Do you remember what happened in last summer’s Budget?

No - Nor did I, but the former Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a radical overhaul of the UK’s system for taxing cars, with some going up dramatically, and it all happens from 1st April 2017.

Here’s some of the headlines:
The vehicle excise duty (VED) or road tax or road fund licence, as it’s sometimes called, will still have 13 different CO2 bands for new cars which will determine how much you pay in the first year of ownership.  But going forward only electric cars with zero emissions will qualify for the lowest band therefore being tax free.

Except for these zero emission cars any vehicle costing less than £40,000 will be paying £140 a year after the first year, regardless of whether they are Hybrid, Petrol or Diesel.

Why do you mention £40,000 I hear you ask?  Well over this figure cars will attract a premium fee of £310 a year for years two to five of ownership, regardless of the CO2 emissions, so that is £450 a year for 4 years.

Of course with Ford as a new car we don’t have much to worry about on the £40,000 list price new duty, but these changes still have a relative bearing on some of our range, for example 

Over the first four years of ownership
Example 1: Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost if taxed before the 1st April it will be Zero but after the first of April that will become £540

Example 2: Focus 1.0 125ps Ecoboost if taxed before the 1st April it will be £120 but after the first of April that will become £560.

Although this is a big hike in yearly cost if you are paying nothing at the moment, it will have a bigger effect if you buy a car in excess of £40,000 with CO2 of over 255 as after April 1st you will be paying £2000 in the first year and £450 for the next four years.

What should I do? Well, if you don’t think you will be changing your car soon, nothing, as the tax due on your current car does not change. If you were thinking of changing your car this year act now and get one before the 1st of April 2017, and save yourself some money over the coming years.

The one thing you should do before buying any car though is to make sure you understand the new system.

VED for cars registered after the 1^st April 2017

CO2 emissions in g/km	First year rate	Standard rate
0	£0	£0
1-50	£10	£140
51-75	£25	£140
76-90	£100	£140
91-100	£120	£140
101-110	£140	£140
111-130	£160	£140
131-150	£200	£140
151-170	£500	£140
171-190	£800	£140
191-225	£1,200	£140
226-255	£1,700	£140
Over 255	£2,000	£140

The table below is for all cars registered between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017.

VED Band	CO2 Emissions	Annual rate	First year rate
A	Up to 100 g/km	£0	£0
B	101-110 g/km	£20	£0
C	111-120 g/km	£30	£0
D	121-130 g/km	£110	£0
E	131-140 g/km	£130	£130
F	141-150 g/km	£145	£145
G	151-165 g/km	£185	£185
H	166-175 g/km	£210	£300
I	176-185 g/km	£230	£355
J	186-200 g/km	£270	£500
K*	201-225 g/km	£295	£650
L	226-255 g/km	£500	£885
M	Over 255 g/km	£515	£1,120

Could it really be -20 pounds & degrees in Buckingham and Bicester

Did you see the weather warning headline yesterday put out by the Express newspaper?

SNOW BOMB: Wall of SNOW to SMASH UK as deadly blizzards hit in COLDEST freeze for 53 YEARS

BRITAIN faces a historic CHRISTMAS WHITEOUT with “dangerous" blizzards and near record-low temperatures threatening the worst festive freeze for half a century.

I don’t know how true this is, it’s in a national newspaper so who knows, I have checked a few weather sights and they’re all a bit woolly about a white Christmas, so rather than have our customers getting into trouble over the festive period I thought I would send you a little guide on what you need to pay attention to.

Antifreeze – Did you know it weakens with age (I know how it feels) and becomes less effective, when was the last time yours was checked or replaced?

Washer bottles – with the roads giving off so much spray in winter, keeping the windscreen clean Is very important on any journey, during and after a cold snap we see many people with split washer bottles where the wrong fluid or water mixture has frozen and expanded the bottle to breaking point, make sure you have the right mixture in your bottle so it doesn’t freeze in the bottle or pipes.

Tyres – Don’t be running around in wet cold conditions with worn down tyres get them checked, if you don’t know how ask someone in the know.

OR

We normally charge £20 for a Winter check but with the possibility of it being -20 we want you to be safe so they are now -£20 i.e. FREE to all our customers, just pop in to Buckingham or Bicester Ford and get a FREE Winter check before Christmas it only takes 20 minutes.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION – If you have any elderly friends or neighbours who you think would benefit from this please pass it on and we will look after them for free.

If you need the correct washer fluid we sell it premixed and probably the cheapest in town, I noticed it at £5.99 at the garage where I fill up, same size £4.50 for one or £8.50 for two.

To find Buckinghams best driver

This week we have had many more drivers take the challenge, Jenny from AtHome in Well Street , Buckingham is still top of the table, Mark from Barbers in High Street Buckingham improved on his colleagues performance. 

We also Had Nicky for Cakes by Nicky in Bicester and Joff from Natitas Design all drove the New Fiesta with its very quick 1.0 Ecoboost engine, for two days.
Nicky loved the new Fiesta so much she didn’t want to give it back, and even though she only used it around town the little Fiesta still returned a healthy 45.8 mpg. Nicky said “I want one. I can’t believe that is only a 1.0 litre engine”

Joff Cheney from Navitas design on Buckingham industrial estate returned a very good 52.8mpg and covered over 100 miles in his two days, but is a little nervous that Michelle from Meet and Mingle in Bicester will beat him this week. 

This coming week as well as Michelle Howie we have Jo Moir from Style by Jo, Kelly from Kelly Jo Photography, Nick Maples from Arthurs Radio hairdressors and Mike from Buckingham Garden centre.

If you wish to take part, or just want to follow the progress over the next 6 weeks Follow on Facebook for daily updates on who is taking the challenge. If you want to take part, just call James at Buckingham Ford on 01280 812121 or Jeff Lawrence at Bicester Ford 01869 323272. All entries are subject to status.

Leader board
Name                  Company                     MPG
Jenny Dobbs         AtHome                      54.9
Ian Redding    Bicester/Buckingham Ford 53.3
Joff Cheney    Navitas Design                   52.8
Nicky Churchill      Cakes by Nicky         45.8
Mark Green         Barbers                       44.9
Paul Griffin           Barbers                       41.6

Are you an eco friendly driver

Welcome to the environmental challenge, over the next 6 weeks we want to get as many local people to take up a two day challenge to see who can get the best miles per gallon from the new Ford Fiesta 1.0 ecoboost. 

We already have many willing volunteers, well who would say no to a free car for 2 days!

You need to be over 25 and hold a clean driving licence, and been driving for over 12 months, and that's it, you don't need to be an existing customer either, just live in the Buckingham, Bicester or Brackley area.

We know that the New ecoboost engine is good for the environment already as it emits so little, the road fund licence is free on on this little car, yes you heard me right Nothing, Nil yes exactly £0. we also already know the government figures on this car are very good with a combined MPG of 65.7.

So watch this space for updates.

How to use Traction control in snow or ice

After seeing so many people sliding around in the snow and ice yesterday, with their traction control obviously still switched on, we made this small video to help.

The video explains what happens with the traction control on and off, and then we go on to explain how to switch the traction control/ESP off on Ford cars that don't have an obvious button on the dashboard.

Its worth watching until the end, and please share as this may help others with there safety in the snow.

View You Tube video here  Traction control in snow and ice

Please make sure you turn traction control back on once snow and ice has cleared.