Been to the dealership this morning to take the Mrs car for its service.

While there we had a chat with the sales manager who we have always dealt with as the Mrs is looking to change to an EcoSport when she can.

Cut a long story short, he said Ford are stopping producing automatics in the smaller range of car.

They will only continue to produce autos in the Mondeo, Kuga and other larger models.

No more automatic Fiestas, Ecosport or Focus models.

He said it is something to do with the new emissions testing that will commence very shortly. Something about certain emissions being tested that wasn't before.

Interesting....

 

The new test has been out for while but from April car tax will be based on it.  Will add several hundred quid to the first years tax on a lot of cars....if you're thinking of buying soon, I'd get in before the end of March personally!

Did also see a very good lease deal on the EcoSport on HUKD last week, worked out around £2k a year for 2 years...far less than the depreciation of buying the car.  The reviews weren't overly positive on it though.

This is probably why they've added the new monthly plan to car tax. 🙂

This is probably why they've added the new monthly plan to car tax. [emoji846]

My wife's been paying her VED monthly for years, it's not a new thing.


Surely a huge increase in VED is going to be counter productive? For some it will be an expense that people won't be able to afford so they will continue to run their older vehicle for longer.

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6 minutes ago, Jonro2009 said:

Surely a huge increase in VED is going to be counter productive? For some it will be an expense that people won't be able to afford so they will continue to run their older vehicle for longer.
 

It's only the first year tax that'll go up, if you can afford a new car, you can probably afford that too.  After that it will continue at £145 a year...  But even that's too much for some of us, my last few cars have all been £30pa!

It's only the first year tax that'll go up, if you can afford a new car, you can probably afford that too.  After that it will continue at £145 a year...  But even that's too much for some of us, my last few cars have all been £30pa!

If you are buying using PCP can it be added to the vehicle price or is it pays to the DVLA separately?

I think it works out at about £12.50 a month for the VED, I had heard it was going up more than £145 a year though. You know what rumors are like though lol. I'm currently paying £20 a year [emoji846].



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4 hours ago, Mavroz said:

Cut a long story short, he said Ford are stopping producing automatics in the smaller range of car.

They will only continue to produce autos in the Mondeo, Kuga and other larger models.

That's an interesting one. I'd got the impression, from magazine articles and dealer comments, that manuals are a theatened species as automatics make it easier to optimise emissions etc in the tests. Certainly a lot of VW Group cars, even smaller ones, are automatic only. In the Polo and Audi A1 for example, you can only get an auto if you want more power than the 1.0 petrol engine 

1 minute ago, Jonro2009 said:

If you are buying using PCP can it be added to the vehicle price or is it pays to the DVLA separately?

I think it works out at about £12.50 a month for the VED, I had heard it was going up more than £145 a year though. You know what rumors are like though lol. I'm currently paying £20 a year .



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It's paid to the DVLA but the dealers can do it for you so in theory they could offer an 'incentive' by reducing the price elsewhere to compensate.

There are rumours about the £145 being raised but we've just had the budget and I didn't see it mentioned at all...Corona took over this budget lol.

36 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

It's only the first year tax that'll go up, if you can afford a new car, you can probably afford that too.  After that it will continue at £145 a year...  But even that's too much for some of us, my last few cars have all been £30pa!

Yes, it is £170 for the 1.0 Ecoboost Ecosport in the 1st year i think he said but that is paid in with the monthly figure. (1st year is paid upfront)

16 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

That's an interesting one. I'd got the impression, from magazine articles and dealer comments, that manuals are a theatened species as automatics make it easier to optimise emissions etc in the tests. Certainly a lot of VW Group cars, even smaller ones, are automatic only. In the Polo and Audi A1 for example, you can only get an auto if you want more power than the 1.0 petrol engine 

Nope, he said it is the other way.... Dirty Auto's are in thing of the past it seems in the smaller vehicles Ford produce.

The Kuga and Mondeo are still worth having the auto's in, something to do with them having good Hybrids.

He also said the new Puma hybrid's electrical side is shockingly poor and he feels it is nothing more than a gimic...... That was that out of the window straight away.

1 hour ago, runamonk said:

This is probably why they've added the new monthly plan to car tax. 🙂

Hmm, have paid monthly for our car taxes for a few years now.... You pay a little more than paying in full but it is more managable.

38 minutes ago, Mavroz said:

Hmm, have paid monthly for our car taxes for a few years now.... You pay a little more than paying in full but it is more managable.

Totally crazy right? This is the first year I've done the monthly plan, I had no idea it was an option. I never saw it before. 🙂

46 minutes ago, Mavroz said:

 

He also said the new Puma hybrid's electrical side is shockingly poor and he feels it is nothing more than a gimic...... That was that out of the window straight away.

Well, it didn't seem to be doing a lot in the one I tried!😀. Perhaps the auto version may not appear now.

Not a great auto fan myself anyway, so if VW and co made similar moves to Ford it would increase my choice of cars. I might consider a manual Polo GTI or Audi A1 2.0 tfsi against a Fiesta ST, for example.

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

After that it will continue at £145 a year...  But even that's too much for some of us, my last few cars have all been £30pa!

Enjoy it while you can😀. Can't see any reason why the government can't adjust the tax upwards on older cars, to dissuade people hanging on to them. I've already seen suggestions in the financial press that they are considering such a move.

