Pretty sure ours was £125 that was a 2014 with the 122 ps engine. For some reason models after about 2015 were rated at (I think) 125 ps. Wonder if that has something to do with it?

Either way, great cars, great engines, just check that the heater is blowing equally hot on the drivers and passengers sides as the heater matrix gets clogged on these and it's a b***er to fix. Not and issue at the moment but it will be in the winter!

I think you may be right. Some modification during the model year in question dropped the emissions into the lower tax bracket. I have just had a look on Autotrader at 2015 Golf 1.4TSI's. I have not gone through them all(!), but grading the results from highest to lowest price, picking some out at random from the first few pages, all are in the £30 tax, regardless of being the higher or lower powered version. Swap the results so it goes from lowest to highest price, and the few ads i picked at random said £125 tax.

Even different wheel sizes can make a difference. When we were ordering a new Honda CRV 1.6 DTEC the SE fell into the £20 bracket and the SR £120. The only real difference was wider wheels and tyres.

Indeed - the (under the skin) very similar KIA Niro and Hyundai ioniq are in different VED groups, especially the difference between those shod on skinny 15in tyres and the 17in lower profile ones of the Niro and upper range Ioniq models.

This was very significant when the £0 rated VED and the several bands was in place, before the change to £0 for zero emissions (I think) and £140 (or £145) for every other car after year 1 of ownership. All becuase of a set of wheels/tyres.

VAG had so many issues with the various 1.4tsi engines it was changed on an almost annual basis.

Having researched this before we bought a 1.0 TSi Fabia it seems all the issues were with the earlier chain cam 1.4 TSi especially the one that was both turbo and supercharged. All Mk 7 Golfs were fitted with the newer belt cam TSi which is not related to the earlier engine other than in name and every report I have read (even on this VAG hating forum) has said what a superb engine it is with no reliability issues.

Just looked on Parkers Guide the 125 PS (May 15 on) has a combined mpg 54, CO's of 120 with VED of £30 whereas the 122 PS version (August 14 to May 15) is 53 mpg with CO's of 123 with VED of £125. Small differences in the spec but they add about £100 a year to your bills.

So you need to buy a 2016 model year car which would have been available for probably September 2015. But be aware, many earlier cars would still have been in stock thus you need to see the V5C to check the specs.

Trying to make sense of HMGs VED regime....aww bless.. Like a lot of things it "passeth all understanding".

Thought it was simply down to emissions of the car?