microbe

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I have been getting some quotes for my SLK 350 insurance which is due next month. The best ones, fully comprehensive, are coming in at under £300 but when I renew the road tax that is going to be £300.


What crazy law says that road tax has to be more than insurance (not that I am complaining about the insurance costs)

I am sorry if this makes no sense to non UK members but I just needed to get it off my chest

Woolly

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Makes sense to me - as I have 4 bikes and 4 vehicles, I pay far more in road tax than I do in insurance - I think that the road fund license should be scrapped, and extra duty put on fuel instead, then you only pay for the road you use (now that should open a can of British worms ).

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2005 BMW LT - 16 countries, 2 CONTINENTS & counting
2004 MB SLK 350 Andradite Green (6 speed manual]
1999 Ducati ST2
2003 Vauxhaul Vectra
1974 Triumph Bonneville 750 T140V
1937 Norton 500 single
(all still current)

Duo-Art

Perhaps we Americans don't understand the rest of the world, but why do people in democracies allow their governments to tax their automobiles and fuel so highly? I read about huge import taxes on cars and fuel in Europe and Asia. If our politicians tried to do that to us, they'd be out of a job quickly. The U.S.A. certainly has many problems but we can still buy gasoline for around $3.25 per gallon and we can buy an SLK 350 for $57,000 U.S.

GrubbyGirl

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Perhaps that's why the US is the most polluting nation in the world http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-poll...omparisons.htm just depends on how you look at things I guess!!

Duo-Art

Grubby Girl, As I said, perhaps we don't understand. I'm not criticising any other country. If all governments really cared, they would ban all cars except economy cars. Goodby, SLK's?

Ynot

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We have 360 million people and 50 states, England is as big as California, IIRC, so it's no big surprise there, with that said, China with 1 billion people, a million provinces (exaggerated just a bit ), they will exceed us in the near future. Then we'll blame the Chinese for everything.

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06' SLK 350, Iridium/Ash all pkgs. 6-spd, 19" DCR.


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GrubbyGirl

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Many of the stats are population adjusted (per head or % of total used etc) and for some of the "total" figures they use europe as a whole (728 million).

Actually I'm a non-believer when it comes to pollution causing global warming, but the reality is that the worlds reseources are finite and it's difficult to argue against that!

FishtailnZ

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As an old saying goes, "there are lies...damn lies...and statistics" . The stats on that page are from 1991/92, 15+ years ago. I WISH gas was still $1.xx per gallon LOL!

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- Bill

Waiting on a 2009 C63 Opal Fire Red/Alpaca Grey

R.I.P. 2006 SLK55 Caspian Blue/Beige
Stock 1/4 mile results: ET 12.72, trap 110.80, 60' 1.80

Some guys they just give up living and start dying little by little, piece by piece. Some guys come home from work and wash up and go racin' in the street... - B. Springsteen

GrubbyGirl

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Well selling the SLK 200K in the USA may be a start!! I never did quite understand why you need a car that can go 150 miles an hour when you can only legally drive at 65!!

On an urban street my 200 is as fast as your 55!!!

Bernd js

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Hi microbe,

I understand your anger very well. In Germany we have a similar condition, so here are my quotes for your pacification:
road tax: 236 € ~ 160 £ ~ 330 US$
insurance: 640 € ~ 430 £ ~ 885 US$ (This does not only include accidences that I might cause with my car)
But more than the half of the price for fuel are taxes, too.

I think the problem is that in no democracy the simple citizen is able to allow the government directy what to do or not to do, finally the elected parliaments are making the laws.

It's correct in a certain way, but look at the population figures:
USA: 300 Million inhabitants
UK: 60 Million
Germany: 82 Million
...
All the mentioned countries are on a comparable stage of development, right?

***edit:
Okay, I was a little bit slow and shouldn't watch TV while writing posts, but I leave it this way ***

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Duo-Art

I'm surprised that the SLK 200 isn't offered in the US. Most of the R-170's that I see are SLK 230's. I test drove one before ordering my SLK 350 and it was fine for city driving. It lacked real go but with our traffic, I rarely get to use the capabilities of my V-6 anyway.

Bernd js

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To be accurate: 155 mph, this does my car, too. With 2 litres less displacement.

During a trip to California in May this year I learnt about the hobby of a associate partner: his Corvette. He knows the best roads from LA to Las Vegas driving the Corvette very fast. So even in the US there chances.

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rousseau

Here are some numbers from Hong Kong to cheer up you guys back in UK.

First registration tax (paid on all new or imported cars when they are first registered, and including options): 35% to 100%
That makes a new SLK55 62k GBP of which over 25k GBP is tax. At that level, every option is taxed at 100% (which makes a satnav option about 4000 quid).

Annual Road tax: sliding scale from 200 GBP (< 1.5l engine) to almost 1000 GBP (> 4.5l engine)

My 3rd party insurance on 12 year old E320, with max no claims in secure gated carpark in a nice area of town: 200 GBP

Cost to buy that secure parking space: 30k+ GBP (I rent!)

On the other hand, the public transport system is excellent. A 10 minute cab ride to work costs just over a quid. The underground costs between 20p and 1 GBP, is air conditioned and never, ever breaks down. There are so many taxis, busses, minibusses, ferries, trains and underground trains that a car is really a luxury, and is taxed as such.

Zeiser50

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And numbers from France :

a)Tax on all cars :19.6% (VAT)

b)Each time you buy a new vehicle (cars or motorbikes), to have official papers (in fact your licence number), you have to pay a tax, which depends of several parameters. This is a very complex calculation (Fench habits?), based on engine displacement, horse power, automatic or manual gearbox, ..., which generate a value called "fiscal power" : From 4 (very small car like smart vehicle) till 40 or 50. 55AMG is quoted as 27.
As a conclusion, 27 means 1500€ (2000$) to have this paper ...

c)Fortunately, we don't have any more a road tax since several years

d)Insurance is about 700€ (for me), roughly 1000$ a year.

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------Michel------
-SLK 55 AMG 2005-

Portzy

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And there's the rub!. In the UK the public transport system is worse than rubbish and grinds to a halt when we get the wrong snow, rain, wind, leaves etc.

The extra taxes, (congestion - different CO bands etc), are dressed up as ''green'' taxes and are supposed to pay for improvements in our transport infrastructure however, I've yet to see any so called improvements and in fact, all I do see is deterioration in them.

Rant over.

Portzy.

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And what´s about the motorways in France?

Zeiser50

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You should pay for the most of them .... and its not cheap !

Paris to Marseille (south of France, 700kms (420miles) of motorways) : 50€ (69$)
Paris to Metz (east of France, 300kms (180 miles) of motroways) : 22€ (30$)
-> Roughly 7€ / 100kms, or 16$/100 miles

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------Michel------
-SLK 55 AMG 2005-

Wimbledon_SLK

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Just curious, who are you insured with?
I went through www.confused.com and insured my SLK200 (2 years old) with Hastings for 450 quid which was the cheapest. This is considerably more that the 300 you have been quoted for your motor.

Thanks

P

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