Why is the tax rate so high for imported cars?

I am considering buying a 2002 (Japanese) imported Honda Insight. The garage tells me the road tax is around £130 even though the CO2 emission is less than 100g/km. Is there anything I can do to get this changed (the garage say they have tried to get something called a 'certificate of conformity' from Honda but to no avail)?

Asked on 28 March 2015 by D Udell

Answered by Honest John

Unless you can prove that the car is exactly the spec tested on the ECDC drive cycle as under 100g/km you are stuck with the standard catch-all tax for cars first registered before 1-3-2001 and under 1550cc, which is now £145pa. Owners of Insights registered in the UK before 1-3-2001 are also stuck with this level of tax.

Tags: buying a used car car tax

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