SPIDERWRX

£425 ROAD Tax, has always be the end

when you can tax a 335i for £245 or 335d for £200 :-)

MaDaSS

LOL, nice 1 Pete!
An informative post and imho i cannot fault your choice. /me is off to look at Honda's........................................... .....................
Oh i almost forgot, it makes even more sense given what my 95k service with cambelt kit just cost me!

VinceW

Until the government aren't making enough money from the bigger petrol engines any more then they "re-align" the tax on diesels/lesser polluting petrol cars to generate more revenue! It's all a about making money, not saving the environment. If it was about saving the environment there would be no road tax, the cost would be included in the cost of the fuel. That way the people who use less and cause less pollution pay less, the heavy users/polluters pay more.

dpb

So he 'll be losing the first 5 years worth of difference, in depreciation over first 9 months of new car ownership ......

MaDaSS

The more I am reading about your new car, the more I want one! lol.
It is nice to see the word "standard" when reading about that car and not have to have stuff as extras or "accessories" as they like to call them. Mind you, I went on and played around with the website gadgets though! I would have to have the built in sat-nav and hands free phone option being a gadget afficiondo myself.
Pete, what colour did you go for? You paid outright or gone for finance?

stiler83

General running cost and tax were major factors in recently chopping in the mrs MKV R32 for a used Alpina D3 Bi-turbo. Was going to go for a 330d but the D3BT is cheaper than a 325d and almost as quick as the 330d. Think a remap could soon be in order but totally no regrets about going for a diesel, it's huge fun to drive, cheap to run and more than quick enough.

pslewis

Thanks ... I do believe it is in my blood ... need to see what the market is like in 5 years time.

It's the right time for me to jump ship now ... however, I will yearn for one whenever one comes flying by me!

pslewis

That comment reminds me of the same comments I had 10 years ago .... Turbo will go by 60,000 miles (still going strong), tyres will only last 5,000 miles (I get 20,000 miles without trying), brakes will need replacing on 15,000 miles (my fronts lasted 65,000 and the rears 85,000), it will cost a fortune to repair (not tested as it's rarely put a foot wrong!).

I'm pretty sure I could get a car to last 500,000 miles without trouble .....

The cheapest way forward would be to keep my old girl ..... not someone else's old girl - I know that mine was run-in right, it has been treated well, never raced, never abused, never pissed about with .......... I couldn't take a 5 year old Impreza Turbo as I wouldn't know for certain the background of it.

VinceW

So why change? although the new car does sound very nice, and as they say a change is as good as a rest!

I'm sure the new car will put a smile on your face. Until you notice the first knock somebody put in it when parked in the car park for you! ;o) I think I got my first stone chip on the drive home from the dealer :-( cost £12 ish for the Subaru touch up pen!

pslewis

That is the single death blow to the Impreza Turbo .... if you look at the Mazda3 mps, they have cleverly got that car into the K Band by 1 gram!! But the UK is an important market for Mazda, it isn't important to Subaru in the same way.

I cannot imagine being the owner of an Impreza registered on 24th March 2006 or after, but especially a '55', '06' or '56' Plate (because of their values) - and having to pay £435 Road Tax!!

The Tax Bands 'L' and 'M' will be hit year after year until all cars fall into the lower bands. There is a Budget in 3 weeks time - guess what? The Road Tax on these cars will be £480 from 6pm that night, next April the Budget will lift that to £535, 12 months later it will be £595 and then 12 months after that, £650.

It could be massively more, those figures are conservative ..... in 3 years time a 55 Plate Impreza Turbo will be costing at least £650 a year to Tax - the car itself will be worth, what? £3,000? You can see the problem there with being able to find a buyer, any buyer! Throw in £8 a Gallon fuel and Group 20 Insurance and you are giving garage space to a worthless motoring dinosaur.

I am so glad I got to live the dream for 10 years and experience possibly the very best car ever made for the common man ..... but, it's over now

The Zohan

Does this mean you are going to resign from SN and go menace the Honda forums???

pslewis

I got my first car park dent on my 1 week old Impreza on Saundersfoot Harbour Car Park!! A petulant child didn't want to go home, so was slamming her grandads car door .... ON MY CAR REAR WING!!!!

I was on the opposite breakwater, and ran to the car - at which time they had gone .... that dent is still there as a reminder to me that my car is made from Baco-Foil ....

