Car tax robbery by government

deviation · 18 Jul 2025 at 12:11

The Angry Welshman said:
My 2ltr Diesel Estate is £20 a year.....

But it identifies as expensive

mid_gen · 18 Jul 2025 at 12:27

Raymond Lin said:
People in this country don't realise our cheap our cars, both in cost and also in running them are compared to a lot of other countries (oil states excluded).

Our used car market is cheaper than most, a lot of us have "free" parking at home or on the street. At most you pay for an annual permit.

My friend in HK has to pay for a parking space at the car park under her building at the cost of £200 per month, for a bike. There is no other way round if you want a vehicle and the tax when you buy the car? 100%. A £10k car will cost you another £10k in tax on top.

Or Singapore....you need to bid for a licence to be even able to get a car and they are like 6 figures.

I count my £400+ a year in car tax cheap compared to them.

There is absolutely zero need to own a car in Hong Kong, it is a luxury, (an undeniably enjoyable one as I frequently cruised round the island, to the beaches and stuff in my mates SL500 when I lived there). The public transport system is amazing and cheap. Bit daft to compare the two tbh.

Raymond Lin · 18 Jul 2025 at 13:15

mid_gen said:
There is absolutely zero need to own a car in Hong Kong, it is a luxury, (an undeniably enjoyable one as I frequently cruised round the island, to the beaches and stuff in my mates SL500 when I lived there). The public transport system is amazing and cheap. Bit daft to compare the two tbh.

The reason WHY, or the NEED to, is not the point i am making.

It is simply the cost of running one.

It cost more to run a car in HK - True
Do you need one? No.
Is it cheaper to run a car in the UK? Yes
Do you need one? It depends.

You don't need to tell me.

The fact that we can get a car and run one much cheaper (FACT), is the point i am making. Why? Politics? etc, separate topic, yes, I already said it is linked. You don't need to tell me you lived there, I remember from other posts you made, but I am FROM there, I don't think I needed to say that. But I said all the above knowing that, because everything is true, from more expensive, from the tax, from why, from you don't actually need a car for daily life, from the cost, and I know how big it is, I am from there after all, no need to tell me....

Because ultimately, when you are sitting here with a bill to pay for the car tax, at that point, politics isn't the thing you think about or can do anything about; it is the cost of paying the bill. Then when you realise...it really isn't compared to many other places (I am going to name Ireland as the other one...didn't before because someonoe else had already done so), puts a perspective on things.

aaronyuri · 18 Jul 2025 at 13:27

Raymond Lin said:
The reason WHY, or the NEED to, is not the point i am making.

It is simply the cost of running one.

It cost more to run a car in HK - True
Do you need one? No.
Is it cheaper to run a car in the UK? Yes
Do you need one? It depends.

You don't need to tell me.

The fact that we can get a car and run one much cheaper (FACT), is the point i am making. Why? Politics? etc, separate topic, yes, I already said it is linked.

People like to use the starving children argument against a lot of things. Those children starving should completely invalidate the fact that I don't like cauliflower. Obligatory /s

The crux of it is, the UK, outside of London, is incredibly car centric and not having a car is just a pain in the arse. There are viable alternatives but they do not even come close to the convenience of a car. Reasonable cost and ultra high convenience are a bloody hard combo to beat.

Yes, I could walk an hour each way to the supermarket.
Yes, I could take the bus that runs every 30 mins and takes 20 mins to get there.
Yes, I could pay for home delivery and play the lottery on what will get delivered to me.
Or, I could get in the car, drive 5 mins, and get it done.

Raymond Lin · 18 Jul 2025 at 13:31

aaronyuri said:
People like to use the starving children argument against a lot of things. Those children starving should completely invalidate the fact that I don't like cauliflower. Obligatory /s

The crux of it is, the UK, outside of London, is incredibly car centric and not having a car is just a pain in the arse. There are viable alternatives but they do not even come close to the convenience of a car. Reasonable cost and ultra high convenience are a bloody hard combo to beat.

Yes, I could walk an hour each way to the supermarket.
Yes, I could take the bus that runs every 30 mins and takes 20 mins to get there.
Yes, I could pay for home delivery and play the lottery on what will get delivered to me.
Or, I could get in the car, drive 5 mins, and get it done.

But your rebuttal to Ireland would be? Would that not be close enough and similar enough for a comparison? Not so much starving children analogy is it ?

Your argument is only "you picked the wrong comparison", but does not actual dispute the fact that the UK is rather reasonable.

Whichever stick I choose, the UK has it better than people think in terms the cost of running a car. That is the point.

p.s. I have a car, but I walk 20mins to the shops instead of driving 5mins. May be I am just weird....I pay over £400 in car tax (VED) and I now drive it like once a month! I do not get my money's worth compared to most.

Haggisman · 18 Jul 2025 at 14:09

Raymond Lin said:
But your rebuttal to Ireland would be? Would that not be close enough and similar enough for a comparison? Not so much starving children analogy is it ?

Your argument is only "you picked the wrong comparison", but does not actual dispute the fact that the UK is rather reasonable.

Whichever stick I choose, the UK has it better than people think in terms the cost of running a car. That is the point.

p.s. I have a car, but I walk 20mins to the shops instead of driving 5mins. May be I am just weird....I pay over £400 in car tax (VED) and I now drive it like once a month! I do not get my money's worth compared to most.

Were you not aware of the VED costs (within reason, obviously they go up a little every year) before you bought the car?

