Should I take tax into consideration when buying used?

The_Arbiter

The_Arbiter

The_Arbiter

Soldato
Joined
2 Jul 2019
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Somewhat open ended question? And i've specifically written it as "should I", but general discussion is welcome on the subject.

I'm looking to buy this year, a nothing special car. The pre 2017 up to 100/110/120g/km emissions is the cheapest tax band available come April, (looking at ICE cars only). Is the <120g/km range going to stay £35, or jump? On a quick search i can't find previous tax years to see if there were any huge jumps in recent history that stick out like the new 2025 changes.

Correct me wrong, but <120g/km tax rate cars have lower insurance groups too, ~5 to 13 groups, as a quick observation. This would reinforce my view.

The key features i'm after really is reliability, folding rear seats, cruise control (bad knee), spare wheel, and no electric hand brake, no toasty maker, no keyless start/entry, no parking sensors, etc. Wind up windows, i couldn't care less :D
I feel like grabbing a 2016 Honda Jazz with <20k on the clock seems the most plausible option, but there were a few contenders.
I've done 10k-13k miles per year for many years now.

Outside of expensive but fun cars, I just can't think of any middle ground car that is anything but a financially poor choice given car prices are just bonkers, and i dunno if this trend will continue for the next decade at least. Vans, well :cry:
 
Well the cheapest Jazz in the country under 20K miles from 2016 year is £8490 on autotrader. Is the difference in tax bands particularly relevant at that point in the total cost of ownership viewpoint, even if you own it for multiple years?
I pay £415 a year to tax my car which hurts a lot, but a new second hand car is thousands so, one keeps bending over.
 
I had a surprise when a 2019 car i bought had just turned 5 years old. I was prepared to be paying 600 road tax and it had only just reduced to 190
So just see if whatever car you get needs to be at least 5 years old, just for consideration
 
I wanted a Honda Civic Tourer 1.6 i-DTEC, while decent examples are still available. There were a very limited number of cars registered after the 2017 tax change (May 1, IIRC), but the Civic Mk9s including the Tourer were EOL by then. It was a bit off-putting paying £190 road tax instead of £0/£20 but it's small change in the overall price and running costs of a car. Nevertheless, all things being equal, I'd have taken a Pre May 2017 example over a post May 2017. In the end, went for a 16 plate.

As such, even though I know it doesn't matter much in the scheme of things, it was enough to sway me in terms of shortlisting.
 
Not gonna lie, paying zero road tax cause my diesel is older than the tax changes is stupid but nice. When I was car shopping, I deliberately avoided the cars with the newer more efficient engine cause I didn't want to drop £200 a year extra in tax.

Edinburgh council charges me an extra £60pa diesel surcharge for my parking though...
 
Yes, Euro 6 diesel and free tax, going up to £20 next year seemed like a decent combination to me. Hence in shoftlisting Honda Civic Tourers, I was looking for a registration date between September 2015 and April 2017, to get that particular combo.
 
So an 17 or 18 plate 530d will be £190 to tax is it? My friend has a 18 plate 530e, I believe he got the tax renewal at the Premium car tax rate. Happy to be corrected.
 
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