road tax ! another ripoff

i've just renewed the road tax on one of the cars. £217 for barely doing 4,000 miles a year. we have 3 cars, vectra estate for the dogs, primera for my wife, subaru for me. it aint fair !! i only covered 1,800 miles in the subaru, 4,000 miles in the vectra, my wife only did 3,000 in her primera in a year. total cost for road tax for all the cars is £734. now i don't mind paying my way, but company reps, delivery vans etc,etc, can cover 40 to 60 thousand miles a year, and they pay the same as i do for each individual vehicle. WHY can't the government put the duty on fuel ? the more miles you cover, the more you'll have to pay. HGVs, don't get me started on them, they've got the inside lanes of motoways rutted like raiway lines. have you ever driven on the inside lanes when it's wet ?

I'd ask why you had 3 cars? Surely the one you use for the dogs would be suitable for one of you. Also I would question why you need a car if you only do 1,800 miles a year, that's only 5 miles a day. Try walking or bicycle, cheaper, environmentally friendly and get you fit.
Becky

Why would 2 people need 3 cars? I know we all grumble about HGV's on the road but where would we get our deliveries from. They delivery to supermarkets where we buy our food and numerous places where we buy things from. I can't see why the grumble about road tax. Why don't you just get rid of one of the cars.

WHAT fit !! i jog 2 mls every day with the dogs!! a bike !! have you ever ridden a bike in today's traffic ? they're all NUTTERS. my wife needs her car cos she's partially disabled, and the primera is easier for her to get into, the subaru is a fun car, i think i'm entitled to a bit of fun now and then the vectra estate is for the dogs. the comparison i was making is the £734 i pay for all 3 cars, you can't drive two cars at the same time, one has to be in the garage at home, meanwhile the reps etc, etc, are covering 40 to 60 thousand mls for two hundred quid, it aint FAIR !!

I can't see why you're complaining. It's always been there and as you have admitted one of your cars is just for fun (yes we are all entitled to have fun but I wouldn't complain). If you'd posted this question on one of the other forums I'm on you'd have been ripped to pieces lol! From what I can make out you do not NEED one of your cars but you chose to have it so tough, pay for it.
Becky

Sorry I agree with Becky. You don't actually need one of your cars, if not 2 of them, it's one of those things, you knew the tax applied when you got the 3 cars so there you go...you have to pay it. I don't think thats unfair. Sorry.

I have to agree with the others, that if you have 3 cars and there are only two drivers then its your choice to pay extra.

We have two cars, my OH has the fun car and I drive the sensible one. If he needs to go fishing and needs the space, he uses my car, etc. It's all compromise. Yeah I'd love a sporty car myself, but I need room for the dogs.

I can answer your question really easily.

It all down to money.

If the government were to add say a penny a litre onto fuel duty and do away with road tax then the government would be putting out of work thousands of people in the DVLA offices around the country as well as those that work in the post offices. Yes I know a small percentage buy there’s online line, but at the moment it is only about 7% of car users.

Also at the moment when you buy your new road tax it is the only way to make sure everyone has MOT’ed and insured their car.

My point is that it is easier for the government to calculate how much money they have coming in each year by just looking at the number of cars registered.

The other thing is that HVG’s pay £350 a year road tax.

If you think you have a problem with three cars I’ve got six in this household.

I’ve got a Daimler XJ40 and a 3.5ltr Range Rover.
My LWB Transit (work van).
My wife’s got a Citroen Picasso.
My eldest daughters got an Escort Gti.
My youngest daughters got a Fiesta Ghia.
Plus at the end of this month when my son becomes 17 he will have whatever, so that will be 7-vehicles.

The other thing you have got to take into consideration is that all company cars are taxed.

Last year this household paid £1,140 for road tax.

i see thousands of HGVs thundering down the road to england from scotland every day, and vice-versa. what's wrong with RAILFREIGHT, i see tesco's are starting doing this, good for them !!

if you paid for the use of the roads through increased fuel duty, i'm sure it would'nt cost you that much, but you yourself can only drive one car at a time.