Will the new emission based VRT and road tax rates in July see lower car prices here?

According to finfacts updated just before Christmas, irish car prices in Ireland are 30% higher than the average price in the 12-country Eurozone.
http://www.finfacts.ie/irelandbusinessnews/publish/article_10005755.shtml

A report on Morning Ireland this morning said that the prices of diesel cars could potentially fall by about €2000 which is roughly 10% of current diesel prices for a smaller car. Will the new emissions-based regime see lower prices?

Rathdown motors have compiled a good enough couple of pages on the changes but it would be nice to have a single post here with some tables clearly indicating the changes.

Rathdown Motors

It will be interesting to see how all this affects the used car market. I always buy 4-6 year old 2 Litres, so it reamains to be seen if a price reduction will offset the road tax increase .

Would you be inclined to buy diesel given this law? Why doesn't it apply to older cars? My road tax is 320 a year and would be down to 150 maybe less depending on CO2 - anyone know the rationale for that? I'm guessing it would just make a big hole in revenue... but I'm thinking of new car new car now

And it applies only to brand new cars - what about buying a second hand car ? Shouldn't it apply to that? After all it would give people the incentive to replace a bigger car with a smaller, cheaper one already in the carbon cycle.

The rationale is to attract people to lower CC cars. It should balance out in terms of revenue, because the shortfall is lumped onto the bigger cars VRT/road tax.

The VRT changes only apply to new cars/new imports, but the road tax changes will apply to all. So someone who wants to trade for a used smaller car will still gain on road tax.

I'm not keen on diesels because I usually service my own car and I know feck all about diesel engines. Though lately I have stopped doing that, because of the increasing control of engine management computers in cars. So maybe diesel is an option..

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:

The VRT changes only apply to new cars/new imports, but the road tax changes will apply to all. So someone who wants to trade for a used smaller car will still gain on road tax.

Does that mean the new road tax will apply to older vehicles so? I'm just about to renew my tax so do i go for a year or for three months (i asked to old fella in the motor tax office but he said it only applied to new vehicles) I suppose they'll tell me in the tax office..

I service my own car too and I'm determined to buy pre-computer cars. When they make cars which are just computers with no oil/filter/spark plugs to change then i will buy one of them otherwise it's pure machinery for me.

What's it with diesel that bothers people? No spark plugs and oil/oil filter same as petrol afaik. The fuel is pressurized by injectors. Sometimes you might have to bleed a fuel pump I think. I'm going to aim for a diesel as my next car and get it converted to burn chip oil. Just bought a second-hand one in January though so it might be a while.

It only applies to new registrations. Presumably the theory is that without testing its impossible to know the emmissions levels of all older vehicles, whereas going forward they are tagged in advance.

Just received my tax renewal. E530. Ouch.

Aren't the emissions tested in the NCT? And on registrations - has anyone ever imported a car?

Auditor #9 wrote:

Aren't the emissions tested in the NCT? And on registrations - has anyone ever imported a car?

They are, but I believe (and bear in mind this is only what I think the system is) that they do not want to link to an actual car, only to a model. So if you buy a class B car, whatever that might be, then replace the engine with a 8 liter behmoth, its still a class B car. Similarly if you by it and own it for 10 years, it will still be Class B regardless of what the actual emmissions then are. Consequently they did not want the situation of someone coming along with say a Datsun Sunny and then having to work out what the rate would be against the NCT test emmisions, baring in mind that for a similar car still in production the rate would likely be lower.

Do you see the price of cars dropping after July Mke? They really should . I wonder is there a car lobby out there who will make a fuss if the dealers don't drop the prices (about 2k on a new diesel according to Morning Ireland this morning - 8th article down: http://www.rte.ie/news/morningireland/)

Audi,

I'm afraid that RTE link won't play for me, too weak a signal I think. What is the rational behind the predicted fall in car prices? EU getting narky?

MikeW wrote:

Audi,

I'm afraid that RTE link won't play for me, too weak a signal I think. What is the rational behind the predicted fall in car prices? EU getting narky?

Either the site or the internet is slow... They report that the VRT on a new diesel should fall by a such an amount that we should see prices drop by €2000 . Those prices falling wouldn't really affect me as I'd be into buying the older cars with a 9 at the start of the reg year I hope the prices drop though because as finfacts says above, the price we pay is 0 more than the EU average... maybe the price will drop and petrol will go up ..

I'm going to paste that VRT and road tax table in here ...

Government Proposed Road Tax System

CO2 Emissions Bands	g CO2/km	Motor Tax €
A	0 - 120g	100
B	121 - 140g	150
C	141 - 155g	290
D	156 - 170g	430
E	171 - 190g	600
F	191 - 225g	1000
G	226g and over	2000

Government Proposed Road Vehicle Road Tax (VRT) System

CO2 Emissions Bands	g CO2/km	VRT Rates
A	0 - 120g	14%
B	121 - 140g	16%
C	141 - 155g	20%
D	156 - 170g	24%
E	171 - 190g	28%
F	191 - 225g	32%
G	226g and over	36%

It appears the price of second hand cars is in freefall according to the Irish Times today (check out the new RSS feed under the paper )

Used-car price in freefall

Quote :

"The combination of new VRT rates, tax changes and the downturn in the economy have all combined to make this the worst year ever for the motor industry," says James McCormack of Western Motors in Galway, which sells high-end marques, such as Mercedes.

Who says the Green Party can't help turn a silk purse into a ..

Quote :

Some dealers are asking prices for used cars more appropriate for the market of six months ago. "They are dreaming, but that's all they're doing," says another dealer, who says he could not get €40,000 for a three-year-old Porsche Cayenne Turbo that originally cost €200,000.

If I'd waited 6 months I would have got my second hand Toy Yoda at considerably less...

Auditor #9 wrote:

It appears the price of second hand cars is in freefall according to the Irish Times today

They certainly are, I walked past the local garage the other day and could not believe some of the prices on the forecourt for second hand cars.