Almost said goodbye to VW yesterday.....almost

[monkeyhanger]

Don't get too hung up on the £40k thing. The first years VED is included in the OTR prices, and years 2-5, whilst seem like a lot of money to pay out, only equate to a trip to Starbucks each week. And let's face it, none of us will be doing as much of that for a good while.

I've tried not to get too hung up on it but £475... thats a lot of Starbucks 

It softens the blow a tiny bit if you think of it as £325 a year extra, because you would've been paying £150 anyway.

I think this tax redefines the meaning of the term  "highway robbery".

[p3asa]

Don't get too hung up on the £40k thing. The first years VED is included in the OTR prices, and years 2-5, whilst seem like a lot of money to pay out, only equate to a trip to Starbucks each week. And let's face it, none of us will be doing as much of that for a good while.

I've tried not to get too hung up on it but £475... thats a lot of Starbucks 

It softens the blow a tiny bit if you think of it as £325 a year extra, because you would've been paying £150 anyway.

I think this tax redefines the meaning of the term  "highway robbery".

I like your man maths. Totally forgot about that.

Thanks. 

[Gtiless]

Hi Sootchucker- I have seen your post on the BabyBMW forum- I have mentioned it on here but I went from a Mk7 Gti to a F40 M135i Xdrive.

I am really pleased with it, although I picked it up just before lockdown I have managed about 1500 essential miles and am really happy with it. Its loosening up now and feeling better as the miles go on it.

Mine is a Misano Blue with Tech pack 2 and the M pack, so 19s and obviously no adaptive,on my Golf I had 18s with no adaptive- the roads around here a pretty rubbish but I dont think it is any harsher ride in the 135, it feels a stiffer shell to me than the Golf but that's all.I doubt you would be disappointed with it.
 
The gearbox is similar IMO to the DSG and you have to really think about what its doing to see/feel much difference between the two.

Fuel wise I have only been getting 23ish mpg but I really have only used it for short journeys so I dont think is a real representation- my golf used to hover around 29-30ish.

The tech is great, the HUD is brilliant-the only slightly crap part for me is as an android phone user there is no Android car play (or whatever its called) but its supposedly coming via an over the air update.

The alcantara seats I love - I like these and wasn't bothered about the leather, but I got mine pre price rise and RRP was £39990 at the time as I wanted to be able to buy more coffee instead of road tax!!

I got around 17% off the RRP including the £1500 BMW contribution for the finance which I settled off after a couple of days.

Our dealer lent me a demo for the weekend- I would suggest trying to do something like this if you can. Looking at the MK8 Golf I cant see you regretting it.  Good luck!

[Sootchucker]

Out of interest, re the "luxury" car tax for cars with a list price over £40k, does the list price include the on the road costs. As a for instance. I'm potentially still looking at a BMW M135i.

Say the list price including all options and VAT (but without the on the road costs), come in at £39,995.00, but the on the road costs (Delivery and BMW emergency services, Number plates, car 1st registration fee and 1st years VED totals (as it does in this case) £1,775.00, does the car get valued for tax at the £39,995.00 or £41,770.00 (including the on the road costs), pushing it into the luxury car bracket ?

[fredgroves]

The 40k definitely does not include the first year's tax, which is part of the OTR price.

So your list price can actually be £40529 OTR and be under the £40K....

That was advice given to me by TRL....

[AndyGTI]

I got fed up as there never seemed to be a precise definition on what was included that I found this in a DVLA briefing on VED:

The list price or notional price includes the price of any non-standard option fitted by the manufacturer before delivery to the dealer/retailer. The list price also includes any delivery charges for the vehicle, including any pre-delivery inspection costs (PDI) and VAT.


I’ve decided that the £40,000 price threshold is something that I want to keep under for the more reasonable annual VED. The extra £325 (at present) just adds more expense which I’m trying to avoid with the march of other expenses (non-car)

Also helpful in making an arbitrary cut off to narrow future choices, well for me anyway. Just helping me come up with the shortlist.

Very interesting to read all your thoughts on M135i as it’s one of my possibilities as well.

[AndyGTI]

Another point.  When I was calculating the value (prior to adding options) it came out the same as P11d value. So that might be the quick way as a starting point to work out what spare capacity there is for options before you reach £40,000 threshold.

[dubber36]

I’ve decided that the £40,000 price threshold is something that I want to keep under for the more reasonable annual VED. The extra £325 (at present) just adds more expense which I’m trying to avoid with the march of other expenses (non-car)

Some might question the need for a new car if it's stretching the budget to the point that £6.25 per week makes a difference?

[fredgroves]

I’ve decided that the £40,000 price threshold is something that I want to keep under for the more reasonable annual VED. The extra £325 (at present) just adds more expense which I’m trying to avoid with the march of other expenses (non-car)

Some might question the need for a new car if it's stretching the budget to the point that £6.25 per week makes a difference?

Ok, call me tight but I'd question an option which cost £1500 - wouldn't you?

If that option was a go faster stripe or some different coloured carpet or even DCC (lol).

I'd definitely not want to pay it if I didn't even get some pointless crap I could add to my signature on a forum.

I sometimes wonder if this forum isn't some sort of millionaires club I've wandered into while wearing my overalls, hardhat and safety boots.

[monkeyhanger]

I’ve decided that the £40,000 price threshold is something that I want to keep under for the more reasonable annual VED. The extra £325 (at present) just adds more expense which I’m trying to avoid with the march of other expenses (non-car)

Some might question the need for a new car if it's stretching the budget to the point that £6.25 per week makes a difference?

Ok, call me tight but I'd question an option which cost £1500 - wouldn't you?

If that option was a go faster stripe or some different coloured carpet or even DCC (lol).

I'd definitely not want to pay it if I didn't even get some pointless crap I could add to my signature on a forum.

I sometimes wonder if this forum isn't some sort of millionaires club I've wandered into while wearing my overalls, hardhat and safety boots.

You're absolutely spot on there Fred. To add an option that bumps you over that threshold needlessly and ultimately costs you an extra £1300 over the following 4 years is pretty pointless. It could be a £200 option that's ultimately costing you £1500, or a £1500 option that's ultimately costing you £2800.

The MK7.5 Golf GTI/GTD/R comes as standard with 95% of the toys anyone could want for £250-300 a month depreciation (lets not consider PCP interest here, not everyone PCPs). To add a few more toys and you can easily be up to £450 a month. Those toys bump up the monthlies significantly and very few retain or add value (Prets on an R being the notable exception).

It's easy to say it's just £6.25 a week. Most people get paid monthly, which makes the sum of £27.08 a month a little more significant. Still not a huge sum, but an easily avoidable sum. If a salesperson told me that my £900 (or whatever they are now) Prets were going to cost me £2200 (inc luxury VED), i'd leave that box unpicked and buy a set separately.