6 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Well, it didn't seem to be doing a lot in the one I tried!😀. Perhaps the auto version may not appear now.

No, I don't think it even has electric motors, so it cannot be driven on electricity only? 

We sat in the one in the showroom and immediately ruled it out for the Mrs for another reason..... She wants to sit higher, having hip problems.

I would say it is as low as our Fiestas and no way near as high as the EcoSport.

Looking at the pricing, was I right is seeing the Puma (was high specced I believe) was around the 27k mark in the dealership? Wow.... 

2 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Enjoy it while you can😀. Can't see any reason why the government can't adjust the tax upwards on older cars, to dissuade people hanging on to them. I've already seen suggestions in the financial press that they are considering such a move.

We have talked that to death at work.... We definitely also feel the free and 30 quid road duty will come to a shuddering end sooner or later.. one guy has a 10 year old 2.0 Audi diesel on 30 quid a year tax... How much longer for?  (Sure it is diesel anyway)

1 hour ago, Mavroz said:

No, I don't think it even has electric motors, so it cannot be driven on electricity only? 

Yes, that's right, the battery supposedly stores energy on braking, overrun, etc and uses it to assist the petrol engine at low revs.

1 hour ago, Mavroz said:

Looking at the pricing, was I right is seeing the Puma (was high specced I believe) was around the 27k mark in the dealership? Wow.... 

Yeah, the launch editions with extra kit went up to that sort of price. I think the normal range tops out just under £24k or so. Mind you, I haven't looked at a price list since I had the test drive so they'll have gone up a bit to accommodate the wltp emission figures, I suppose.

If this is true then they'll lose a customer in me.

 

Not sure I believe it though, as pure hybrids are better as autos than manuals.

18 minutes ago, Guy Heaton said:

If this is true then they'll lose a customer in me.

 

Not sure I believe it though, as pure hybrids are better as autos than manuals.

Yep it seemed strange to me but it was when we enquired about the EcoSport within the next 6 months, he said they will still be available in the 1.0 Ecoboost BUT you will no longer be able to order an automatic due to the forthcoming change in Emission regulations due to the way they test, pushing the g/km up or something very similar.

Needless to say, personally we didn't want an auto.

I can only assume this new testing will not just affect Ford, it must mess with other manufacturers also?

He also confirmed that many new Fiestas with the upgraded? headlights are being recalled due to fact they forgot to put the breather on them when designing.They mist up badly, resulting in marking on the inside of the lens when the lamp heat evaporates the moisture leaving permanent marking.

For now they are snipping a lug off the units to allow air in and out. They are looking at a permanent mod or fix in the near future.

You can through the ford.co.uk

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Enjoy it while you can😀. Can't see any reason why the government can't adjust the tax upwards on older cars, to dissuade people hanging on to them. I've already seen suggestions in the financial press that they are considering such a move.

The tax for old cars does go up every year by £5-£10...but only those in band D and above.  So far the £0, £20 & £30 bands have remained the same since it started.  Although of course it's mostly the dirty diesels in those brackets so likely to change eventually!

 

1 minute ago, TomsFocus said:

The tax for old cars does go up every year by £5-£10...but only those in band D and above.  So far the £0, £20 & £30 bands have remained the same since it started.  Although of course it's mostly the dirty diesels in those brackets so likely to change eventually!

 

Lol, the Mrs's 6 year old (petrol) SEAT Mii is still on £20, even though it's higher CO2 than the Fiesta. I think the sort of increases we'll be looking at will be a lot more than £5-£10 when it does happen, though.

Ford Puma is getting a dual clutch transmission with 125bhp 1.0 Ecoboost soon. No mild hybrid in this case.

3 hours ago, runamonk said:

Totally crazy right? This is the first year I've done the monthly plan, I had no idea it was an option. I never saw it before. 🙂

Did you know you can even do the £30 in monthly installments!!  People actually do as well!!

 

3 hours ago, Mavroz said:

We have talked that to death at work.... We definitely also feel the free and 30 quid road duty will come to a shuddering end sooner or later.. one guy has a 10 year old 2.0 Audi diesel on 30 quid a year tax... How much longer for?  (Sure it is diesel anyway)

Yeah, there are loads of 2.0 TDI VAG's in the £30 tax bracket, not just the rubbish stuff like my Golf and the Polos and A1s but even big cars like the CC and A5 and sporty stuff like the Scirocco.  BMW also get thier 520D EfficientDynamics in the £30 bracket as well...  There's just no petrol comparison when you can have 140+bhp, 55+ mpg and £30 tax from a mid sized diesel...  I'd swap to petrol today if there was!

 

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Lol, the Mrs's 6 year old (petrol) SEAT Mii is still on £20, even though it's higher CO2 than the Fiesta. I think the sort of increases we'll be looking at will be a lot more than £5-£10 when it does happen, though.

Sadly I reckon you're right...  Will just have to wait and hope they don't for now!!

8 hours ago, runamonk said:

You can through the ford.co.uk

Pretty sure I didn't say they had stopped with immediate effect. They are stopping...... If for some un-godly reason I wanted an automatic EcoSport in the next 4 to 6 months, I won't be able to have one made. This, he said will be the same for the Fiesta and Focus.

Edit...

Looking at the configurator, the option is not available now for an automatic EcoSport.