164 so cheap

[heckflosse]

Originally Posted by Triple-S

From what I've heard the Dutch version of the DVLA changed their car tax system last year. They used to have a floating tax-exemption age like we used to, but realised they had thousands of 25+ years old cars on the road, with the loss of income that defined..... It is now only for far older cars (40+?) so all those lovely 240s and 264s now don't qualify.
If you think that of little real pain, they now fall into the 700 euros tax bracket (ouch!) hence values of 164s are increasing. Fortunately for that model there are lots out there: this country will never have that many as most people seem incensed with economy-motoring over here. On the whole they want a small frugal box to nip around and to the shops in. They don't want a big sluggish barge, no matter how comfortable, and try getting a 164 into my local multi-story car park - its very tight and involves a lot of reversing.....

P

Oh please don't let greedy George the concrete chancellor get wind of what his European chums are up to! The suffocating grey blanket of EU old car use conformity rears its clumsy head again.
Regarding values, it seems many in the classic scene want instant fun, something shiny and effortless to parade from deckchair infested show to show.
Whatever happened to freezing in a dim shed and welding in Steptoe gloves while dreaming of one day hearing that three litre growl as you waft past the grey Audis?
Driving a well loved old toad is more fun than endlessly polishing it.
As for parking...well, our old 265 is narrow but sticks out a mile from modern euroblob compliant car park spaces.
All part of the fun I suppose.

[guitarman]

The 164 does rather stick out of the bays yes; very small turning circle though and near perfect vision out of it; I find mine easier to manoeuvre than most moderns.
In fact the turning circle may be smaller than my diminutive Toyota's.

[Derek UK]

The Dutch also had a lot of classics converted to LPG so having that and no road tax meant they were very cheap to run. They then I believe made some adjustments so that if you had LPG you couldn't have free road tax and vice versa. It all got rather complicated and further changes for the worse have been made. A Dutch friend with a nice Mercedes 240T (123 series) had both LPG and free tax but he has now removed the LPG system as the tax is less without it and the change back to petrol still makes it cheaper to run. I've had the tax system explained to me several times and still don't understand it. I suspect that a lot of the Dutch don't either.
Probably means that there are a lot of LPG systems going cheap if you fancy a business opportunity. Subject to safety testing etc of course.