A 104k 02 VW Beetle 2.0 petrol has appeared on my FB account. The seller says it was a Cat D write off. He's offering it for £950.00 - the tax ran out yesterday. For an additional £350.00 he'll MoT and tax it for 6 months. I thought it was a trifle expensive that. So I checked the VEL rate online - A staggering £280 quid for 12 months or £154 for 6 months....Hell's teeth - Makes the Beemer looks a bargain.
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they fetch silly money, a 2002 130k 1.6 beetle will fly off any forecourt at 1200-1500 quid.
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That's still £200 to MOT it...
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Gonna be a lot more relatively juicy cars at bargain prices in years to come, when the values of £500pa VED cars get to sub-£1k levels there will be some real peaches about with recently-expired tax discs...
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I reckon there must be some work on there for an MoT - you can still get them tested around here for £30.00 (local bike shop has car certification and will do it for that) - anyone selling a car with no MoT has to be questionable.
As you say Dave - they may well be worth the money as well...
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I bet the insurance premiums will be high on a Beatle too. I just don't get it, a late 90's average Golf with a new body it is still an old car. It is the same with the early Minis, they really are just bangers for silly money.
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>> I bet the insurance premiums will be high on a Beatle too.
Think you might struggle on getting a quote for two of 'em. ;-)
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Look at the car tax more like an ownership charge - lowest rate = nil, highest rate = £10 per week.
If a tenner/week is enough to put you off having the car you really really want, then you don't really want it that much.
If the car dies you get the remaining tax refunded.
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Considering my car costs me just over £200 a month in loan payments, insurance, petrol and servicing £10 week would be a massive increase in cost.
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Unless the flip-side was having bought a car for a grand, no loan, and able to dump it upon death.
Doing 3-4k miles pa wouldn't likely cost a lot more in a bangernomics Lexus LS400.
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The 2.0 petrols are not popular in the Beetle - most are 1.6s, latterly 1.4s and of course the 1.9 diesels.
Beetles are a marmite car, and I hate Marmite. But my wife loves them!!
Agree with Rattle, take a practical Golf and then fold it in at every corner to minimise the space and remove all practicalities from it!
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Had the loan of a 2012 Beetle from local dealers a few weeks back. Looked good in black and drove nicely enough and fun for a day but I'm not quite sure why anyone would buy one over a Golf. At least its a bit more macho and not as twee as the preceding model though.
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CG, I think the latest Beetle is designed to appeal to more men than previous versions, sort of more sporty looking.....
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I saw one of the girly ones with one of those mechanical flowers put in the built in vase. It looked quite effective waving away in there.
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No flower holders!
You had to be fairly strong to open the doors - huge and heavy
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We have had the debate about loans/bangers before. I have done both, and for me getting a brand new car on finance worked out cheaper than my bangers.
Having said that luck comes into a lot, as does how much you can fix yourself.
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VED rates for many cars are eye-watering and are making it difficult in my search for a small automatic! I refuse to pay four hundred quid a year for this politically "green "motivated" tax. A load of old toffee to justify extortionate taxes.
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Hows about one o'these, Rog?
www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201304296505403/
Is £170 annual VED too tasty?
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This was the one I fancied, but they are looking at bottom book for our immaculate low mileage Panda and I guess, top book, for their car.
tinyurl.com/ozdahbb
So, about two grand to change an 04 car for an 04 car.
Last edited by: Roger on Fri 2 Aug 13 at 12:35
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Hmm. It'll take a few years to get back that 2k in saved VED.
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Sell the Panda privately.
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is that the mazda version of the ford fusion?
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>> is that the mazda version of the ford fusion?
>>
No, I don't think so. It doesn't have the high ride height of the Fusion. It's a pretty standard small hatchback, with a slight nod to mini-MPV styling, seems to me anyway. Not many of them around.
I like Ford Fusions. Am I weird? Should I see my GP?
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I would say that it is the Mazda2 version of the Ford Fusion, as I have just persuaded daughter to take a family one to replace her ageing Seat Cordoba Vario. ( Who knows what that is? without looking it up!)
It seems to have some differences that I cannot explain - the FF specifies a much greater luggage loading capacity but I think that is down to seat design. I would be pleased if somebody can explain.
Note that the later model (2008 on) called a Mazda2 is much more similar to Fiesta and does not offer any great advantages.
