How to buy next car

olb81

I have always bought cars outright but only spent 1-2k on average.
Usually get a few years trouble free.
Would happily do this again other than my dislike of the tax bands.
A perfectly good 10-15 year old 1.6 petrol hatchback can cost over £400 per year in tax.
I would also like a car with built in bluetooth and dab.
Is it time to change to a pcp/leasing arrangement on a newer /new car which has tax under 35 per year?

Keep_pedalling

The minimum you will be paying on any new car is £195 pa

fatbelly

I've just got a reminder for tax for a 2012 Seat Mii. £20 for the year.

It's the older cars that have cheaper tax now, pre-2017. That makes bangernomics make even more sense.

Up to you, but I can't see a good reason to change tactic. Maybe move up slightly, say 3-4k

Gsaver1

A Nissan Pulsar could be a good option, 1.2 petrol. Road tax is £35. Have to increase your budget but far better than going down pcp and the like imo. 

CliveOfIndia

It's easy to get hung up on the vehicle tax bracket, but in the grand scheme of things it's peanuts, compared to the overall cost of running a car.  Going for a much newer car, purchased using finance (in whatever form) is going to cost you a heck of a lot more overall.  If you want Bluetooth, DAB, whatever, there are ways to accomplish that using aftermarket items, very easily and cheaply.

fatbelly

Nissan Pulsar is a good choice as it seems less sought after than it should do, hence more for your money.

Another one is the Skoda Roomster

olb81

Thanks for the posts. I have usually gone for golf a3 polo corsa type cars. Would be interested in the seat mii as its me only driving most of the time. Are the nissan and skoda also small?

Goudy

The VED brackets for cars between 2001 and 2017 are based on CO2 emissions.
These now start from £20 up to £760 I think.

From 2017 they are a set rate per year, currently £195.
There is a CO2 element, but that's just the first year and there is also a luxury car tax element (£40k and over)  which is paid for five years.
But remember year one is a separate VED including the CO2 element, so the Lux Tax is paid from year two to year six.

olb81

Wow so you cant really beat a 10 year old diesel or tiny petrol at 20 to 35 per year

CliveOfIndia

olb81 said:

Wow so you cant really beat a 10 year old diesel or tiny petrol at 20 to 35 per year

Well, very generally speaking, yes.  There's a lot to be said for bangernomics

It's funny - I've long preached on here about how I've always run old cars, and I've always been very happy with them.  But just a couple of months ago we bought a "new" car - well, 2.5 years old old, but it's the newest and most expensive car we've ever bought.  I use to half-jokingly say to my mates about the old car "Yeah, it's great, works perfectly, and if if I get a supermarket 'ding' in the side, I couldn't care less".  

Now I park it at the far end of the supermarket !  It's a lovely car, but I'm now paranoid about getting it scratched - cost me a lot.  In the olden days I couldn't care two hoots about about a little scratch, now I'm really precious about it.

olb81

Thats exactly what i dont want, to worry about the odd scratch! Looks like an older model like a 1.0 petrol or 1.4 tdci and fit a modern radio???