UK Saabers only

Nope, only post 2001 cars are going to be emission based. C900 will still fit into the >1599cc engine band. That means a =A35 increase to =A3175 per year.

--=20 Carl Robson Car PC Build starts again.

My beloved 9-5 coughs 245g/Km which means a rise from 165 quid to 190. Well it would have cost so if I had not run out yesterday to pay the

Driving a Smart is not much cheaper (not as comfortable or safe). There's mileage in dressing theft with environmental concerns.

Er was your tax due? If not you'll lose out on the tax left on the disk surely?

Al

Registered on or after 1 March 2001, to be precise.

Anyway, the new VED will have little or no effect on the use of large cars. Say, driving 10,000 miles/y @ 20mpg will cost about £2500 in fuel, an increase of £40 on VED isn't going to deter anyone.

BTW, why do they use these silly bands? Why not use the g/km figures directly? Say 1£ per g/km at the moment?

in article snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, Colum Mylod at snipped-for-privacy@bigfoot.comREMOVE wrote on 23/03/2006 15:46:

The costs, in reality, are so close to each other that the disparate grades really seem pointless ... Unless they plan to raise the cost of higher grades over time. In the long term, the difference between the bottom and the top grades is not much more than a visit to the petrol station.

I did notice that bioethanol is not listed as a fuel type on the DVLA website. Nor is their any reference to the Biopower car; only the petrol and diesel cars. I have enquired :) My feeling is that they will class it as a petrol car, despite the ability to run on E85.

Paul

Vart tog vägen vägen? SAAB : Nothing on earth comes close

Er was your tax due? If not you'll lose out on the tax left on the disk surely?

Al Not if the old disc ran out on 31/3/06 and he bought a new one to start on

Yup, that is why I'm seriously liking this if the convertible sells.

Nice one. That car certainly has some presence on the road. And Toyotas are generally reliable. It will probably go low because of fear of costs.

And the Smart 'City' car (we've got them here in Sydney too) are so small that the only thing that would save you in an accident is the airbag cocooning you, and the small weight of the car which would mean it's more likely to bounce than collapse. But they're still incredible death-traps!

How good would it have been though for Saab to produce those cars - it's a perfect market for Saab to get into, but of course GM won't have it because it'll compete with their highly-subsidised domestic US car brands. 8-)

Something we don't get here is any regular Saab advertising on TV. There are ads in the papers for Saab's whenever there is a major motoring feature (each of the big newpapers has a regular one), but that's about it in terms of mass-media advertising.

Craig.

Query, WTF is a 'quid?' is that a pound?

yes. quid = pound

or a knicker or smacker

And the same tax as a C900. Hmm, massaging seats. Bordello velour.

--=20 Carl Robson Car PC Build starts again.

Yes my tax was due for April 1. You can't pay them more than 15 days in advance. When I get a car, I avoid the insurance-tax crunch by getting an initial 6 month disc. Costs a little extra but by the time the tax is due the insurance is well sorted out. I usually get the new disc on the day it's due but this time they get their money 10 days early to save me money!

As John says, you have to keep such things in mind. Our tv licence is similarly due in April to get the benefit before the next hike. Spot the trend with monopolist money grabbers.

Way off the mark I'm afraid. I'm not a big fan of small cars, but the Smart is a very well designed car, and does extremely well in crashes.

Here's a nice vid of one driving into a concrete barrier at 70mph

You hit a solid object at 70mph and your brain will splatter against the inside of your skull, your ribs will be rammed through all your internal organs by your seatbelt and your neck will almost certainly snap. Fifth gear(the programme maker) made it clear when item was aired that that particullar crash was not surviveable.

The Smart car is a great little car round town, and if I didn't have two kids to pick up from school I'd have one over any other hatchback like a shot. Smart is only two seater, and the Smart for Four(?) is rubbish.

In a big crash you need weight and crumple zones, big crumple zones. Weight to reduce change of momentum in the case of you hitting an oncoming vehicle and crumple zones to slow the impact. (Simple Physics)

In fairness though Grunff I'd probably be equally dead in my C900 or any other vehicle going 70mph into a barrier, but I suppose in the Smart car it might be easier to shovel my remains into a body bag!

The point really was that the structural integrity of the car held up quite well. If the cage survived that crash at 70mph, you should be able to walk away from a similar crash at 50mph (don't forget that kinetic energy goes up with the square of the velocity).

Good for you Colum, a man after my own heart! Incidentally on my new (used) car I will only be paying £195 as the £215 charge, £210 for petrol, only applies on new cars registered after the 23rd March. If this government can make something complicated they will.

That might well be. The Smart is also quite heavy around 700 Kg, virtually the same as many sub mini cars. However, I can't help feeling that the closeness of the occupants to the front and rear panels makes them very exposed. As they are able to go 80+mph, I am often overtaken by those on the motorway.