£25 London Congestion Charge

[administrator]

There is a short article in the front of the current issue of Classic and Sports Car that indicates that the proposed £25 'Congestion' Charge will include Type Approved cars over 3000cc.  That includes most if not all Mk IVs and all Ace Brooklands.
   
   I haven't been able to confirm if this is correct after a quick web search - can anyone confirm or otherwise?

[cobham cobra]

Yes I think we get caught in the net if the engine size is 3,000cc or over. Details and links below.........Just don't get me started about the mayor, as a London resident it will cost me £25 each time just to get to and from my garage - John[:(][}:)]
   
   http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/congestioncharging/7394.aspx
   
   Key changes
   The key changes include:
   
   A 100 per cent low CO2 discount for cars that:
   Produce less than 120g/km CO2 and meet the Euro 4 standard for air pollution emissions or
   Produce no more than 120g/km of CO2, and appear on the PowerShift register
   
   The introduction of a higher charge (£25) for cars and certain pickups with two rows of seats that produce high levels of CO2.Vehicles liable for this charge are:
   Cars first registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) on or after 1 March 2001 that produce above 225g/km of CO2
   Cars first registered with the DVLA before 1 March 2001 with engines greater than 3,000cc
   Pickups with two rows of seats (extended-cab dual-purpose pickups) with CO2 emissions of greater than 225g/km or with engines greater than 3,000cc in size
   
   The removal of the 90 per cent Residents' Discount from the Congestion Charge for residents who continue to drive cars liable for the CO2 charge
   
   
   The closure of the 100 per cent Alternative Fuel Discount (AFD) to new registrations, and the phasing out of the AFD by January 2010
   
   
   A change to the NHS reimbursement scheme. We will only reimburse patients travelling in those cars that are liable for the higher charge a maximum of £8, not the full £25
   
   
   The introduction of the Euro V incentive - a time-limited reduced Congestion Charge of £6 for lorries and heavier vans that meet the Euro V standard for air pollution emissions.
   We have made further changes to the way congestion charging operates. Please see the Congestion Charging - new charging structure for further information. The table is also available in PDF format (PDF 61KB)
   
   Find out your vehicle's CO2 emission level or engine capacity
   There are a number of ways to find out the CO2 emissions level or engine capacity of your car. For cars registered with the DVLA on or after 1 March 2001, check the vehicle's V5C registration document for its CO2 emissions level.
   
   If your car was registered with the DVLA before 1 March 2001, the registration document will show its engine size (CO2 emission level information is not available for cars first registered with the DVLA before 1 March 2001).
   
   How to find out more
   Full details of the changes can be found in the Report to the Mayor on the Greater London (Central Zone) Congestion Charging (Variation and Transitional Provisions) Order 2007 in the publications archive.
   
   You can also read the Mayor's decision statement, and read the consultation documents in the publications archive.

[Emmanueld]

How strong are classic car lobbies in the UK? Classic cars are not used on a regular basis and thus have minimal impact on the environment! Also Tax Happy Politicians should be booted from office! Wake up! people before you end up in a socialiste dictature which is the way Europe is headed! I had high hopes for Britain but I see it's happening there as well. Yes we have to make every effort to keep our environment clean, but this will happen through the use of new technologies, not useless taxes and laws. I can see a future where Chinese will all be driving Lexuses and Europeans will be running around on bicycles wearing a MAO collar and making minimum wage! I am glad I reside in the US but that does not mean we should lower our vigilance as well![:D] Maybe a forum like this is not the place for such a political discussion but this enrages me!
   
   Emmanuel

[Max Allan]

Emmaneuld. I fear your warning is falling on apathetic ears – we are already well down the road of a police state. And this government loses no time using every opportunity to find new ways of increasing tax revenues, whilst avoiding increases in the two income tax thresholds.
   
   One of the latest – the 100% increase to full rates on void commercial property – is a particular double whammy for me. Not only have I lost a big chunk of rent because the economy is on the skids, but from April I'll be paying £33,000 + in empty rates. Unless Brown has a rapid rethink, which is unlikely, that will be the end of me. With my pension provision now in tatters I'll have no choice but to get out of the country or face bankruptcy.[:(!]
   
   In the mid 90's I had a couple of holidays in the States and came away with the feeling that we in the UK probably lived in a freer society than the Americans. But I don't hold that view now. What with surveillance cameras, forthcoming ID card, passport controls, anti-money laundering measures that make the movement of money without it being tracked impossible plus the "stealth" taxes, many under the guise of global warming (as if anything a tiny country like ours does is going to make a scrape of difference – assuming that is global warming is man made and not a natural climate shift) 10 years of labour (New or Old) has seen the UK go right down the pan.
   
   We were told we had a strong economy (thanks to Margaret Thatcher), which was in safe hands with Brown. Yet at the first signs of a global downturn it turns out our finances are a mess.[:0]
   
   How has all this been allowed to happen? (1) Possibly because a high percentage of the population are too stupid to see beyond the crap churned out by spin-doctors (2) a Parliament full of career MPs that have never held proper working jobs and only interested in what's it for them and (3) a populace that has become so demoralised by rapid changes within the country it has all but given up IMO.
   
