HOW TO SLASH YOUR MOTORING BILLS

Beat April’s tax hikes with our 23-page ultimate guide to reducing your car costs

MOTORING isn’t cheap, whether that’s buying a new car, keeping it on the road with regular servicing and maintenance or insuring and fuelling the vehicle.

So, to help keep your costs to a minimum, we’ve compiled a host of money-saving tips and budgetbusting advice over the next 23 pages.

We’ve started off by detailing how the Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) changes work and showing you how the timing of your next buy is more important than ever. From 1 April, new cars will carry a new first-year rate followed by a £140 flat fee unless they’re pure electric, making low polluting vehicles that are currently tax-free more expensive.

Figures suggest around 400,000 cars previously classed as low emission will now be liable for payment in the first year, costing buyers more than £400million. Plus if you’re spending over £40,000, you’ll be forced to hand over even more for the first five years.

To help, we’ve picked out some popular models that you should buy now before the changes kick in, plus unearthed the select few that are actually cheaper to tax after 1 April. We also caught up with a pair of owners who have made a huge saving from buying an electric vehicle.

And if that’s not enough, there are tips and advice on finance, how to haggle on the forecourt and guidance on getting the best deal when negotiating insurance. Plus, we spoke to an expert on the pros and cons of buying a bargain motor for just a few hundred pounds.

Rounding out our cost cutter special is how technology can help slash your motoring bills and what you need to do to make your motor start paying for itself.

Read on to find out how you can run a fantastic car and look after your bank balance at the same time.