My uncle just got a new car....

And i was astonished to find how the other half live

My uncle is a regional sales manager at BT, hes going for a Directorship so he decided to change cars.
He had a big Lexus SUV thing, but he thought it wouldnt look good if he got the other job.

He bought a 3.0 TDI Audi A7 Sportback.

Beautiful car, and very expensive so these are rich mans cars....or so i thought.



I was always under the impression these big cars paid BIG car tax, BIG servicing....but they dont.

£115 a year for Vehicle excise (formally Road Tax). I pay £210 a year for a 1.6 1999 Escort.



He pays £180 for a service....i was paying £220 for a Fiat Grande Punto!!

So there you have it...a bit more proof that our government are taking us all for a ride. The rich benefit from having big expensive cars, whilst us average people pay twice as much for much older crappy vehicles.

Why should the poor pay more than the rich...my uncle earns more than enough money to live on. He bought the A7 cash, as he doesnt like finance

I know its got low emissions (135g)....but people like my uncle earn 10 times what the average person does in a year. All these tax benefits for the rich make me sick.

hmmmm...why does this seem like a commercial for selling high priced cars..more than an actual concern about how the rich men get off easy...

nice try

reply to post by gabby2011



haha does sound that way doesnt it....seems too good to be true lol.

But alas, its a true story...i saw my uncle tonight, and he showed me his car. I was very impressed

But i wouldnt come here to sell high priced cars if i were a salesman lol

Click here for more information.

Don't discuss each other, get back to the actual topic please.

I urge people to look past the pretty pictures and read the text as well

Someone who earns over £150k a year should pay more road tax than someone who earns £10k a year, thats the message...albeit it may be poorly written (tired)

Originally posted by loves a conspiricy
I urge people to look past the pretty pictures and read the text as well

Someone who earns over £150k a year should pay more road tax than someone who earns £10k a year, thats the message...albeit it may be poorly written (tired)

Totally agree with that statement...

It just sort of seemed to get lost in the pretty pics of the car...so I hope you can understand where I was coming from..

Thanks for clarifying.

reply to post by loves a conspiricy


that is a good looking auto. reminds me of the new 4 door Porsche. Audi makes a car worth owning. they separated themselves above the pack when they invented the all wheel years ago. gave them lots of wins at Rallys.

you mentioned the Audi being economical as far as state fees, and that may well be because of the efficiency of the new design. but the cost to join the club is steep, and repairs/maintenance may be more than a average workers car.

i wish him the best of luck with his new ride.

reply to post by loves a conspiricy


This is why BT phonecalls are expensive and services are rubbish.

Overpaid, underworked suits who care more about how they look in a box and fitting in with the other fatcat elites than they do about the hands that feed them.

I hope he breaks down in the middle of nowhere and can't get a signal on his mobile.

Sorry, but this annoys me.

Oh, and £180 for a service....don't make me laugh. Sounds like a REGULAR service....oil, fluids etc. What about a new clutch or cambelt, tyres etc? bet that's a little dearer than a 1.6 escort eh? I'd say it's all part of the sales pitch to get potential buyers hooked. Suckers.

Here you go:

Ruunning costs (click tab)

Typical insurance £1,002.00
% Value retained (3yrs/36000 miles) 50%
Servicing costs - 3 years £1,173.00

So...don't worry, you'll have the last laugh when your uncle curses the garage bills and can't get more than 50% of what he paid for this car when he sells it, and he will, because these kind of drivers NEED the latest box.

reply to post by loves a conspiricy


Why would someone buy a expense car during this finance crisis? i dont understand that mindset.
The car does look nice but why he buy it if its that expense?

reply to post by nerbot


Straight up....servicing is £180 first year, then £210 after that till year 3. Other garages that he was looking to buy from said if he financed £7k of the car they would give him 5 years FREE services, and the other place had a better price on the car but wanted £410 for a service.

My uncle has worked for BT since he was about 19...hes worked his way up from the bottom....down holes and up poles. Took him 30 odd years to get where he is now. ..so fair play to the bloke.

This isnt about my uncle though, this is about the rich poor divide and how wealthy people are taxed less and treated better. You have to have the finances to buy an efficient car like this...£40k is out of the reach of the vast majority of people. Meaning only rich ponces like my uncle can take advantage of the savings in VED and even insurance.

Essentially we pay their share for them.

Id say £1000 for insurance is pretty good for a car like that, ask a 20 odd year old how much they pay for their banger...bet its pretty much the same...or even more expensive.
My car costs me £300 a year to insure...it cost £750 to buy the car.

Road tax used to be based on engine size...VED is based on emissions.

VED preys on the poor
Road tax preyed on the rich.

Thats why it was changed by the government.

reply to post by loves a conspiricy


Load of rubbish!