   Now I've got that off my chest, Steve - what car shows have you got lined up for this summer? (Assuming I'm still here.)[:)]
   
   Max

[jbottini]

Max, unfortunately this is a recuring theme in many places, the US included 9perhaps not quite as pervasive yet. Jim

[Emmanueld]

Max, There is an auction in Beverly hills every year in late may I believe, I will go there, I will go to Monterey as well, I like Concorso Italiano, no Frua last year! I think in 2009 if my car is finished, I will show it there! Maybe in 2010 if god is willing! Regards
   
   Emmanuel

[runt]

Today we learn that 'Mare' Livingstone is being overhauled in opinion polls by rival Boris, don't know if this chap is a friend of the motorist but he can't be worse..?
   
   As said, our apathy and British reserve will be our downfall..
   
   Paul.[:(!]

[Emmanueld]

Hi guys, in England, do you have a conservative TV channel like Fox News here in the US? Fox News is not always 100% accurate or unbiased in their reporting but neither is the "Liberal" press and it acts as a counter voice. In France, Sarkozy got elected with a mandate to make needed change in the country's tax happy, state run, government everything scheme. What does he do instead is make deals with the Green party (which incidentally represents 5% of the electorate) alienating the farmers in the process. He was supposed to clean up the suburbs (with a power washer) he has not done so and more cars are being burnt now than under Chirac. The repression on the road is worst than ever with people loosing their drivers license for infractions of just a few km/h above the speed limit. The net result is that there are now so many unlicensed drivers (and uninsured) on the road that it is a real problem. Sarkozy's party lost the local elections last week not because of a resurgence of the left like the leftist press likes to spin it but because his electors stayed home! over 50% abstention in some areas. Here in the US, after 8 years of Bush who is not the best President the US has had, I think he ranks about equal at the bottom with Carter (except Carter did not put us in a needless war). Despite this, I will never vote Democratic and turn the country in a more Western Europe like socialist state. I hope I am not the only one thinking that way! [?]
   
   Emmanuel

[nikbj68]

quote:Originally posted by runt
   
Today we learn that 'Mare' Livingstone is being overhauled in opinion polls by rival Boris, don't know if this chap is a friend of the motorist but he can't be worse..?
   
   As said, our apathy and British reserve will be our downfall..
   
   Paul.[:(!]
   

   I spotted a book by Boris a few weeks ago and in it he takes (one of?) his offspring out in a Superblower or MkV as a birthday treat..... possibly his blood has an octane rating???[:D]

[cobham cobra]

Yes I think he does like cars, I saw him a few years ago driving round Islington in a very nice Bentley Azure.
   Boris has to be an improvement over the idiot we currently have running (or ruining) London. Ken doesn't drive a car and I don't think he even has a driving licence.
   BTW Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson was born 19 June 1964, NYC, New York USA[;)].  A father of four and husband of Marina Wheeler, son-in-law of Charles Wheeler. Johnson is the Member of Parliament for Henley-upon-Thames and an outspoken 'Eurosceptic'.Studied at Eton college and read Classics at Balliol College, Oxford.
   
   Unfortunately we will probably need the congestion charge just to pay for the black hole that is the Olympics. I'm so pleased I live and work in London and have the continuing opportunity to make direct contributions to the Mayor's funding needs. [}:)][}:)]

[nikbj68]

I know he comes across as a bumbling fool, but there seems to be a lot more to Boris than that, fingers crossed for the future!
   I found this about the book in question:
   
   "He comes, he sees, he plays with the gadgets! Boris Johnson has been behind the wheel of some of the world's fastest, most luxurious cars. He's taken the Jaguar XKR-R for a spin around a posh public school; roared through Islington in the AC Cobra V8; and spent a weekend tearing through the lanes of Sussex in the splendour of the Mercedes S55 AMG. Now he's going to reveal exactly what it was like. Pondering the fundamental questions -- What does it feel like to be overtaken by a female driver when you're behind the wheel of an Alfa Romeo? Can a car really precipitate a mid-life crisis? -- Boris Johnson's hilarious dispatches from life in the fast lane will appeal to anyone who's found themselves behind the wheel of one of modern motoring's finer specimens. But it's not all glamour and gadgets. Because when he's not baiting his Holloway neighbours with the Rolls Royce Corniche, we see Boris trying, and failing, to get to grips with the Smart car, and attempting to flee Kosovo in a Fiat Uno. Published together for the first time as a Paperback Original, these hilarious vignettes are vintage Boris: witty, candid and unique.
   "
   
   I think I might buy it! [:)]

[Emmanueld]

Maybe you will end up with a London Grand Prix!
   
   Emmanuel[:D][:D]

[brad o]

From the same hymn sheet:Labour has always been the party of redistribution of wealth.They are desperate for any increase in tax revenues as the welfare state,public pensions and immigration are running out of control.Excuses include terrorism global warming etc.Demonising the car has always been an easy option- old cars will be forced off the road eventually by lack /price of natural resources.Im going to enjoy driving my mk4  like all those chinese/indians out there buying cars as fast as they can!PS agree with Max Allan about commercial rates, at least they rethought CGT!Rant over.Come on Boris!

[Emmanueld]

Congratulation London! Great move, hopefully Boris Johnson the new mayer will undo all the idiotic measures and taxes setup by the previous administration!
   
   Emmanuel[:D][:D][:D]

[administrator]

The Telegraph has started a 'Fair Deal' Campaign for drivers:
   
   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fairdeal