Our family car has to go all because of Fuel and Road tax rises
By gemini_rose
@gemini_rose (16264)
June 2, 2008 12:54pm CST
I know that we are all suffering with the alarming way that the fuel prices are rising all over the place, we could have managed with it though if it had just been fuel that was going up. But our government in UK have targeted the family cars now with the tax that we have to pay on them.
Last year it cost us £215($430) GBP to tax our car for a year, from next year it will cost us £300$600) to tax it, we cannot afford to do it with such a big rise on it and then it is going up even more in 2010, so our government by doing this has forced us into the decision of having to get rid of a perfectly lovely, practical family car, forced us into having to have a much smaller car.
Luckily, my eldest can ride a bike and is also planning to learn to drive himself later on in the year so he will be able to save up for his own little car. I think it is really sad that we are having to do this but there is just no way we will be able to afford to run the car anymore. Due to the vehicle road tax rises on cars everyone has been selling their family cars and no one is buying them either which meant that the price we will get for our car has dropped by half.
We should have been able to sell it for £11,000.00GBP but we were only offered £9,000.00, but we have to take it because it will just keep dropping.
Has anyone else had to consider downsizing their car due to the rising costs of running it?
6 people like this
15 responses
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
• United States
2 Jun 08
What on earth? You have to pay yearly taxes on your car?? Nuts! We have to pay taxes when we buy a car, and we pay that when we register it, but then you never pay taxes on it again unless you sell it to someone else, then they have to pay tax again. They're actually trying to do away with all that so that it's only taxed once when you first buy the car. How much you pay in tax depends on how much you bought the car for. The only fees we have to pay is monthly insurance, and we have to re-register it every 2 years, and that's perhaps $80 or less.
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
2 Jun 08
We have to pay a road tax on our car, we can either pay it every 6 months or every 12 months but either way it has to be paid. It is ridiculous, I would not mind if they used the taxes to fix the roads, but judging by the state of some of the roads they do not and they must get a fair bit off us in road taxes.
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
• United States
2 Jun 08
What's a tag? Is that the license plate?
I already referred to that, that would be the registration. We have to register the vehicle every 2 years to keep the license plates, and as I said, that costs maybe $80 every 2 years.
Other than that all we pay is insurance every month... and inspection once a year, but that's $10.
@ruby222 (4847)
•
3 Jun 08
Hello Rose..this is getting beyond belief now..OK..im a great believer in SAVE THE PLANET..etc,but the think is I really dont think that this government or any other government is thinking straight..as you point out the cost of living has soared,much to our dismay...and the majority of us are cutting back in some way or other to make up for this.You as you piont out are having to change your car,and reluctantly ..which I dont blame you for having those feelings.But the whole farce goes way beyond this..we have those sitting on pedestals in the government,issuing missives and laws,which we as the underdogs are bound to follow...and while they play with their four by fours and consider what to serve for their next dinner party ..we are thinking where the pennies for the bills are coming from...Instead of coming to terms and getting to grips with crime figures ,they are focussing on how to line those coffers even more so...but the distribution of what is in those coffers is not being directed to the right quarters!!..A lay has just been talking about the mass of money that lays locked in the government coffers,,supposedly to help with pensions,and by all accounts this money is being invested in gilts to fund the shortfall on the NHS...it just seems that Peter is being robbed to save Paul....but the rest of us just struggle along with a smile...im sorry this is happening to you ..
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
3 Jun 08
I have lost a lot of faith in our government since we had a new pm. I know a lot of others have too including my Mum who has recently nearly gone bankrupt thanks to our wonderful government and the amount of money they take off hard working folks.
@ruby222 (4847)
•
4 Jun 08
The apathy that lays within this country is just amazing.I think that most folk have just tired of trying to do what they think is right,as when they do,there is no reward.But time will tell Rose,maybe one day we will be able to put that word back in front of Britain...the word Great.
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
11 Jun 08
Sweet I am so sorry that this is happening of you having to let the Car go
I know it is hard
They are saying to use public Transport, what makes me angry is they don't use public Transport they use big Cars, do their Wifes do their shopping using the bus and having to cope with the Children to, no they don't they have big Cars because they can afford them it makes me so mad
Hugs xxx
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
14 Jun 08
Its OK the car has gone now, and we have the smaller one it sucks but that is it nothing I can do xx
@desertdarlene (8910)
• United States
2 Jun 08
I actually own just about the smallest American car that I can buy and I can barely afford to keep that one. I don't feel so bad when I hear how much other people are paying in car payments, gas and maintenance because I guess I got it pretty good right now. I used to drive a lot more, but now I hardly drive at all. And, here, food prices have really gone up as fast as gas prices, not to mention other things.
It sounds like the government doesn't want very many people to drive the way they're making it hard on you with fuel and car taxes. I hope they make it easier to take public transport or ride your bike or scooters. I know here, the cost of public transportation is getting outrageous!
