price charged £246. 95, was for Admiral insurance, or V.R.T. If it is the insurance price i think we will all go over to Admiral! As was mentioned by one of our coligues about only doing a couple of thousand miles a year, i dont do much more than that myself, but as alphies are a fantastic vehicle to drive and spacious i wouldnt be without her, they are expensive to keep on the road admitedly and im sure all of the forum members will agree with me, especially the ones who have their alphies converted.

[Jenny Smedley]

Oh I see, thank you. At least it's not just us. We got our emissions from our MOT but presumably that won't help. This is what the DVLA said:                                                                  Hi Jenny, thanks for getting in touch. Vehicles manufactured or registered between 01/03/01 and before 31/03/17, would be taxed under the Grad VED scheme, permitted we were provided the Co2 emissions when the vehicle was registered. 
You can find these current rates here: https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax-rate-tables/rates-for-cars-registered-on-or-after-1-march-2001  
If we were not provided the Co2 emissions, this would be taxed under the CC/engine size and under the tax class PLG (private light goods). You can find full tax rates for the relevant tax class here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-of-vehicle-tax-v149  
I hope this info helps. - Kirsty

[Jenny Smedley]

As regards insurance, we are with Aviva. Ours is 2007 Alphard V. 

 

Start date: 10/02/2023         Start time: 00:00         Policy holder: Jenny Smedley         Your car: EU57GCO         Total annual premium: £235.61 *   Included as standard:       Fully comprehensive       Approved repairer guarantee**       Windscreen cover       European cover       Courtesy car       Personal belongings cover

[Rojie]

Aviva insured my Alphie until I had a conversion, then they asked me to find another insurer; which I did.

 

Aviva, prior to conversion, were very competitive.

[John Harrison]

On 10/4/2023 at 5:19 PM, Rojie said:

 

Hi Jenny,

 

What was it last year ?

 

I seem to recall about 290, so in these times of high(er) inflation, 325 sounds about right !!

My Vellfire is a 2008, 2.4, but got 8 seats. I'm paying the same price as you. 

I don't think it has anything much to do with emissions, as I looked at London's ULEZ website and my car (you have to put in your reg No.) passed the emissions test. 

Japanese regs are tighter than European regs so I don't have to pay the £12.75 charges when I go to London later in the month. My son on the other hand has a 2013 2litre diesel Golf estate and has to pay the £12.75!

I think they make it up as they go along!

John Harrison. WIRRAL

[Rojie]

14 minutes ago, John Harrison said:

My Vellfire is a 2008, 2.4, but got 8 seats. I'm paying the same price as you. 

I don't think it has anything much to do with emissions, as I looked at London's ULEZ website and my car (you have to put in your reg No.) passed the emissions test. 

Japanese regs are tighter than European regs so I don't have to pay the £12.75 charges when I go to London later in the month. My son on the other hand has a 2013 2litre diesel Golf estate and has to pay the £12.75!

I think they make it up as they go along!

John Harrison. WIRRAL

 

But one is petrol and the other diesel !

[John Harrison]

On 10/4/2023 at 4:30 PM, Jenny Smedley said:

Hi, can anyone untangle the road tax situation now? We've just been charged £325 for a year - mostly it seems because we've been put in band I for emissions and because our car is counted as having been first registered 2021, when of course it's a 2007 car. It's also a 2.4 engine, so it seems a bit unfair. Also we can't fathom if it will always be this expensive now or if that's just for the first year. 

My Vellfire is about the same price but it has 8 seats.

I am going to London in a few weeks and looked on T

[John Harrison]

A mate of mine has a 2.5 petrol BMW, also newer than mine, and has to pay the £12.75!

John H

 

[Jenny Smedley]

14 hours ago, Rojie said:

 

But one is petrol and the other diesel !

