Skip to main content area The countdown is on to the introduction of the UK’s new road-tax system on 1 April 2017. After that date, all new cars registered that emit any amount of CO2 will be liable for an annual charge of at least £140, with only zero-emissions electric and hydrogen cars remaining exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) entirely. This is set to shake up UK motorists’ car-buying decisions considerably, as right now any new car emitting less than 99g/km (and there are a lot of them) is exempt from road tax entirely. The good news for buyers is that if you register one of these cars before 1 April, it will continue to be exempt for as long as it’s in the road – the new system won’t be applied retroactively to already-registered vehicles. So there’s still time to ensure years of tax-free motoring – but you’ll have to act fast. If you’re ordering a car in your exact specification, it could take many weeks to be delivered and it’ll only be exempt from road tax if it’s landed in the UK and registered by 31 March at the very latest.

Even if you’ve agreed to purchase before, then, if it’s not wearing its plates on 1 April, it will be taxed under the new system. You should therefore be looking to get you order in as soon as possible – especially if you have your eye on something costing £40,000 or more. Cars exceeding this threshold will attract an additional £310-a-year levy in the first five years of ownership, for a total annual bill of £450 during that time. Our top 10 selection of the best tax-free cars should make selecting and ordering the right one for you ahead of the 1 April deadline simple. And it’s not just penny-pinching city cars: our list encompasses practical estates, big family SUVs and spacious people carriers, along with classy executive saloons. Finally, if you’re truly determined to avoid paying any road-tax at all, check carefully that the exact model and specification of car you’re ordering is road-tax exempt. Sometimes, choosing larger alloy wheels, a higher trim level or a different gearbox can bump up the emissions figure enough to rule out an exemption.

MINI Cooper S (2002 - 2006) road tax 1.6 3d Auto (AC) 1.6 3d Auto (Chili Pack) 1.6 Checkmate 3d Auto 1.6 Checkmate JCW 3d 1.6 JCW 3d (Chilli Pack) Brand new cars registered after April 1, 2010 are subject to a different rate of road tax during their first year from new. The annual road tax rate for all subsequent years is the standard rate - e.g. the 12 month figure shown.The MINI five-door might have come as a surprise when it arrived more than a decade after the three-door, but sales figures for its rivals make it pretty clear that UK buyers prefer five-door superminis.garage door remotes perth Despite being physically longer than the MINI hatchback, the five-door is still just as much fun to drive – in fact some people may even prefer its slightly less frenetic handling. sliding wooden doors cape town

Costing around £600 more, the five-door seems pretty good value, too. With a clear mission to offer all the thrills of the MINI hatchback, but offer more practicality to existing and potential owners in need of more space, the five-door is largely successful, although its design can look a bit awkward from some angles. Image 1 of 20 Rear-seat passengers will find much more leg and headroom than before, but despite growing by 67 litres, the five-door’s boot is still smaller than a Ford Fiesta’s. chi garage doors careersThere’s quite a prominent loading lip and the 60:40 split-folding rear seats don’t sit flush when flipped forwards, leaving a step to lift heavy items over.outdoor gas fire pit portland The MINI has never been cheap and for the price of a mid-range five-door you could buy a Ford Focus or Volkswagen Golf, both of which are much larger.

To compete with those models, you’d need to step-up to a MINI Clubman, while direct five-door rivals include the Audi A1 Sportback and Volkswagen Polo. Six engines are offered, with petrol and diesel models in three power outputs called One, Cooper and Cooper S and One D, Cooper D and Cooper SD respectively. The One D is the most economical, managing up to 80.7mpg and emitting 92g/km of CO2. At the opposite extreme, the MINI Cooper S can hit 62mph from a standing start in just 6.9 seconds, yet still returns a reasonable 48mpg. Image 2 of 20 MINI has become famed for the numerous options and personalisation accessories it offers customers and the five-door is no different, with some equipment grouped together into packs to make the process simpler. With so many extras available, an iron will is required to resist creating a MINI Cooper more expensive than a BMW 3 Series. If you’re tempted, bear in mind it’s notoriously difficult to recoup the value of non-standard features at resale time.

Reliability could be a concern, with the MINI hatchback dropping from an impressive ninth place in 2015 to 97th out of 150 models in our 2016 Driver Power customer satisfaction survey. That’s quite a steep slide, with a 147th place for reliability pointing towards clear issues for respondents. Engines clearly impress, however, with a 16th place for performance, while 52nd for ease of use points towards owners finding the controls and infotainment system intuitive. The MINI three-door achieved four stars in Euro NCAP crash-testing, which is slightly disappointing when several rivals managed five stars.This is a list of the currently available new MINI models showing NGC Rating, CO2 emissions, car tax band and car tax payable. The 'First year rate' is the amount paid when buying a new MINI; the 'Standard rate' is the ongoing annual car tax payable. Selecting a MINI model with low emissions and tax band will mean reduced running costs and less impact on the environment. Car tax is changing from April 2017.