There has been considerable discussion about scrapping older "classic" cars to obtain the £2000 allowance. Currently only cars first licenced before 1972 are eligible for road tax exemption. This means that there are cars of up to 35 years old that have to pay the full £190 annual road tax. These same cars may in fact only do a few hundred miles a year and the owners may not feel it is therefore worth keeping them.
I have written to my MP to say that the older car industry is worth a lot of tax and keeps people in jobs. Who else can I complain to?
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Hiya Victor,
I am not quite sure what your complaint is. Are you against the 1972 rule or against the fact some of these older cars are getting scrapped or both?
You could always start an e-petition on the government website which will then go to number ten.
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I agree with Victor though I have an interest - I've a 30 year old Series 3 land Rover that does maybe 500 miles a year, VED £190. Maybe not worth preserving, but nobody's going to do a high mileage in one of those.
When the VED exemption was introduced it applied to cars over 25 years old - if it was sensible then I can't see why it wouldn't be reasonable to keep it at 25 years now.
Edited by Manatee on 21/11/2009 at 08:33
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Vote Tory - they've said they will bring back the rolling 25 year tax exemption.
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Vote Tory - they've said they will bring back the rolling 25 year tax exemption.
I'll vote for them anyway, but I'm not convinced that re-introducing the exemption a good idea.
There are quite a few people who would keep some real horrors on the road just to take advantage of the free RFL. I'm not talking about cars which have any aesthetic or historic merit, but stuff like Peroduas and Kia Prides.... sorry Bathtub Tom but I don't think even you could describe the Pride as a classic car! Think back to the recent saga with the Triumph Mayflower, at least that was British and part of our heritage, even if it was a turkey.
At this point I confess that the tax-free status of my GMC pick-up is one of the reasons why I have kept it for so long, but it's a practical bonus rather than the main selling point and when you're only getting 15 mpg it does make the difference between going to a local show every year or perhaps one in England. There's also the fact that the truck is rare (only 5 known in the UK) and I always wanted one, plus it hauls my firewood from the farm so I contend that it's also carbon neutral ! ;-)
Another point to consider is that the early 1970's were a bit of a watershed in British car manufacture. Many BMC/BL models ceased production then and were replaced by ones which were in my view somewhat inferior both in quality and style. I don't think that free RFL is the reason why you see far less Allegros and Ambassadors than you do Heralds and Minors. This can be borne out by the number of Mark 2 Escorts seen at shows; although they didn't qualify for free RFL they were a good enough car to survive as a species.
Edited by Harleyman on 21/11/2009 at 18:10
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I don't think the point of the exemption is to encourage the preservation of classics, more just a small recognition of the fact that cars that old are unlikely to be much of a drain on the road maintenance budget.
If the "Road Fund" is a sham, it is even more so for a car doing 500 miles a year.
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I don't think the point of the exemption is to encourage the preservation of classics more just a small recognition of the fact that cars that old are unlikely to be much of a drain on the road maintenance budget.
Could be.... but to re-introduce it would be in direct opposition to the ethos of the scrappage scheme so for that reason alone I can't see it happening.
The potential outcome of the streets being clogged with 30 year old bangers still in use as daily drivers might not be so apparent now, but consider the fact that 30 years ago it was considered unusual for a family saloon to go "round the clock" without at least one major mechanical overhaul; nowadays this is commonplace. No government of whatever political hue is going to pass up that opportunity to miss out on potential taxation income.
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Hmm, maybe the free RFL will be a carrot, all vehicles before 1992 would have to be retro fitted with a cat? other countries have done it......................................
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There are quite a few people who would keep some real horrors on the road just to take advantage of the free RFL
I doubt that'll happen, we are talking cars over 25 years old afterall, how many people would keep such cars knowing that they are not as reliable as a 10/12 year old car, and its harder to get spares for them... There are always dogs out there, and many are pretty new, just uncared for... I honestly don't see that as a reason not to re-introduce the rolling 25 year tax exemption... and as my Maxi's now 30 it would qualify!!
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all vehicles before 1992 would haveto be retro fitted with a cat?
I'd be more concerned about being restricted to driving on certain days and times as I believe is the case in France. That IMO would be the thin end of a very nasty wedge; classics first, then motorcycles, etc.
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Either way, politicians speak with forked tongue, they're too busy looking after themselves to look after the country or the people who voted them in
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