Current Car Taxes have killed large car values.
I Have a 2.5l 2000 Subaru Outback fully loaded and 56k miles.
Which now gets very little use as it is now a second car.
Still Taxed as 1550cc and above so is not going to get the Labour party's new Mega Road Tax.
But has drop in value. What shall I do.
Convert to LPG
Use it for a donar car.
Pitty it's a top car.
Or does any one want a tow car for there Track Day Car. - No Caravan Towing please unless taking it to the Dump! 
As with everything this government meddles with.
KISS YOUR ASS GOODBYE!!!!!!!!!!
David
Huge rises apply to 2001 cars, I thing its March 2001 that the first cut off point so you do not need to worry.
Your tax now is £180, this may go as high as £220 in 2010 not the forcast £1000 - £1200 due to age.
I would convert it into a boat. No seriously, hear me out.
So when this fuct up country finally sinks, you'll have something to float away in.
I can't even swim 
If you store it off road just tax it for the month and then get a refund then tax it again when you want to use it again. If lots of people did this
it might even pee Swansea off a bit so at least we'd get a bit of payback 
Got a 1/2 share in a boat already.
Just don't have the funds to fill it.
35 gallon tank ! (160litres)
Make A Good locost donar engine though.
2.7 liter V6 2 stroke.
15 months ago a mate of mine bought an Audi A8 - ex demonstrator just a few months old. He got it for £41k - £14 less than list - a bargain?
Well er no not really He's just had it valued at £20k 
Same boat here July 2001 Lexus is200, will be £415 tax, and swmbos is300 the same. Just going to keep them and enjoy them, and when the 200's done with I'm definately having an L200 Animal, same co2 but presently £195 tax cos its commercial, two fingers to Brown Darling and the rest of the $hit Houses.
Saw on another forum a bloke who bought one of those 4x4 Porkers and has lost £47K in 6 months!
quote:
Originally posted by Peteff
If you store it off road just tax it for the month and then get a refund then tax it again when you want to use it again. If lots of people did this it might even pee Swansea off a bit so at least we'd get a bit of payback
Ultimately and unfortunately we have to face up to the basic fact that overconsuming cars are going to be the first ones priced off the road.
You can argue the "personal choice" angle for ver and a day, but at the end of the day energy source and pollution output will dictate how
you travel.
You can also argue the angle that it's not fair to force people out of their cars when the public transport alternative is no good. You could
even argue that the state of public transport is succesive government's faults. You can argue any angle you care to view it from we're
facing a sea change in the way we move.
It's going to be slow, it's going to be painful (especially for us petrol heads) but I guarantee you you won't stop it with any amount
of arguing.
[please excuse my alchahol fueled and personal opinion tome] 
ooops - more inebriated (SP?) than I thought
[Edited on 2/7/08 by nick205]
You could convert it to run on LPG to save some fuel cost (and I think the road tax also changes for cars after a certain date). I had a 2.5 subaru
legacy estate and it was the best gas converted car I have run. The power and fuel consumption seemed identical to when I was runing on petrol, unlike
the other ones I've had which usually loose some power/torque and also use about 15-20% more fuel. Lpg is currently 52 to 56p/l. Just decide if
you can afford to loose the boot space for the tank. Note that you can only fill a tank to 80% of its nominal volume due to always having some gas
space at the top of the tank. Also the ferries and channel tunnel expect you to isloate the tank if travelling on them (there are a couple of valves
to turn to do this, but on the tank, buried under all the luggage....).
Hugh
Yeah I think converting it to LPG would be well worth it, not only would you be getting much better fuel costs along with greatly reduced road tax but
it would push up the cars value & desirability plus make the engine last a lot longer. Definitely the right move on a hi-spec car.
[Edited on 3/7/08 by Mr Whippy]
lpg is only short term solutiuon. do you think the government will not hike prices of LPG once it has enoughj of a captive market?
I remember when diesel cost 1/2 price of petrol, nowadays it is 20 p more.
quote:
Originally posted by 02GF74
lpg is only short term solutiuon. do you think the government will not hike prices of LPG once it has enoughj of a captive market?
I remember when diesel cost 1/2 price of petrol, nowadays it is 20 p more.
I originally thought the tax on lpg would increase when the market share was big enough, 9 years ago when I had my first car converted(but I was doing
40-45k per year then so it was woth it anyway).
I've now realised that the cost of conversion (1400-1600 for a garage to do it) means only a small fraction of the population will ever do it -
why - because at say 8p/mile saving you need to do more miles that the average person who sells their car after 2 to 3 years will do while they own
the car. If you do the mod yourself (more like £600) then the payback is quicker, but most people won't bother or don't have the skill.
Also, the manufacturers use it as an excuse to duck out of the warranty on the engine if your car is new.
The value of your converted car is currently no better than it is unconverted, because people worry about modified engines etc, so decide if its
worthwhile based on fuel saving, not residual value.
In my local area, almost all the taxis run on LPG. My current car is a 1.6ls civic, now done 165000 miles, 98% on LPG.
Regards
Hugh
I beleive the duty on LPG is fixed for the next two years or so. So it shouldn't shoot up because of the government until then at least. Am
getting tempted to covert my audi to lpg just don't really do enough miles in it tho.
[Edited on 3/7/08 by trogdor]