The (lack of) future of diesel
Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 11:31 pm
So... my wife is changing job and is going to have to do some travel in her new role. This will require her to visit people's homes in a rural area.
Her current car, an ex-hire Zafira which we bought at exactly 1 year old with 10k miles on the clock for a shade over £9,000 has given us nigh on 70,000 miles of service without many issues (one new set of brake pads, one new clutch).
The combination of age of the current car, rural travel, recent weather and the desire to have something which can tow a smallish trailer has got us around to thinking about a newer car - specifically a 4x4 with relatively good road manners, creature comforts, space for two soon to be teenage children and not too horrendous fuel consumption.
Nearly all the vehicles I have seen which meet these criteria (Skoda Yeti, Ford Kuga, Mazda CX-5, Hyundai iX35) are diesel-fuelled, which appears to be about as fashionable as bell-bottoms and crimplene shirts.
I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts or insight into what might happen with diesel cars as government seeks to change the incentive / stick balance? For new vehicles, I can see they will be taxed out of existence - this is already happening to a large extent with company car tax rules. However, in the 2-3 year old range that our budget puts us at, is there a palpable risk or forced scrappage, hikes in diesel fuel tax or significant VED hikes in the next few years?
Thoughts welcome - I don't want to spend £12k+ to end up with a pup / headache!
Her current car, an ex-hire Zafira which we bought at exactly 1 year old with 10k miles on the clock for a shade over £9,000 has given us nigh on 70,000 miles of service without many issues (one new set of brake pads, one new clutch).
The combination of age of the current car, rural travel, recent weather and the desire to have something which can tow a smallish trailer has got us around to thinking about a newer car - specifically a 4x4 with relatively good road manners, creature comforts, space for two soon to be teenage children and not too horrendous fuel consumption.
Nearly all the vehicles I have seen which meet these criteria (Skoda Yeti, Ford Kuga, Mazda CX-5, Hyundai iX35) are diesel-fuelled, which appears to be about as fashionable as bell-bottoms and crimplene shirts.
I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts or insight into what might happen with diesel cars as government seeks to change the incentive / stick balance? For new vehicles, I can see they will be taxed out of existence - this is already happening to a large extent with company car tax rules. However, in the 2-3 year old range that our budget puts us at, is there a palpable risk or forced scrappage, hikes in diesel fuel tax or significant VED hikes in the next few years?
Thoughts welcome - I don't want to spend £12k+ to end up with a pup / headache!