Congestion Charging and ULEZ in London

[NewcastleFalcon]

Dont know what the previous arrangements were but the current horses mouth on Gov.uk still allows the exemption if applied for.

https://www.gov.uk/historic-vehicles/ve ... ehicle-tax

Regards Neil

[Paul-R]

I have a vague memory that the age of the vehicle to qualify as exempt used to be much lower - something like 25 years old. A further vague memory that he year was then frozen and when the rolling qualifying age was reintroduced it was about 15 years later and hence why it is now 40 years.

I remember thinking that it was most unfair that my 1973 MG Midget wasn't going to qualify any more but that if I could prove it was manufactured in 1972 it would qualify. Or am I mixing it up with when white on black number plates would no longer allowed?

[mickthemaverick]

Thanks for that Neil, it certainly clarifies the current situation. Maybe we are dreaming of a budget proposal that didn't get through!! Still its good to know the 40+ idea can still work for ULEZ. Anyone seen a Lancia for sale recently?
Paul posted while I was writing and that idea certainly explains our dreams!!

[mickthemaverick]

Thinking about this problem from outside the box has yielded a whole new way of thinking for me!! Back when Congestion Charging was introduced its prime purpose was to reduce traffic congestion in the city centre, hence the name Congestion Charging, with the environmental benefit being an offshoot of the main aim. Then as the green lobby strengthened it became clear that the pollution was in fact the bigger issue and the LEZ was born, which in turn has given birth to the ULEZ. So now the concentration is on pollution by trying to get all the vehicles electrified. If that succeeds it will mean all and sundry driving into the city centre in their clean cars and we will be back to square one with heavy traffic congestion!!

So I started thinking about what I should do and it didn't take long for me to realise that I may have to convert or swap out my MX3 for a town car and use the Subaru for longer journeys. That's when the new idea hit me, well I say new but in fact the whole point is that the answer has been around for over the 40 years we have been discussing. I went to ebay and looked around to find the oh so obvious answer to my dilemma!! We should all go and get one of these:

Spoiler: show

BFTW

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334149705203 ... 1438.l2649

It is clearly the way to go, 45 years old so exempt from the charges, 2.5 times as big as it needs to be so will take up 2.5 times as much space on the roads and therefore limit the number of cars in the city at any one time to 1/5 of the number there would be if we all drove smart cars!! That means only 20% of the number of engines running in the city and an 80% reduction in exhaust systems running around!!

Less cars, less congestion, less exhaust fumes and no charges!!!! its a win win win!!!

No wonder they had the foresight to call it a Town Car

[white exec]

And room to park a Smart car or Ami on the hood, Mick!

The lengthened age requirement for 'Classics' must surely be an attempt to keep old bangers off the road.
To obtain an 'H' plate here (= historic vehicle) it needs to be 25 years old, and costs €1000 for the reclassification.
That latter is enough to put most ordinary folk off, as (at the moment) the only benefits are not having to have the vehicle Tested (how stupid is that!?) and zero annual car tax.

[RichardW]

According to Wikipedia (so it must be true!!)

Each year on 1 April, vehicles constructed more than forty years before the start of that year become eligible for a free vehicle licence under "historic vehicle" legislation. This is due to the age of the vehicle and a presumption of limited mileage. Initially this was a rolling exemption applied to any vehicles over 25 years old, however in 1997 the cutoff date was frozen at 1 January 1973. The change to "pre-1973" was unpopular in the classic motoring community, and a number of classic car clubs campaigned for a change back to the previous system.[12] In 2006 there were 307,407 vehicles in this category:[13]

As of 1 April 2014, vehicles manufactured before 1 January 1974 became exempt from the VED (Finance Act 2014, as set out in the 2013 Budget, 20 March 2013).

In the 2014 Budget, the government introduced a forty-year rolling exemption, with vehicles built before 1 January 1975 becoming exempt on 1 April 2015 and so on.[14]

[mickthemaverick]

And room to park a Smart car or Ami on the hood, Mick!

I thought 2 on the hood, 2 on the roof and 1 on the trunk which is what I based my 20% etc figures on!!

[myglaren]

Maybe this would suit someone?
Bloke spent £3,000 0n it - engine, transmission, brakes, tyres.
Had a heart attack and was unable to drive it.
It was supposed to go in the garage here (not his, it belongs to my son's next door neighbour).
But it wouldn't start and as the neighbour needs access to the garage it had to stay outside.

That was three years ago. It hasn't been touched since and is quietly dissolving.

That was 16 months ago. It hasn't improved noticeably.

[white exec]

They do that, unfortunately, along with all their stablemates.
Even some of the new ones left the factory/dealer already rusted.

[Paul-R]

According to Wikipedia...
>Snip< the rest...

Well, what do you know. Most of my recollection was mostly correct!

Not often that happens...

[Paul-R]

Maybe this would suit someone?
...

...

There's a Wolseley version of that car which I see fairly frequently when I drive down a certain road near here.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.40639 ... 384!8i8192

If you continue along the road a few hundred yards you'll see two Austin 1300GTs and a Vauxhall Viva GT. If you then go back to previous Street Views you'll see some other classic cars. I've often wondered about the chap who runs the business but never called in!

[Gibbo2286]

You in Wallasey then Paul? I have family there from my late wife's side.

[Paul-R]

I don't live there but I do range quite widely around Wirral! My late mother was born and raised in Wallasey though.

[NewcastleFalcon]

duplication edited out

[NewcastleFalcon]

One year on from the expansion of London’s ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ), analysis by the RAC suggests drivers of non-compliant vehicles paid almost £100 million to Transport for London (TfL).

Read all about it!
Expanded ULEZ costs drivers of non-compliant vehicles almost £100m

Further Expansion on the way

Regards Neil