The DVLA (you can talk to someone by messaging their facebook page) told me they do take emissions into it, well Co2 specifically, but they will only take what's on the original registration form. Ours didn't have it on there (like a lot on imports) so we're stuck with what they decide. I was able to show them our very low emissions on our MOT, but it can't be changed if it's not on the registration.

[Jenny Smedley]

Part of our conversation with DVLA.  "Jenny, we're constantly looking to improve and update our processes and can confirm changes have recently been made with imported vehicles. This may allow us to obtain this info on more vehicles. You can view the current processes here: https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk   
If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Vehicles manufactured or registered between 01/03/01 and before 31/03/17, would be taxed under the Grad VED scheme, permitted we were provided the Co2 emissions when the vehicle was registered. 
You can find these current rates here: https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax-rate-tables/rates-for-cars-registered-on-or-after-1-march-2001  
If we were not provided the Co2 emissions, this would be taxed under the CC/engine size and under the tax class PLG (private light goods). You can find full tax rates for the relevant tax class here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-of-vehicle-tax-v149  
I hope this info helps. -

[Geralt]

On 10/5/2023 at 2:01 PM, Jenny Smedley said:

We got our emissions from our MOT but presumably that won't help.

That's correct. MOT emissions test doesn't measure carbon dioxide (CO2) only the more immediately toxic emissions: Hydrocarbons (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO).

 

[Jenny Smedley]

Ours does actually. 

[John Harrison]

I looked on the ULEZ site, put my reg in, and didn't have to pay anything. My son did in his 2 litre diesel Golf; £12.75!

As far as I have been told, japs have stricter emissions regs than the uk, so imports should really be cheaper???

 

John Harrison. 2.4 08 Vellfire!!!

[pipsyp]

On 10/5/2023 at 10:07 AM, GB57 said:

As far as I am aware, Japanese Imports ( and any other non domestic market imported used cars ) are not taxed according to emissions - it is based purely on whether it is under 1.5 litres or over that. So if you drive an imported 6 litre V12 car, it will only cost you the same as for a 2.4 Alphard.  Presumably it is because the emissions have not been officially tested and authenticated for our market.

I thought it was something like this too, though believe it's dependant on it being under or over 2 litres and is a fixed price (though no doubt goes up a bit year on year).

 

Technically therefore a 2.4 and 3.0 Alphard costs the same to tax.  I recall being surprised at the cost of the tax when I bought the vehicle....wasn't that high (I want to say 225 for the year).

[Geralt]

On 10/11/2023 at 6:49 PM, Jenny Smedley said:

Ours does actually. 

 

Does what exactly?

[pipsyp]

5 hours ago, pipsyp said:

I thought it was something like this too, though believe it's dependant on it being under or over 2 litres and is a fixed price (though no doubt goes up a bit year on year).

 

Technically therefore a 2.4 and 3.0 Alphard costs the same to tax.  I recall being surprised at the cost of the tax when I bought the vehicle....wasn't that high (I want to say 225 for the year).

Sorry my bad it is 325 per year!

 

2 litre and below it's quite a bit less (around half that).

[GB57]

Just to be accurate re my previous post - Road tax on car imports (  at least on vehicles over 10 years old - PLG - Private or Light Goods TC11 ) are currently taxed at the pre 1 March 2001 rates - e.g. Up to and including 1549cc - currently £200 annual, over 1549cc currently £325 annual.   Emissions level are not part of the calculation.

[pipsyp]

10 hours ago, GB57 said:

Just to be accurate re my previous post - Road tax on car imports (  at least on vehicles over 10 years old - PLG - Private or Light Goods TC11 ) are currently taxed at the pre 1 March 2001 rates - e.g. Up to and including 1549cc - currently £200 annual, over 1549cc currently £325 annual.   Emissions level are not part of the calculation.

Sorry you're right! I knew it was CC based but was completely wrong with my figures (other than the over 1.6). DVLA don't make it overly clear/well publicise any of that info as far as I can tell (had a good scour of the internet and not much info...what there was, really was varied!)