My 1.6l 2012 powershift is £170 which just seems way high, brother just bought a 1.6 diesel Fiesta thats got all spoiler kit on it and all sorts and its £20 to tax for year? only difference is his is diesel and three years older than mine. First time having to tax the car as owner and was shocked its £170 for a standard focus then you've got kitted up boy racer cars for £20 a year. Currently thinking about dropping down to a 1.0l focus but having owned a 1.0 corsa for first car lets just say i have my doubts about a 1.0 considering the size of a focus, anyone here got or had a 1.0 focus and what they like? power i dont care about as long as it has some kick to get up to speed when needed but what is the MPG like? i just picture it being super slow and having to rag it everywhere to get it going with its size and being a 1.0.

26 minutes ago, TomWood said:

My 1.6l 2012 powershift is £170 which just seems way high, brother just bought a 1.6 diesel Fiesta thats got all spoiler kit on it and all sorts and its £20 to tax for year? only difference is his is diesel and three years older than mine. First time having to tax the car as owner and was shocked its £170 for a standard focus then you've got kitted up boy racer cars for £20 a year. Currently thinking about dropping down to a 1.0l focus but having owned a 1.0 corsa for first car lets just say i have my doubts about a 1.0 considering the size of a focus, anyone here got or had a 1.0 focus and what they like? power i dont care about as long as it has some kick to get up to speed when needed but what is the MPG like? i just picture it being super slow and having to rag it everywhere to get it going with its size and being a 1.0.

Cheap tax for the diesel ends on a 66 plate IIRC. From then on it's around £150.

1 hour ago, Wino said:

Cheap tax for the diesel ends on a 66 plate IIRC. From then on it's around £150.

Fairs, just seems mental to pay £170 for a petrol Focus so thinking of dropping down to a 1.0L Focus instead as i don't really need a 1.6 anyway.

Indeed - cars first registered after April 2017 are a flat rate (£155 for petrol/diesel, £145 for hybrids, £0 for electric). Cars first registered before that date had various scales based on CO₂ emissions. That means the 1.6 diesel fell into a lower emissions band due to the CO₂ output and thus paid not much tax, regardless of how much frippery was added to the bodywork to pretend there's a 6.3 litre V12 under the bonnet. Your 2012 1.6 would have been on a previous tax scale, which was still emissions-based but had different rates.

Vehicle tax rates - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

So if you opt for a 1.0l engine, the tax you pay would actually depend on when the car was first registered, not just the engine size.

My tax is £220 for a 16 year old 1.6 petrol. I just love our government. Though admittedly, that wouldn't even pay for the wine at a No.10 cheese & wine do, so we all need to pull together LOL

Honestly, I had a 1.0 125ps EcoBoost briefly.  It's not worth the cheap tax!  Buy a pre 2017 diesel if you want cheap tax.

Spec has nothing to with it, it's based on CO2, your 1.6 petrol pumps out tonnes more CO2 than a 1.6 diesel.

Just now, TomsFocus said:

... your 1.6 petrol pumps out tonnes more CO2 than a 1.6 diesel.

That makes me so proud, glad to do my bit for global warming 🤣

Think i might opt for a different car all together and get a diesel, tax combined with amount of times i have to fill the Focus up its not a cheap car to run. Just wanted to see what others paid yearly for tax as i couldn't believe its £170 when my previous cars have been £30 and £20 for year.

 

I ended up looking into the 1.0 focus and seems more negative than positive for it so thinking about either going with a diesel focus or a different make all together as my current Focus is costing too much to run especially when now im not even getting 25mpg around town then combined with high tax and everything else it seems silly to keep.

1 minute ago, TomWood said:

Think i might opt for a different car all together and get a diesel, tax combined with amount of times i have to fill the Focus up its not a cheap car to run. Just wanted to see what others paid yearly for tax as i couldn't believe its £170 when my previous cars have been £30 and £20 for year.

 

In the grand scheme of running a car, it's never really bothered me the £18/month! There are other much bigger amounts of money I spend on keeping the old girl on the road LOL

8 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

In the grand scheme of running a car, it's never really bothered me the £18/month! There are other much bigger amounts of money I spend on keeping the old girl on the road LOL

I hate monthly payments lol i prefer things paid for and over with and forget about it until year is up and £170 isn't exactly going to make me broke but when i look at the cost of running it a week then combine it with tax and powershitbox maintenance its not really worth me keeping it plus the powershift gearbox isn't great either so thinking of getting a manual diesel as i want a car that does atleast 30mpg as even with all cold weather and all the other factors a car that cant even do 25mpg isn't worth keeping in my opinion 😄

Worth considering a 2.0 TDI in any of the VAG marques.  You'll struggle to get below 50mpg in them...and the torque is fantastic.

You can even get a big luxury model in the £30 tax band if you can find the right engine/spec combo.  DSG is also better than powershift if you wanted to stay with auto, though that can push some models out of the £30 tax band so have to choose carefully.

 

Go the other way and buy a 2.5T 5 cylinder Focus like me, tax is a mere £330 for the year then!

I didn't even realise they did a 1.5 TDCi with the automatic box, looking at figures the MPG seems fairly decent compared to the 1.6L petrol, tax im not too bothered about as long as i get more than 25-30 mpg, what's the 1.5L like? would it be worth the change from a 1.6l petrol to a 1.5 diesel but with the powershift gearbox still?

Engine

Official MPG

Real MPG Avg.

1.5 TDCi 120 Powershift

67.3–74.3 mpg

51.3 mpg