Would you not feel entitled to have a little moan about government policy if suddenly those VED costs were doubled?

aaronyuri · 18 Jul 2025 at 14:42

Raymond Lin said:
But your rebuttal to Ireland would be? Would that not be close enough and similar enough for a comparison? Not so much starving children analogy is it ?

Your argument is only "you picked the wrong comparison", but does not actual dispute the fact that the UK is rather reasonable.

Whichever stick I choose, the UK has it better than people think in terms the cost of running a car. That is the point.

p.s. I have a car, but I walk 20mins to the shops instead of driving 5mins. May be I am just weird....I pay over £400 in car tax (VED) and I now drive it like once a month! I do not get my money's worth compared to most.

Ireland has nothing to do with our car tax costs. Nor does France, Singapore, Japan, or any other country. We are here (well, some us) and this is the cost of running a car.

I never said that costs in the UK are unreasonable; I was making a comment about the method of debate used. Then I described the unequalled convenience of having a car, living where I am today.

I'm so glad you have a car, pay its VED and feel ripped off. Gosh, we're all winning when it comes to car tax in the UK, aren't we?

Raymond Lin · 18 Jul 2025 at 14:49

aaronyuri said:
Ireland has nothing to do with our car tax costs. Nor does France, Singapore, Japan, or any other country. We are here (well, some us) and this is the cost of running a car.

I never said that costs in the UK are unreasonable; I was making a comment about the method of debate used. Then I described the unequalled convenience of having a car, living where I am today.

I'm so glad you have a car, pay its VED and feel ripped off. Gosh, we're all winning when it comes to car tax in the UK, aren't we?

I make comparisons because we don’t live in a vacuum.

I don’t feel ripped off though….i walked into it eyes open.

Raymond Lin · 18 Jul 2025 at 14:51

Haggisman said:
Were you not aware of the VED costs (within reason, obviously they go up a little every year) before you bought the car?

Would you not feel entitled to have a little moan about government policy if suddenly those VED costs were doubled?

I never said you are not entitled to moan…never said that at all. I’m trying to bring a perspective into the moaning.

And no, I don’t remember thinking “my car tax will go up” when I bought the car 9 years ago. It was like £360 a year back then, it’s now £420 or something, but I’m not moaning about it.

Haggisman · 18 Jul 2025 at 14:52

Raymond Lin said:
I never said you are not entitled to moan…never said that at all. I’m trying to bring a perspective into the moaning.

And no, I don’t remember thinking “my car tax will go up” when I bought the car 9 years ago. It was like £360 a year back then, it’s now £420 or something, but I’m not moaning about it.

But you knew it was in the ballpark of £400 before you bought it?

Raymond Lin · 18 Jul 2025 at 14:53

Haggisman said:
But you knew it was in the ballpark of £400 before you bought it?

I knew it would be minimum of £360 9 years ago.

aaronyuri · 18 Jul 2025 at 14:55

Raymond Lin said:
I make comparisons because we don’t live in a vacuum.

I don’t feel ripped off though….i walked into it eyes open.

If we lived in a vacuum, we'd all suffocate and not have to pay any VED. Sounds glorious. Engage the pumps!

Definitely seems like you feel ripped off to me. Denial is a powerful thing.

Haggisman · 18 Jul 2025 at 14:55

Raymond Lin said:
I knew it would be minimum of £360 9 years ago.

There we go. So if it suddenly went up to £800, you'd be fine with that, since people in HK/Singapore have to pay more?

Raymond Lin · 18 Jul 2025 at 14:56

aaronyuri said:
If we lived in a vacuum, we'd all suffocate and not have to pay any VED. Sounds glorious. Engage the pumps!

Definitely seems like you feel ripped off to me. Denial is a powerful thing.

I know I am not getting the most value from it in terms of cost vs miles driven but there is a difference between my perception of value vs what I value more. I value the car I have chosen more than the miles driven. There are other factors than just distances driven.

Which is why I continue to have it, I’m very far to feel being ripped off.

And by vacuum, I don’t mean space…..it’s the concept that we are not the only country who has cars, and car tax and fees. I can’t believe I had to explain that…

Raymond Lin · 18 Jul 2025 at 14:57

Haggisman said:
There we go. So if it suddenly went up to £800, you'd be fine with that, since people in HK/Singapore have to pay more?

I’ll have to re-evaluate the choice of car, sure, but it’s not like I have to have this car. But if that’s the cost, that’s the cost.

Haggisman · 18 Jul 2025 at 14:58

Raymond Lin said:
I’ll have to re-evaluate the choice of car, sure

But people in HK/Singapore have to pay more, so surely it's not a problem? Just a matter of perspective

Raymond Lin · 18 Jul 2025 at 14:59

Haggisman said:
But people in HK/Singapore have to pay more, so surely it's not a problem? Just a matter of perspective

Well, then using arguments on your side…different cultures, different size of countries, right?

If you can have your cake and eat it, why can’t I?

Raymond Lin · 18 Jul 2025 at 15:01

I’m not talking about “perspective” though, perspective is relative. The price we pay…that has a numerical value…and it can be compared in a chart.

The UK is for example, less than Ireland.

Is that not correct?

Haggisman · 18 Jul 2025 at 15:01

Raymond Lin said:
Well, then using arguments on your side…different cultures, different size of countries, right?

If you can have your cake and eat it, why can’t I?

Eh? When did I mention anything about different cultures or size of countries? :confused:

Raymond Lin · 18 Jul 2025 at 15:03

Haggisman said:
Eh? When did I mention anything about different cultures or size of countries?

Other people did, as a reason why HK or Singapore cost more as a justification of why.