I just visited my local Skoda dealership (Withams) to get an idea of what they'd offer me part-exchange for my car if I decide to go for the Fabia vRS.

My car is a 54 reg New Octavia Classi 1.6MPI with graphite grey metalic, air-con and leather pack. Less than 5k on the clock, and around 7 months old.

I was told the part-ex value would be around

When you bought the car, you will have paid VAT - so the exc. VAT price you paid would've been about

I'm expecting to have a car that's worth about 5k in 3 years from purchasing it.

If it's more than that, then great.

I've always gone for the 'must be able to write it off in 3 years' route - and the Furby is the first new car I've ever owned....

When you bought the car, you will have paid VAT - so the exc. VAT price you paid would've been about

Sell it privately if you want decent money for it. There are very few cars that don't depreciate hugely in teh first year (BMW X5 3.0d being a notable exception), hence why i'd never buy new with my own money.

When you bought the car, you will have paid VAT - so the exc. VAT price you paid would've been about

But that only applies to trade sales. Private sellers aren't VAT registered so don't pay it.

When they buy it back off you for

Must admit it's why I never bothered with a new car - new(ish now) job requires me to have a car for the job. I can choose car allowance, or alternatively company car. Problem with company car is that you still have to put insurance on top, and that's company-wide with virtually zero NCB levels compared to my own. Very expensive.

Ended up buying the Furby as it's a solid car, perhaps a little plain inside but it's been excellent so far.

I could have bought one that had been run-in a bit, but Mrs & I wanted some toys on the car which is what we ended up doing.

New cars are terrible for keeping their value. Cars are generally not an investment from a getting money out of it perspective, they are there coz you need a reliable a-2-b tool at the very least, and then you can take it from there

(meaning: have some fun in it, mpg and/or performance, I dunno )

don't end up paying VAT on secondhand cars anyway' date=' just new ones...

Rob.[/quote']

Thats true, you only pay VAT on new cars, otherwise they would be having a field day with Auto trader and the likes.

Also remeber the car is a classic and is less desirable than the Ambiente and Elegance so wouls be worth less as a percentage anyway.

It has always been the case that as soon as you drive the car out of the showroom (with very few exceptions) you take a big hit on depreciation.Best to keep it for a couple of years.

As to the price offered by the garage,you probably won't do much better selling privately.Skoda normally do a proper p/x price which isn't bad or unrealistic.Maybe just check the classifieds to see what is the going rate for private.

Finally, I presume it is not a new shape octy.Sorry if I am wrong.If it is,the new one probably has hit the prices of the old ones

It has always been the case that as soon as you drive the

Finally' date=' I presume it is not a new shape octy.Sorry if I am wrong.If it is,the new one probably has hit the prices of the old ones[/quote']

It;s a mk 2 Octy.. a "New Octavia"

I was goign to do a search for the current prices, but i cant find any of the same model on the classified websites at all so far!

My intention is to keep it for 3 years at least - ideally wanna have finished paying it off before selling it or part-xchanging it

Thats true, you only pay VAT on new cars, otherwise they would be having a field day with Auto trader and the likes.

I think (I might be wrong) this is wrong. As an individual, I don't have to worry about VAT during a transaction, so an Autotrader sale between two individuals doesn't involve VAT. If you sell to a VAT registered company though, the company can claim the VAT back. If the company then sells it on, they pay the VAT on the sale. Therefore the total VAT paid to Mr Brown is on the profit made by the garage. This is why it is called Value Added Tax because it is a tax based on the value added by the company.

But the underlying point is that VAT shouldn't matter (whether I am right or wrong above) for trade in price. Even if second hand cars don't have VAT, the VAT that was paid on the car several years earlier shouldn't effect the price of the trade-in/second hand sale. If I take my trade in to a garage other than the one I bought it from, will they give me more because they didn't pay VAT several years earlier on the car? I don't think so. This new transaction is completely seperate for the garage and all they have to do is decide whether they can sell it for more than they pay.

you are wrong.

vat is only paid once on an item.

I do lots of miles. In Jan 2005 I took my 01/09/2003 (16 months old) Octy 1.9TDI Amb with 60K on the clock to my local dealer. DM Keith in Leeds. After having to go back 3 times to catch the "guy who does the prices" :thumbdwn: was there, he offered my

Depends a little - mine was a shade below 14k with the options I had fitted, whereas an ex-demo was 10k

you are wrong.

vat is only paid once on an item.

(the below assumes every company is in the UK for simplicity)

No' date=' VAT is paid on the Value Added by each company.

If you think I'm wrong, please state exactly why, VAT is paid/reclaimed on every transaction. For more info, click below...

About VAT

quote: "This means that whenever you buy or sell anything in the course of your business, you will have to pay VAT to HM Revenue & Customs."

I would suggest that a garage not doing this either has a low turnover or is not putting the sale through the books.

No VAT is payable on secondhand cars bought privately. Used cars purchased from a dealer are subject to VAT on the profit margin only.

Denis is right. I used to work for a car dealership and vat on second hand cars was charged on the profit margin only. That's why they were very reluctant to issue vat receipts for second hand car sales....!

Denis is right. I used to work for a car dealership and vat on second hand cars was charged on the profit margin only. That's why they were very reluctant to issue vat receipts for second hand car sales....!

Thankyou, this is exactly what I've been saying. VAT is claimed back on the purchase price and paid on the sale price, hence the net VAT paid is on the profit.

Sorry, not quite! For most items (NOT cars!!!), VAT is paid and reclaimed at each transaction stage, and on the enhanced value, hence the "Value Added" soubriquet. This is, of course, provided that the transactions are from "taxable person" to "taxable person", ie someone who is indulging in an "economic activity" (European description, as VAT is governed by the European Sixth VAT Directive, on which the VAT Act 1994 and its attendant VAT Regulations, our UK domestic VAT legislation, is based). The tax "sticks" with the final consumer who is not, generally, a "taxable person" and thus cannot recover that VAT he/she is charged.

With cars, the first sale by a dealer to a private individual attracts VAT at the prevailing standard rate, currently 17.5%. Subsequent sales as a second-hand car do not attract any VAT, except that used car dealers operate a "margin" system, where they account for VAT only on the difference between selling price and purchase price, based on 7/47ths of that difference. Also, sales to a "qualifying" business, such as a car-hire or leasing company will be subject to VAT at standard rate, which that business CAN recover. It will then, when it sells the car on, charge VAT at standard rate. This is why some cars, at auction, are described as "qualifying" and subject to VAT.

In most cases, therefore, a private purchaser will pay the VAT charged on a new car and not be able to do anything about it......

Sorry for the diatribe, but tax is my thing.........

So let me get this right, in summary

You P/X your car to a dealer who pays VAT and he gives you

Thankyou, this is exactly what I've been saying. VAT is claimed back on the purchase price and paid on the sale price, hence the net VAT paid is on the profit.

But the VAT can't be claimed back if the dealer is buying off a private buyer, because no VAT is being paid. A private seller does not charge someone VAT, therefore there is nothing for the dealer to claim back as they haven't paid any VAT.

Therefore, the car will lose at least 17.5% from it being bought from the dealer and traded back in at the dealer...

Rob.

Didn't citroen do a 'no vat to pay' promotion.Tosh really then as clearly it would one way or another. It was just a reduced car price but it shows how much they can knock off the price and still make a profit!