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
2 Jun 08
Yes I understand what you mean, if we could have the smallest car possible I guess we would, well I would anyway. But we are a biggish family so it is hard.
Public transport where I live is not very good, expensive and hard to get to places by bus.
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
8 Jun 08
it is going to be so hard for you, especially with the baby and having to take her around every where.
@Kowgirl (3490)
• United States
2 Jun 08
The thing that makes me mad is the fact that we could be
running our vehicles on water but our government wants us to
keep being the supporters of the big oil companies.
They have to be getting something back for doing this or they
would put a stop to it. We have more oil right here in the USA
than we will ever need. So why aren't we using it?
Over 90 years ago they figured out how to use water for fuel.
Then a man invented a car that ran on air...
Why aren't we doing either one , water or air?
We could get rid of the big oil people and when the demand for
their oil goes down so will the prices.
@katsmeow1213 (28717)
• United States
2 Jun 08
First off... they haven't perfected the car running on water thing. Right now there is someone creating cars for the government that use mostly water, but also a little bit of gas... so hopefully they can get that out to the public soon, but don't bet on it.
Second... as far as the oil in the USA.. the biggest oil reserve that I know of is in a part of Alaska, and the environmentalists won't allow the government to drill there because of some animal rights thing.. mating habits of the moose or something weird like that, I forget exactly. Even still, how much would that lower our costs? The governmet likes their money you know!
Perhaps something will change when we get a new president... but from the candidates we have, I wouldn't bet on it!
@jhartana (1084)
• Australia
3 Jun 08
Yes I know it has to happen when the family cannot meet their rising living costs. They have to sacrifice it so they can save the money for something more purposeful. I already have a fuel efficient car, it is a good car for daily use and does not use the fuel much. I spent about AUD $60-$80 a week on fuel depending on my usage.
@ambkeb (782)
• United States
3 Jun 08
We had to trade our truck in for a small car. It was kind of a better deal for us as our truck was getting ready to quite on us anyway. It needed a lot of work. So we got a 4 door 2000 grand am. It is ALOT better on gas then the truck was. It has helped us alot.
@recycledgoth (9894)
•
3 Jun 08
Here in the UK I drive a little Vauxhall Corsa 1.4 automatic, which is very economical on petrol thank goodness. I have, however, had to make some hard decisions lately as the price of petrol has gone up so much I need to cut down my driving. I need my car as I find walking difficult these days.
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
3 Jun 08
I am sorry you have to go through this gemini_rose. We have a small 4-door suzuki anyways so we don't have to downsize but I do hear you about the rising petrol costs. Ours jumped from $24-$28 to now $32-$34 to fill up in full. We don't use it as much as we use to either.
@enola1692 (3323)
• United States
3 Jun 08
yes the gas prices here are unreal I have had to go without my meds so my hubby can have the money to go to work this has got to let up or I don't know what else we can give up
@cortjo73 (6498)
• United States
3 Jun 08
I'm sorry you have to do that! That really stinks! As for us, neither of us has had to do that yet. We don't really have gas guzzlers but, the tax that we have to pay each year is also not the lowest thing to pay for either.
One thing my hubby is doing to save on fuel is ride his motorcycle to work. But, even that is pretty expensive. He paid $9.00 to put in a little over 2 gallons of gas in his motorcycle the other day. Are you freaking kidding me? He used to be able to fill it up for $9. But, it is better than the $53 he put into his car yesterday to not even fill it up. In fact, gas stations have a maximum you can use your debit card on, and I think even your credit card when paying for gas and, he hit his limit so, that is part of the reason he couldn't even finish filling up. It simply maxed out the allowance at the pump. Wonderful!
@jewelenterprises (1996)
• Australia
3 Jun 08
I'm in a similar boat gemini... currently in the process of selling my car because it's so expensive to run and maintain and with the increasing interest rates on our mortgage we just can't afford it any more. All the credit cards are maxxed out and I need to sell the car to get rid of that debt, otherwise I'll end up losing the house too.
@Pixelus (151)
• Philippines
3 Jun 08
same here in our place. the only solution i see with my fellow countrymen are motorbikes. its beginning to be like a China here in our country. you can see many stores now that sell bikes with different strategies and promotional. Bike can save much money compared to even smallest car although it cannot give you much comfort if its raining or you have company/family with you.
@mummymo (23706)
•
2 Jun 08
Honey I can understand how you feel - we are really struggling to keep our car on the road but as my husbands work is half an hours drive away and to go by public transport would involve a travel time of nearly 2 hours each way (including a long walk at either end of the journey) and the fact that he works shifts it is essential! Then when you consider that I cannot walk any distance at all and would be unable to go shopping or for appts at doctors etc without relying heavily on friends then it is an even more important lifeline but I tell you I am not sure how long we are going to manage to keep it running! xxxx
