Post-order price hike pushes road tax into luxury bracket
In June 2017, I placed an order for a new BMW 5 Series 520d SE. Both the franchised dealer and I worked hard to ensure that the car’s list price didn’t exceed £40,000, because I wasn’t prepared to pay the supplementary £310 per year in VED (road tax) a car costing more than this amount is now liable for.
So imagine my dismay at being advised in September, when my car was on its way to the dealership, that a BMW price increase had tipped it over the £40,000 mark.although the dealership has agreed to honour the original price, it appears to be stalling on the matter of VED. I was planning to keep the car for at least ve years, so this extra cost will be substantial.
Negotiations are not as yet at stalemate, but I would welcome your advice on this situation.
Geoff Feltbower
‘Most contracts will include a provision that prices are subject to change’
WHAT CAR? SAYS
Changes to the cost of VED introduced earlier this year mean that any petrol or diesel car with a list price (including optional extras but not on-the-road costs) of more than £40,000 is liable for the annual VED charge of £140 plus a premium of £310 a year for years two to six. Therefore, if Mr Feltbower keeps his 5 Series for five years, a list price of more than £40,000 will cost him an extra £1240 in VED.
Although manufacturers’ prices do change and often increase once or twice per year, we think it’s unfair for Mr Feltbower to have to foot this bill.
Because he is buying from a BMW main dealer, which is signed up to the codes of conduct set up by The Motor Ombudsman, we asked the government-backed regulatory body to tell us how it believes the dealership should deal with this situation. The Ombudsman pointed out that Mr Feltbower could have had the same issue if he’d ordered from another BMW dealership, because the lead times would have been the same. It also commented: “Most, but not all, car sales contracts will include a provision that price is subject to change, so it might be worth Mr Feltbower reading his through in detail to see if there are any such provisions. “However, at the point of sale, Mr Feltbower was given the correct information and the sale met his needs. We are therefore not sure that there would be an entitlement to claim back the cost of the additional road tax, unless perhaps there was an unreasonable or avoidable delay on the dealer’s side in ordering and/or delivering the car. “However, the dealer might want to offer something in the interests of customer service, and it might be worth Mr Feltbower contacting BMW itself to see if there’s anything it would be willing to do.” We forwarded this advice to Mr Feltbower, who has since replied: “Negotiations have now concluded, with the dealership agreeing to pay for the extra £310 VED charge for four years as well as keeping to the originally agreed price.”