Tax and spend
Autocar UK|June 19, 2024
High vehicle excise duty can mean a low price for a used car - temptingly low if you can sidestep the worst of the tax. Alex Wolstenholme knows the trick and the cars to pick
Alex Wolstenholme
Tax and spend

Too good to be true? The price of some used cars can be. You can be browsing the classifieds and spot what appears to be a bargain - until you check what the vehicle excise duty (VED) bill would be.

So this is a story about bargain luxury barges, lightweight sports cars and souped-up hot hatchbacks that get punished by value-ruining duty. But here's the thing: so long as you've budgeted for that, you can bag some cracking bargains.

And with a bit of effort, you can avoid the worst the DVLA has to inflict. The killer £735 tax band was in operation for cars registered between 23 March 2006 and 31 March 2017. Before then, VED tops out at £415, while after it's £190 if a model is five or more years old.

So here are some buyer-beware bargains. Just remember to check the exact road tax band a car sits in (and its ULEZ compliance, if that's important) before you buy, because this can vary with specification.

Alfa Romeo GT (2004-2010)

Alfa Romeo's line-up in the 2000s had its quirks. Selling two similarly sized front-wheel-drive coupés alongside each other today would be madness, but we're not complaining because it now means we've got twice the choice. The GT came a couple of years before the Brera and was more practical and slightly less flamboyant, with five seats but not 4WD. A big boot and perfectly usable rear seats make it a deceptively capacious carrier and as such it isn't hard to make a case for.

It was still available in 3.2-litre V6 form but, in another seemingly strange choice, the engine was completely different from the 3.2-litre V6 powering the Brera. While 237bhp is a tad down on the Brera's newer V6, the GT's makes an even more thrilling noise, and with a lighter weight the car is a keen enough steer to impress any Alfista. Grab a pre-23 March 2006 example to avoid the £735 VED hit. And make sure it has been well cared for to reduce the risk of other scary bills.

This story is from the June 19, 2024 edition of Autocar UK.

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This story is from the June 19, 2024 edition of Autocar UK.

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