Brown to double tax on gas guzzlers???? (esp. SN)

[PeachyClair]

Now, before you get on your 4X4 high horses hear me out LOL!

We just bought an old second hand espace with the smallest engine they make, 2L. We have three kids, but because of SN two cannot be seated together- thereby the old configuration wasn't working for us.

The only alternative we would have to the MPV is two cars, which would be ancient polluters as we only ahd £1K to spend anyway (last car was written off by a garage)

The Government seems to want to encourage famillies- tax credits, etc etc etc- but when you have one you get hit!

I have no problem with sports car and luxury vehicles being hit, but we're really worried as they don't make a smaller car engine than the one we have in MPV- and we have no idea how we will finance this. DH ahs to have a car for work, we can't use buses because of the SN- and the nearest supermarket is 5 miles away.

we don't qualify for DLA mobility as the boys can walk, albeit never alone or in a safe manner, and they attack each other in the car.

Just seems that since we had SN kids we've been atatcked on every side- childcare, cars, eduation- for a situation we would never have ever chosen

1.8??? That's ridiculous.

But surely it will be on a sliding scale so 2 litre will not be very far into the gas guzzling bracket?

Happydaddy I agree it does seem ludicrous to tax on the mode of drive. I remember a family who I went to school with and they lived up a farm track and all drove the old style Fiat Pandas with 4wd but little enignes like 1.0 or something.

The stupid thing is that the richer folks who drive the gas guzzlers will be in cars of 3.2 litres and above. Most of us wont be but we'll still be hit by the same tax, you watch.

Can somebody do me a link? I'm not sure what the plans are.

I thought the plans were to extend the current taxing system based on CO2 emmissions but to increase the higher end brackets as at the moment there isn't much difference between the highest and lowest rates. However this is being pushed through the media as Brown hits gas guzzlers and 4X4's but it will be interesting to see how this actually works in practice. Although it's great to say someone who can afford to spend £40-50K on a huge car can pay more tax it is highly ulikely to really affect these people. However when your old family 2L saloon has the same CO2 emmissions as thier classification of a gas guzzler how do most average families cope then when their road tax bill could be nearing £400-£500 and when you add insurance on top it probably comes out at more than the value of the car.

exactly my fear, strecthcmark (see post below). most 4x4 drivers' personalised number plates are worth around 6 times more than our ancient 5th-hand jalopy/jeep...
I do feel like a hypocrite, but I hate those wanky grand cherokees and stuff that look like shiny tanks. I'm so worried as noone will buy our thing now (it's maybe worth £1,000 tops) but we would need whatever we had sold it for to buy another car. I wouldn't mind so much but we never use it for the school run or just nipping round town; I walk everywhere and so do the kids

Snap, fmv- we even chose a house near to schools o that i could walk to Uni and the kids to school (though Dh ahs a long commute unfortunately, we couldn't cure that)

I could smack GB - if its genuinely aimed as saving the environment, which i doubt, its a pretty unsophisticated tax.

We don't actually know what the tax is, or how it will work yet.

'I have no problem with sports car and luxury vehicles being hit'- just as long it doesn't involve you or your family, That's all that matters!

If a large people carrier/4x4 isn't a 'luxury vehicle', I don't know what is!
I drive a sporty car with a turbo 1.8 engine. I still have a child to support and the car certainly isn't a luxury! It is worth around £1500! So I should pay more to run it should I?

fairyjay that is of course true!

So looking at the news today, is it right that the new levels only apply to band F & G cars newer than March 01 (when they brought the bands in). Anyone know if the rates for older cars are staying the same?

gosh peachyclair thats a bitch

Luxury vehicle??? Really?

And how would you suggest I transport 2 asd children and their NT brother, one of whom attacks the others in transit? Honestly? I mean, luxury isn't costing £1K is it, L reg?

Sn kids neeed different things to toher famillies, these things are as basic to us as anything else is to you I suspect. We had a normal Proton until recently (well on Ebay now) but it didn't work

And I can assure you mumdfor1standfinal time (and by your name I take it you dont have a large family?) that I am the last eprson to put myself before anyone else as a rule- but we have to live like anyone else, and eat. Have a look through my posting history, I'm hardly the Devil after all.

Oh this is so close to my heart.

I had a 4x4 as we live in the sticks on a socking great hill. I needed to put it into 4 wheel drive sometimes just to get out of the driveway. Also I keep sheep and it was jolly handy for collecting hay.

But....I felt guilty as we're not commercial farmers, just smallholders and the tax issue was getting to me so I sold it last year. When I say 'sold' I mean 'gave away' pretty much as we had to beg a dealer to take it off us. I got a paltry amount for it. Cheers Gordon!

I now have a very small car, and the upshot is, yes I feel 'greener' although I still do the same mileage each week, but I can't get out if it snows!

What i'm coming around to saying is that I live amongst real commercial farmers who are going to be hit extremely hard by this.

They need their 4x4s for the work they do yet as far as I know are still struggling with late payments form the Single Payment Scheme (any farmers online please correct me if I'm wrong.)

This bl**dy government can't bear rural life. They think it's posh and middle class and they'll do anything to run us down. Post office closure, ban on fox hunting, tax on 4X4s, the inevitable hike on property valuations for council tax.

Ah well he has frozen the tax on spirits for the 10th (IIRC) year running so that'll make up for it.

So is he going to divert some of the tax raised by this towards looking at improving hybrid/eco friendly cars. I recently found out that Brazil (Albert correct me if I'm wrong) has an incredible amount of hybrid car usage - reducing pollutants. My Brazilian friend here thinks the USA is backward on that one (are you listening Dubya. So what else did GB sting you for in the budget?

PeachyClair

If I was you, I'd download the DLA applications and re-apply to get yourself exhempted.

... I have an old landrover for towing.. that is shared between 2 of us.

We both drive smaller cars, its on reduced miles insurance. In fact tax will now cost me more than running costs.

..and so agree with you about hitting the rural economy... Labour has such as issue with the countryside.

Do they want us all in housing blocks in the city and ahve an image that we are all manor house dwelling genteel landowners!

You also forgot to include that Prezza wants the country tarred over.

clumsy, ds3 is due a dx in July so we are waiting for that- fingers crossed!

FWIW we would love to be able to buy a 'green' car, or get ours converted to LPG- something we would do if the car was likely to last long enough to be worth it. When I do my PGCE year we plan to get me a smart car / similar so I don't have to drive the espace more than necessary, and dh will use that for work too. trouble is, I am so busy running up £15k approx of student debt it's a bit hard to afford that at the moment. Plus living in a terrace, we'd have to hire a parking space elsewhere too- this road is tiny and won't fit the existing traffic.

Oh and I agree about the rural economy. They are so London centric.
You have to ask if the Governement have ever tried to get anywhere on rural transport! When we were in Somerset, I caught the bus each day for work (as there was that option then) and it took me 2 hours, instead of the 25 minutes it would to drive, which meant getting both kids (aged 9 weeks and 15 months) on the bus for 7.15 am. .

Another thing I wonder about is th road pricing- if Dh already pays a toll of £5.10 to cross the bridge to work, how can we be tolled per mile on that as well? Although as he works nights it won't be as expensive for us as some.

Yay mildmannerd thanks for that- phew!

off to find next thing to worry about