Thinking of buying a new car!

From 1 April 2010, anyone buying a new car will pay a different rate of vehicle tax for the first tax disc. These are known as 'first year rates'.

From the second tax disc onwards, the standard rate of vehicle tax will apply. This will send a stronger signal to the buyer about the environmental implications of their car purchase and will only apply to new cars, not already registered cars.


Where did this come from - 1st year £425 2nd year £235 for the car I'm thinking of buying - £190 for the government

It's about time that the government took whole life CO2 production into account. If you did this a Prius (and any other Hybrid) would be in the highest tax band.

The CO2 used to extract the rare earth metals used in the batteries is off the scale and then take into account that the chemicals used to remove the metal from the ore are washed straight into the rivers. And what about in 8 years time when the car is scrapped? Safely dismantalling the car, electric motor and batteries also uses vast amounts of CO2.

Not so environmentally freindly now hey?

And a real environmentally freindly car? well its a Land Rover Defender. The CO2 used in it's construction is far less than many cars due to it's simple construction and in 30 years time there's still a good chance it'll still be on the road!

Just a thought!