New car on order, should I wait 'til July 08?

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Carpenter

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The latest changes to VRT and Motor Taxation policy, announced as part of Budget 08, have got me thinking about an imminent car purchase; I'm hoping that some more knowledgeable people here at AAM can help put my mind at ease. I've ordered a new family car for Jan. 08, a Ford C-Max 1.6 TDCi; I'm trading in my wife's current car as part of the deal. By my reckoning if we waited 'til July we could cut our annual motor tax bill in half, as the C-Max emissions are only 127 g/km; I also believe that VRT for this car may be lower from July 08 (should be reflected in lower retail prices ??). My question is simple: should I cancel the order for January and order the car in question for registration in July instead? We have paid nothing over, our agreement with the garage is a verbal one only, no deposit paid, nothing signed (the dealership weren't overly "agressive" in pursuing the sale) and we plan to keep the new car for a few years, all going well. The downside is that our trade-in depreciates further if we wait 'til July 08 to make the deal; we like the C-Max, we want the car but I don't want to be screwed long-term for the sake of a few months wait, what do the motoring experts at AAM think? I'm expecting a call from the dealer next week to confirm details.....
 
as far as I understand the new rules regarding tax (not vrt), any car registered before July 08 will use the old system of tax.

So if you register it before July 08, you will pay more tax each year than if you had waited until after July 08....

I guess we will begin to see people who ordered CO2 hogs trying to register before July 08 to avoid the 2k tax and those who ordered C02 lean machines waiting until after July 08....

The only issue I can see with waiting is that you will no doubt not be alone and therefore we can expect some congestion in the supply pipeline of cars in the July timeframe !

(Cmax looks very nice)
 
Carpenter,
There is very good post here (page 3 post #52) about VRT and Road Tax for before and after 01/07/2008.

Road Tax
(present) cc 1,501 to 1,600 - now €391, renewing after 1st Feb €428
(after 1/7/8) Band B (121-140 grams perkm) - €150.
So, just on road tax, looks like you will gain €278 per year

VRT will be 16% after 1/7/8 as opposed to 25% before.

If the car you are traded in is say 4 year or more, she may not depreciate as much during the next 6 months as a 1 or 2 year old car would.

So, you may need to do some sums... but considering the type of car that you want to buy, it looks like you will be better off waiting until July 08 IMO.
 
Thanks Bacchus, that thread is interesting, it would definitely appear that I would be better off,long term, if I were to hold off until after July '08. I'm going to wait 'til I hear from the dealership and see what they have to say to help "persuade" me to purchase in January.
 
Carpenter, I imagine there will be some modification to these plans as they are currently envisaged. It seems the idea is only half cooked and considerably penalises those who already own an efficient car.

You would have to wonder do they think these things through at all as an imported car that set out on the road abroad on the same date as a similar one registered here could cost over 300 a year less to tax. Surely that will encourage more buyers to buy imported second hand diesel cars, affecting the existing market here at home.

I'd also imagine most dealers are in a state of panic at the moment with large order books of cars that many people will not want until July.
 
I too was looking to buy a Passat Tdi in January. The dealers don't seem to know what the difference in price is going to be yet. I am sure they will have gotten their act together next week as they are looking at large numbers of people waiting until July otherwise and then maybe postponing purchase until 2009 ?!

It would have been easier for us all if the new regime were brought in from January 2008.
 
Wedgewood said:
You would have to wonder do they think these things through at all as an imported car that set out on the road abroad on the same date as a similar one registered here could cost over 300 a year less to tax. Surely that will encourage more buyers to buy imported second hand diesel cars, affecting the existing market here at home.
Click to expand...


From the post i linked above in my reply to Carpenter..

new registrations or imports into Ireland after the 1st July 2008 will be subject to the new VRT and Road Tax schemes, in the case of imports this is the case irrespective of the date of orignal registration in the country of origin.
Click to expand...
 
There would be no problem for buyers of new low emisson cars if the changes were introduced from January 08.If administration is not in place untill July then rebate the buyers for the overpayment of vrt and road tax in July.Otherwise most deals will not go ahead untill after July or maybe not untill January 2009.
 
