£40,000

[Maturedriver]

With the cost of new cars increasing, even some models of Golfs are now costing more than £40,000. As a result they are subject to an extra £390 added to the road fund licence for the first five years. This is a tax I resent.

I have the answer . Sell a car for £39,000 but make many highly desirable features available to be installed several weeks after completion of the sale. I am referring to things that can be made available by the dealer, at a cost, using software. Things like cruise control, fancy headlights, engine modes, adjustable suspension, satellite navigation etc. Things that most buyers would want.

I know that this is already available for minor things but what I’m suggesting is a purely to get around this £390 tax grab. A loophole if you like - until it’s closed .

 

[SRGTD]

BMW are already offering some options as subscription based services and I dare say other manufacturers will do likewise as they introduce new models.

Whether that will mean more cars with lower (sub-£40k) list prices remains to be seen. VW’s forthcoming ID. 2all EV is meant to cost less than €25k when it’s launched in a couple of years time. If so, then I dare say the standard car will be missing many of the ‘desirable’ features we have come to expect, but the necessary hardware / software will have been built into the car, giving the customer the option retro-activate features they want in exchange for paying a monthly subscription.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we also see road based pricing appearing at some point, in addition to conventional VED, with a scale of charges linked time of day a car is being driven and the type of road(s) being driven on. So even if cars were to have lower (sub-£40k) list prices, HM Gov could claw back loss of VED revenue through road based pricing .

 

[Maturedriver]

KTM fit things like quick shifter and cruise control, which are available to use when you first purchase the motorcycle. After about 1,000 miles these features are automatically turned off. If you wish to retain them you have to pay the dealer to reactivate them.

Not impressed with this sort of thing. Things are fitted to your motorcycle and then the manufacturer steals them from you several weeks later. BUT I would tolerate this if on a car if it kept the original purchase price below £40,000.