Why do people SORN their Maserati?
- Thread starter JonW
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CatmanV2
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Doctor Houx
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Exactly right sir!
For those of us with a small fleet of rarely used classics, the cost and admin is a pain. The Govt got it right by giving FOC tax for cars > 40 years old, but you still have to go through the taxation process annually and many of my much younger cars do well under 1000 miles a year.
I would like to see the tax added to tax on fuel, so the more you use the roads the more you pay. This seems fairer to me or we could have the French system of tolls for most main roads, but that requires a charging infrastructure put in place at significant cost of toll booths and tv monitoring.
daverichardson
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What is this SORN thing you speak of? 
philw696
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I'm surprised none of you guys haven't got Trade plates especially you Dean trading the number of cars you get through.
I was gutted to hand mine back in 2014.
It was the best £160 a year to drive what I wanted too which most of the time was on my own.
A different ball game if carrying passengers though and lots of people abuse them.
I was gutted to hand mine back in 2014.
It was the best £160 a year to drive what I wanted too which most of the time was on my own.
A different ball game if carrying passengers though and lots of people abuse them.
Ryandoc
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Winter and salt definitely do their bit to a car. I don’t SORN but my October to March ish driving is a fraction of my summer driving.
Although I think we’re having a fairly mild winter, bone dry with me today and I’ve had the Massa out twice this last week or so, drive to Harrogate a couple days ago.
Although I think we’re having a fairly mild winter, bone dry with me today and I’ve had the Massa out twice this last week or so, drive to Harrogate a couple days ago.
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Is the right thing to do. Blows all the damp away properly.
I don’t SORN mine, I just use it less.
midlifecrisis
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Also blows away the neighbours... And their cobwebs
rockits
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The problem is I do have trade plates and have had them for about 4 years now. There are strict guidelines on when and how they should be used though. The are allowed to be used for collecting/delivering the car on purchase/sale, demo or test drives, to or from MOT or service etc. and possibly shake down runs after works. That is what I use them for.
Unless you bend the rules which I am not comfortable doing then they should be used for any other journeys/use. Means I still have to tax the cars I will used for more than the uses above.
Having the trade plates still works for me at the moment but is not a cost saver and is cost neutral I would suggest. More a time saver and easier.
rockits
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I agree 100% on the car tax levy going on fuel as it is the ultimate leveller and works for all ICE cars. Issues with electric yes but that is a separate issue that needs dealing with. Many 100% EV's have been zero car tax for years anyway haven't they?
The more you drive, the bigger the engine and all other aspects combine to make it the perfect leveller for a fair car tax system for the massive majority. There also needs to be a much lesser DVLA as they then need to deal with much less.
Also means the many car tax avoiders don't avoid. Everyone pays.
The current system is flawed, cumbersome, expensive to operate and out of date.
You might not even need any BIK or complex company car system possibly as the people using more fuel pay more tax.
I'm not saying additional tax on fuel is the answer just seems to make a lot more sense than the current complex and inadequate system.
I'm not saying this as I would benefit from such a system as I likely wouldn't. Just means the people using/polluting more will pay more than they currently do and should do. All makes perfect sense to me.
CatmanV2
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Why? What are you trying to tax for? Wear and tear on the roads? At a guess the Macans discussed over there are rather bigger and heavier than Mrs C's 147 and probably do better mpg. Which one does more damage?
C
philw696
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A mate of mine in Italy.
rockits
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To replace car tax in its current guise essentially. I'm not sure a govt needs a reason to tax these days do they. Wear and tear on roads if you like
I think it is more environmental than wear on tear on roads though. So if a 147 does less mpg then yes I guess it is a little less efficient than a modern engine.
I say the ultimate leveller but clearly that is not 100% possible. It is the least of all evils and the best leveller as a more accurate description.
There are so many points of views and issues getting an ultimate leveller. Is an older car that is less efficient or pollutes more better for the environment than a new car that just had a massive but truly unknown cost to the environment?
Quite simply though if you do more miles or have a less efficient car then you will pay more. I have no issue with that. It would mean people are not pay tax for cars that are sitting in a garage off the public road not being used.
It seems odd currently that a car that kicks out say 500g/km C02 emissions and does 20k miles per year would pay the same and sometimes nearly half the car tax as a car that emits say 250g/km C02 and does 1k miles per year.
JonW
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I guess it depends what you think the tax is for... the days of it being spent on road maintenance and road construction are probably long gone, and I’m not sure I get how the owner of a large inefficient fuel guzzling engine should pay more road tax?...
I personally think there’s already more than enough tax on petrol / diesel, and can’t see how adding the car tax (or vehicle excise duty) to the price of fuel would be fair....
Equally, if I choose to drive my Maserati at high revs and high speed, why should that cost me more than if I choose to drive very slowly and sedately?
I personally think there’s already more than enough tax on petrol / diesel, and can’t see how adding the car tax (or vehicle excise duty) to the price of fuel would be fair....
Equally, if I choose to drive my Maserati at high revs and high speed, why should that cost me more than if I choose to drive very slowly and sedately?
rockits
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I agree with much of your thoughts Jon but have to agree to disagree on this. You have hit the nail on the head. It is entirely and rightly fair that a vehicle that pollutes the atmosphere more should pay more...why is it not fair?
Flip it the other way. Is it fair that someone that drives a more efficient car that pollutes less should pay the same amount as someone with a bigger or less efficient or more polluting car? The current system levied on C02 bands is there for that exact reason.
I'm coming from an angle of an owner of a couple of bigger engined more polluting vehicles. I'm more than happy to pay for my fair dues of car tax. I'm just not overly enamoured with paying for a tax on a car that is not on the public highway or being used.
Weirdly we pay a fixed rate of £265 car tax on the Outlander PHEV per year as it is classed as a commercial with only 2 seats. It is lighter than its 5 or 7 seats non-commercial equivalent but an otherwise identical vehicle. The non-commercial version attracts zero car tax as is less than 50g/km C02. Work that one out?!
