What if you could buy cheap enthusiast cars that cost virtually nothing on road tax?
Paying road tax is never fun, and you will have to shell out £735 each year in vehicle excise duty (VED, aka road tax) on many models. There are, however, some available that allow you to scratch your enthusiast itch without hitting your monthly budget all that hard.
Models registered between 1 March 2001 and 31 March 2017 that emit less than 100g/km of CO2 incur zero VED, while even those with emissions of 120g/km incur just £35, and you will find plenty of interesting choices in these groups.
You'll find something as small as a Brabus-tuned Smart with a peppy three-pot, to a brawny six-cylinder diesel Audi, and even a hybrid supercar from the ranks at Munich.
Cars with cheap road tax
When it was facelifted, the cheapest baby Range Rover's CO2 emissions were just 113g/km and its average economy as much as 65.7mpg. It’s even ULEZ-compliant.
A manual gearbox may put a dent in the stately feel, but it’s nice enough to use and leather seats are standard, so tell any passengers you chose it for the ‘extra driving involvement’ and they won’t even know you’ve skimped by picking a car with the base engine.
Read our Range Rover Evoque eD4 review
Be honest: were you expecting to see an Aston Martin on this list? Probably not, but here we are – even if it is really a poshed-up Toyota iQ.
However, that means it’s most definitely the Aston with the lowest running costs. Tax is just £35 per year and more than 56mpg should be possible if it’s a manual. Plus, it has 100bhp per tonne, which makes it nippy in the city.
Depreciation shouldn’t be a worry either, because only about 150 were sold in the UK and collectors’ interest is piquing. For an odd bird, the Cygnet is a surprisingly frequent spot in London.
Read our Aston Martin Cygnet review
A supercar that’s exempt from tax? Incredible but true. Fuel costs will depend on how you use it, though. The i8 is officially rated at 134.5mpg, but because it’s a plug-in hybrid, that won’t be a real-world figure for most people.
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Hmmmmm, road tax on that Volvo is £255 a year??!
Why in the world would anyone want to buy a used BMW i8? I ask that as the former owner of 6 BMWs. The i8 has outdated tech and poor residuals and can be expensive and difficult to repair and maintain. The car might have supercar looks but it does not supercar performance. You might as well say that you're buy a Fisker Karma.