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It seems a crazy situation, I'm very reluctant to go through with the deal now and I'm sure there must be many more purchasers in a similiar position.
 
I also have ordered a new car ,but have paid 500 euro deposit -so if I decide to wait ,I will lose deposit ?Does anybody know if dealer will return my deposit or what my rights are
 
Carpenter said:
It seems a crazy situation, I'm very reluctant to go through with the deal now and I'm sure there must be many more purchasers in a similiar position.
Click to expand...

You are right. I would thing may people are going to delay their buy unless there are buying a Porsche!!...Sale are going to be low between now on 1/7/08. You may be able to get a big discount if you really need to get the car before 1/7/8
 
lob020 said:
I also have ordered a new car ,but have paid 500 euro deposit -so if I decide to wait ,I will lose deposit ?Does anybody know if dealer will return my deposit or what my rights are
Click to expand...

What car did you order? €500 may be the difference between yearly road tax before and after 1/7/08.... What about VRT difference?
 
lob020 said:
I also have ordered a new car ,but have paid 500 euro deposit -so if I decide to wait ,I will lose deposit ?Does anybody know if dealer will return my deposit or what my rights are
Click to expand...

I have also ordered a new car for Jan and paid deposit €1,000.00, I specified several extras and expected delivery date is Jan 14th.

I spoke to dealer on Thursday and we agreed to meet next week to discuss the situation.The tone of conversation was 'we didnt create this problem,but we will endevour to solve it in a manner agreeable to both parties'.Revaluation of trade in and stocking cost until July were mooted and will be on agenda for meeting.

If legislation was introduced from Ist January for new cars....happy days.Otherwise it looks like July.
 
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Upport, I wonder would you mind posting your experiences/ feedback from dealer when you have that meeting? I'm expecting a call from my own dealer this week, thankfully I've nothing paid or signed but I'd like to think we could come to some agreement rather than me just walking away from the deal. I was surprised that this wasn't covered in the one newspaper I read today. My mind is pretty made up that I'm going to wait for July anyway, there's no way I'm signing up for higher road tax over the life of the vehicle just because of an anomaly.
 
Interesting discussion - along the following lines I have the following query as some cars (I think I am correct) will be cheaper to buy in Jan 08 rather than July.

Considering buying an '08 Passat1.4 TSi .

Old vrt ( upto 1.4) = 22.5% of OMSP
Co2 emissions according to VW = 157 g /km
so new VRT post July 2008 = 24% (Band D) of OMSP

Tax in Jan 08 = €320 (after 9% increase fron '07 budget)
Tax in July based on CO2 emissions = €430.


If anything the car will be more expensive in July and the tax will also go up based on emisssions

Unless I have missed something it makes sense to buy Jan. - any thoughts??
 
I've just spoken to my own dealer, he doesn't seem to be particularly interested or worried about this anomaly, I've to ring him again on Wednesday to discuss the matter further. I'd imagine a lot of car salesmen are going to have a lousy few months until July though.
 
Positives:

1/. Lower VRT come July. Hopefully passed on in full.
2/. Lower annual road tax .

Neagtives:

1/. Possibly reduced trade in allowance.

If your old car is good, and not a gas guzzler (these will plummet in value btw) I'd hold off for the sake of 6 months.
 
RS2K said:
Positives:

1/. Lower VRT come July. Hopefully passed on in full.
2/. Lower annual road tax .

Neagtives:

1/. Possibly reduced trade in allowance.

If your old car is good, and not a gas guzzler (these will plummet in value btw) I'd hold off for the sake of 6 months.
Click to expand...

Dealer says that he will encounter stocking costs and says that he will have to recost my deal accordingly in addition to revaluing my car as it will be six months older in July.
 
Thanks RS2K and Upport; a straw poll amongst some work colleagues confirmed my own thoughts: do without the car for a few months and reap the benefit of lower motor tax over the life of the vehicle.
 
upport said:
Dealer says that he will encounter stocking costs and says that he will have to recost my deal accordingly in addition to revaluing my car as it will be six months older in July.
Click to expand...

Stocking costs are the dealers problem, not the customers, in this instance.
 
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