Last edited by: pmh on Fri 2 Aug 13 at 14:42
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pmh, I think the explanation is that the (old) Mazda2 and the Ford Fusion are different vehicles. The 2 is much lower to the ground, and seems to ride on smaller wheels. The Fusion is supposed to be a halfway house between a hatchback and a small SUV, the Mazda2 is just a (n ugly) hatchback. That's how they look to me anyway, I claim no inside technical knowledge. Just an impression.
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I quote from HJ car review
Is it a Fiesta? Is it a Fusion? Confusion, it's a Mazda 2.
>>>Instead of offering two variations of the new Valencia Ford Fiesta, Ford offers three and calls one of them a Mazda. But unlike the old Mazda 121, which was no more than a badge-engineered Dagenham Fiesta, the Mazda 2 has been completely re-engineereed.
And that's the point of it. At the back you get the lowest loading sill in the new Fiesta range. (Nearly as low as a Yaris Verso.) You get a fairly flat floor when you fold the seats, because Mazda sorted out the seat squab mechanism. You get a brighter, funkier interior. And you get a shopping car that's a lot more fun to drive than any Fiesta or Fusion.<<<
It definitely seems higher inside than a standard Fiesta but maybe the lower floor loading height confuses the brain? :)
Last edited by: pmh on Fri 2 Aug 13 at 14:58
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>> Seat Cordoba Vario. ( Who knows what that is? without looking it up!)
Polo estate with different headlights/grille I think, got offered an S reg one a few years ago.
EDIT: Looked it up to check, I was right :) They did VW and Skoda van versions too, surprisingly versatile basic architecture.
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>> Seat Cordoba Vario. ( Who knows what that is? without looking it up!)
Polo estate with different headlights/grille<<<
Well done, Dave TiD
much of the motoring trade do not have a clue - even a local SEAT dealer did not know what it actually was!
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>> VED rates for many cars are eye-watering and are making it difficult in my search for a small automatic!
>> I refuse to pay four hundred quid a year for this politically "green "motivated" tax.
>> A load of old toffee to justify extortionate taxes.
>>
I pay £460 for a 2.5l auto petrol saloon.
Should I scrap it and save the world ?
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>> I pay £460 for a 2.5l auto petrol saloon. Should I scrap it and save the world ?
The really cheap cars are going to be 01-onwards Laguna / 406 / Mondeo V6s - bought new by those well off enough to afford the petrol and maintenance, hardly driven, now too expensive to tax or insure for anyone under 40...
In a few years when '06-onwards cars depreciate into the £hundreds there will be quite a few cossetted V6/V8 Mercs and BMWs (both petrol and diesel) up for grabs for a pittance.
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I dunno if your car is pre 23rd March 2006 henry but this:
tinyurl.com/o3em56u
is £490 this year and probably rising. Daft thing is, the insurance is less than my current D5 of the same model.
Only thing stopping me is the asking price is £2k over book after adjusting for mileage.
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>> is £490 this year and probably rising. Daft thing is, the insurance is less than
>> my current D5 of the same model.
I looked at D5's when changing cars and couldn't believe the insurance, close to BMW 330 levels. Strange.
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Yes, I'm guessing the insurance companies are lumping them all together as a D5 can range from 163PS to 235PS (I think it is) if it has Polestar.
Last edited by: gmac on Fri 2 Aug 13 at 20:08
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>> Talking of insurance -
I knew a lad with an 03 Corsa. An annual insurance premium of £1.2m would have been about right :)
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259g/km? Ouch.
Looking at cars when I had the Mazda (209g/km, £280pa) it was almost easier to gauge the running costs by looking at the CO2 figure than the mpg... The LSEC emits 174g/km which costs £220pa. Not ideal but a reasonable compromise between performance and cost, bearing in mind a pre-2001 family car would cost £225 to tax regardless of emissions.
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>> 259g/km? Ouch.
>>
OK, that would up my annual RFL contributions by £290 or I could run it as a winter car (extra £80 I think it would be then) and ride my bike during the summer (the school run might be interesting when the C4's in for a service if no loan car is available).
It's the sub-20mpg compared to the D5's 45+mpg that I'd notice plus the tyre bill for 296bhp in standard form and 335bhp after a little jiggery pokery for all four wheels.
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.The LSEC emits 174g/km which costs £220pa. Not ideal but a reasonable compromise between performance and cost,
How's the Saab going Dave ?
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