Carbon emissions and tax bands

angelmo

I recently bought a newer model of a car I have driven for years (A Kia Sedona 7 seater). I was shocked when the road tax request came in for £485 (it was previously £285) When I contacted the DVLA they said it was because the CO2 emmissions were 237, but when I check other webstes including the manufacturers site, they all say it is 227 which would put in in the next bracket down (Which is what I was paying before - I have stumped up and paid as I need the car at the moment, but is there any way I can challenge this?:(

droopsnoot

Road tax by emissions figures also takes into account the year of registration - if I bought a slightly newer version of my car (by about three months, I think) I'd jump into a higher VED rating band for exactly the same make/model. But that's 2000/2001, so maybe much older than you're looking at.

I don't know which engine or variant it is so I can't say anything about the specific vehicle. But if you have manfacturers data that says 227 that seems a little strange. When you look at the manufacturers data, is that for the model and age you have, or a current one? I had a quick search for Kia emissions and found a comparison table showing that the emissions come down for newer models, still couldn't find one that said exactly 227. though.

almillar

Road tax (OK Vehicle Excise Duty) started being charged based on CO2 emmissions in 2001. Your old Sedona sounds like it was in the top band. The bands and charges changed from April 2006, the top band being the £485 currently that you're being asked for. Did you move from a pre 2006 car to a post 2006 one?
Of course the manufacturer could have changed the engine in between, but you would hope that the emmissions would go down rather than up!

tykesi

The time to investigate this was before agreeing to buy the car, surely?

Herzlos

almillar wrote: »

The bands and charges changed from April 2006, the top band being the £485 currently that you're being asked for. Did you move from a pre 2006 car to a post 2006 one?
Of course the manufacturer could have changed the engine in between, but you would hope that the emmissions would go down rather than up!

This sounds most likely. I've nearly been caught out in the same way.

OP - What does the V5 say the emissions are? That's what the tax is based on. It could be wrong though, I guess, but you might need to consult Kia for that.

Other possibility is that it's a slightly different engine/spec? Figures that high put it at a biggish (2-2.5) petrol, does this one have a different tune level?

DUTR

angelmo wrote: »

I recently bought a newer model of a car I have driven for years (A Kia Sedona 7 seater). I was shocked when the road tax request came in for £485 (it was previously £285) When I contacted the DVLA they said it was because the CO2 emmissions were 237, but when I check other webstes including the manufacturers site, they all say it is 227 which would put in in the next bracket down (Which is what I was paying before - I have stumped up and paid as I need the car at the moment, but is there any way I can challenge this?:(

Depends on the year 23/3/2006 some cars of the same emissions went up to the higher VED band Lexus IS250 was one of those cars, registered 20/ March 06 and it will be cheaper than the 27/3/06 registered vehicle.

Also some cars that have a different gearbox type may change the VED band too.

angelmo

angelmo wrote: »

I recently bought a newer model of a car I have driven for years (A Kia Sedona 7 seater). I was shocked when the road tax request came in for £485 (it was previously £285) When I contacted the DVLA they said it was because the CO2 emmissions were 237, but when I check other webstes including the manufacturers site, they all say it is 227 which would put in in the next bracket down (Which is what I was paying before - I have stumped up and paid as I need the car at the moment, but is there any way I can challenge this?:(

Thank you to all who responded, you have all made really useful comments and it is appreciated.
Kind regards