You can buy cheaper cars and take advantage of the low VED.......my daughter drives a Renault Clio, it's 2 years old and she pays £95 per year in VED, she bought it new and paid £7000, it also came with 3 years FREE servicing!

Fair play to Audi, they are simply making executive cars more environmentally friendly!

reply to post by loves a conspiricy


Just to add VED is exactly the same as Road tax.......there is no difference whatsoever.

VED = Vehicle Excise Duty

Road Tax = Vehicle Excise Duty

reply to post by loves a conspiricy


If I remember correctly from my time on the island back in the late 90's, aren't the vehicle taxes based on how old your vehicle is to try to keep older, less safe, and more polluting vehicles off the road?

Originally posted by Ferris.Bueller.II
reply to post by loves a conspiricy

 

If I remember correctly from my time on the island back in the late 90's, aren't the vehicle taxes based on how old your vehicle is to try to keep older, less safe, and more polluting vehicles off the road?

No the VED are based on engine size and emissions, however, you are correct in the fact that older vehicles will not have low emissions, hence higher duty.

Originally posted by Argyll
reply to post by loves a conspiricy

 

Load of rubbish!

You can buy cheaper cars and take advantage of the low VED.......my daughter drives a Renault Clio, it's 2 years old and she pays £95 per year in VED, she bought it new and paid £7000, it also came with 3 years FREE servicing!

Fair play to Audi, they are simply making executive cars more environmentally friendly!

A Renault Clio is not a luxury sports car, so i would expect to pay less for VED.

It should be based on engine size, it was a much fairer system. If they banded it in a similar way to the emissions the rich would pay more for their 6.7l Rolls Royce's, not less than a person driving a old banger.

1.0l - 2.0l should be the lowest bracket...£60 a year.
2.0 - 3.0l .....£120
3.0l -4.0l .....£250
etc etc.

If you have the money to buy cars with these sorts of engines, you have the money to pay your fair share...not an equal share.

Originally posted by Argyll
reply to post by loves a conspiricy

 

Just to add VED is exactly the same as Road tax.......there is no difference whatsoever.

VED = Vehicle Excise Duty

Road Tax = Vehicle Excise Duty

Road tax was paid to use the roads
VED is paid to use the vehicle.

Hence...your car can be clamped on private property now if you dont SORN your car. Back when it was Road tax you could only be clamped if you were on a public highway.

So they are very different.

reply to post by loves a conspiricy


Oh dear.....you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about!

I have been driving in the UK for 30 years, let me enlighten you.

It should be based on engine size, it was a much fairer system. If they banded it in a similar way to the emissions the rich would pay more for their 6.7l Rolls Royce's, not less than a person driving a old banger.

Why was it fairer?.....an old banger releases more emissions than a newer car, the size of the engine is irrelevant now, years ago it didn't matter wether you were driving a mini metro or an Aston Martin DB7......you paid the same.

A Renault Clio is not a luxury sports car, so i would expect to pay less for VED.

You claimed that lower VED rates were being favoured to the rich.......you were wrong, they are available to all of us in the UK.

1.0l - 2.0l should be the lowest bracket...£60 a year. 2.0 - 3.0l .....£120 3.0l -4.0l .....£250 etc etc.

So a 1.0l kicking out 5 times as much crap as a modern 3.0l should be taxed more?.........why?

Hence...your car can be clamped on private property now if you dont SORN your car. Back when it was Road tax you could only be clamped if you were on a public highway.

Totally wrong!

If you don't sign a SORN then you cannot be clamped if your vehicle is on private property, you can if it is on a public road.

VED and road tax are, and always have been exactly the same thing........."Excise" simply means "tax"........you know, like "customs & excise"

reply to post by loves a conspiricy


Dam nice car, my jeep is a piece of crap that breaks down and overheats if I have to go anywhere really far. I however service it and all that, and I am not even a car person and don't really know what I am doing, just follow the book instructions and hope all the parts and screws that you remove end up back when your done.

I sometimes cant even stand driving around in cars...its so dam slow and such an annoying way to get around especially when you have to stay in traffic for long periods of time it kind of defeats the purpose of getting around if you know what I mean, and especially when the speed limit is 60mph.

But hey my piece of # car gets me from point A to point B.... usually.

Really though I got that car from the auction for pretty cheep, and in a couple of years if I am still alive that is "2012 is coming you know, the end of the world and all that". Well anyways in a few years I will probably get another more better piece of #, from the auction and drive that around. And in the end all the cars end up at an auction or some place like that, I have seen anything from vipers to porches to old as VW beetles from the 1940's there. So all kinds of pieces of # end up there eventually.

But dam your uncle spends more in a couple of months then I do in a year most likely. And if I could I would get rid of my car, but were I am it is a necessity. So yes it does not surprise me, usually the more richer you are the more things and shortcuts you have access to. Especially all the females that a new shiny and expensive car brings into your accessibility.

By the way they still drive on the wrong side of the road up there across the pond?