The change is just a 10 year thing, when I drove away from the Subaru garage on 4th May 2000 I said to Mrs Lewis, "I'll have this for 10 years" .... that time is up. And when I saw what new cars are like these days, well - I'm getting old, the luxuries are calling my name

If I cannot sell my old car I shall put her in the garage, I'm lucky in that I don't need the money selling her would bring me.

pslewis

How could I possibly leave you lot? You are my entertainment, my reason for living .... besides, I've been banned from the Civic Forum

mickywrx

iTrader: (29)

Might I ask why, Pete?

pslewis

I just relayed the fact that I had taken out a Type R petrol and a Type S Diesel back-to-back and I thought the Type S Diesel was far superior.

That got the Type R kiddies all hot under the collar ..... and, I'm embarrassed to admit, I did string them along a wee bit

markjmd

iTrader: (11)

Can someone explain to me how a 55 plate car would be subject to a road-tax rate that applies to cars registered after March 2006?

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

Owned one?! You've still got it along with your video player (Betamax of course) & original Sony Walkman

TX.

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

He's a pensioner

TX.

pslewis

24th March 2006 ..... that would be a 55 Plate car, wouldn't it? Do the plates change on 1st April 2006?

pslewis

All boxed with my reel to reel tape player, VIC20 PC, Atari2600 Games Console, Sega GameGear .... I could go on - I could start a museum!

Ste RB5138

The end of an era... I think you have made the right choice going for a modern diesel as I can see your road tax and fuel predictions coming true sadly, which is why I will probably never own a newage Impreza guess I will have to run the RB5 into the ground.

Pity you have been banned from the Civic forum

markjmd

iTrader: (11)

You're not having me on here, you really didn't know, or couldn't work it out? It's really pretty simple if you think about it. Cast your mind back to the days of the old single-letter model-year identifying scheme, and you'll remember (or at least you should, if the rumours about your age are anywhere close to the truth ) that new reg-plates used to come in at the end of August. After the new two-number model-year scheme was introduced, all they did was add a second reg change-over point, obviously 6 months apart from the first. If you count off the months:
1 - Sep
2 - Oct
3 - Nov
4 - Dec
5 - Jan
6 - Feb

So the current scheme reg periods must be 1st March to 31st August for 0x plates, and 1st September to 26th February for 5x plates, making any car registered in late March of 2006 an 06.


Of course, if you don't want to take my word for it me, there's always google:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_the_United_Kingdom
http://www.ukcar.com/features/reg_year_2.htm


Anyhow, if road-tax is what you're worried about, '55 plate cars are definitely the bargains to look for.

pslewis

OK, I'm an old duffer .... and buying a Civic to suit

VinceW

I thought new reg used to be 1st August, moved so not to clash with peak holiday season and 2 dates to stop killing July sales. Now 1st March and 1st September....may be wrong? And yes March 2006 would be 06!

SPIDERWRX

Thats why i have a 335I instead off a sti

All the toys are a bonus

davedipster

Did you not look at the volvo C30, Or even the mazda 3 both do approx 180hp diesels?

VinceW

Did you test drive the Scooby Impreza diesel? A bit academic as the dog will not fit but seeing the figures for the Civic made me look at the scooby! £155 road tax, 350 nm torque @ 1800-2400 rpm, 150ps @ 3600 rpm 0-62 a slow 9 seconds! but 47.9 mpg on the combined cycle or 54.3 mpg on extra urban. Bloody expensive though at £21500 or £23750, when you can get a WRX for £18995. You would save £2500 buying the WRX (more if you opted for the more expensive diesel). That means £270 difference in road tax, 10 years = £2700. I'd live with the extra expense on the petrol consumption for the 0-62 mph of 6.5 seconds!!

dpb

yeh only cos you drive like miss daisy , which kind of begs the question - why would you want a diesel at all ...

pslewis

Yes I did .... I wanted the C30 T5 to be honest .... but the dog won't be able to jump through the hatch gap!

The Mazda 3 - thought long and hard about the mps.

Any diesel was ruled out with the exception of the Civic .... for one simple reason - only the Civic does NOT have a DPF!

The DPF is a nightmare for short trip diesel owners (like me) - do a search, it's a disaster! Do not buy a diesel with a DPF unless you blast up and down the motorways!

pslewis

Didn't take the Impreza Diesel out, for a few reasons ...

Slower than the Civic.

DPF fitted - nightmare for my kind of driving.

Expensive Car tax, compared to Civic.

Waaaaaay too expensive - about £4500 more than the Civic!!

The Civic looks far better, better interior too.

Residuals on the Civic will be higher.

Honda Dealers in every town - I have 3 Main Dealers withing 10 miles of me!

The Subaru just doesn't stack up anymore