Diesel cars

[alansmithnl]

Good day everyone.
Can anyone tell me (I can't find an answer in this or any other forum) is there a premium on Diesel cars in Crete?
What I am really asking is that I know the Diesel price at the pumps in Crete is cheaper than petrol, same as here in the Netherlands, but the price for "Road Tax" here is horrendous and makes it impossible for anyone without a business to run a vehicle.
The road tax here goes on weight and type of fuel used, so petrol being cheapest, Electric, Gas and then Diesel being the most expensive forms of taxation.
Any help would be appreciated.
Alan

[Kilkis]

Road tax on new cars is based on CO2 emissions so typically diesel cars are lower than petrol. Older cars are based on engine capacity so no difference. The last time I looked at car prices diesels were more expensive to buy but I am not sure today. Be aware that you cannot drive private diesels in Athens and Thessaloniki. Also there is a bit of an anti diesel feeling building up in Europe so things might change for the worse.

Warwick

[mouche]

You will find present roadtax on cars in Greece here; http://www.cretanaccountant.gr/tax-liab ... -citizens/

I think we can be fairly certain this will change but when, what, how and why, who knows?

[Kilkis]

http://Www.autotriti.gr also shows the road tax for each model it lists. For example a BMW 1 Series 116i 3 door petrol costs €21,220 new and €104 per year road tax. The equivalent 116d diesel costs €24,470, i.e. €3,250 more, but zero road tax. You need to do quite a lot of km per year to recover the extra capital outlay in a reasonable time.

Warwick

[Joan]

We haven't had any trouble driving our (UK-registered) diesel cars in Athens.
Haven't tried Thessaloniki (yet) though.

Joan

[filippos]

That doesn't make it legal: it just means that you haven't been caught.

P.S. How long do you keep your diesel car in Greece?

[Danny]

We have Greek friends living in Athens who have been driving diesel cars for years.

[Kilkis]

It depends where in Athens they drive. If you look in the registration document I think you will find that it lists the restricted areas. I also drove my UK registered diesel in Thessaloniki when I first came to Greece because I wasn't aware of the restrictions. I suspect that you would get away with it in foreign registered car even if you were stopped but don't know for sure.

Warwick

[Barbary Coaster]

There's nothing in my Greek registration document to say where I can/can't take the diesel car, but I seem to remember reading somewhere that the ban in Athens was lifted in 2012.

The only problem I have found in Greece is that you have to watch closely that they fill up with diesel, until they know you they assume you are mistaken and you really need petrol !!

Bob

[Danny]

All the car dealers in Athens are now selling diesel cars, 10 years ago in Crete you couldn't buy a diesel car but that changed I think around 7-8 years ago. Car dealers in Athens also give far better part exchange deals compared to Crete and it's well worth the trip over if you're looking for a part ex.

[alansmithnl]

So, a Diesel car pays no road tax? That cannot be true can it? I'm not thinking of buying a new car, so I think that I should refer to the table in the "Tax Liabilities for Non Greek Citizens" and pay the appropriately sized CC rating of the car. Correct?
I know that Diesel cars produce very little Carbon Monoxide, so my little 1 litre diesel, pre 2010 would pay no CO2 cartax per gram?
Seems funny, as every other government (Don't tell the Greeks this!) taxes heavily either on fuel, emissions or weight.
Mouche provided me with the link which I have printed out, so now I am more confused than ever looking at personal earnings outside of Greece and many other things (which is another matter so don't expand in this particular forum)
OK, my brain cell is bleeding heavily now. I think I'll take a nap!
Alan

[alansmithnl]

Addendum
It says in the Tax Liabilities section, that cartax per gram is calculated so:-
0-100 g/Km 0 cartaxpergram
100 - 120 g/Km 0.90 euros cartaxpergram.
Can anyone explain this to me?
If it's 0.90 cents per gram, how do they know how many kilometres I do every year?
If it's not this, how is it costed / paid?

My brain cell is haemorrhaging now!!!!
Alan

[filippos]

Just don't buy a VW model with the 'cheat emissions' software: they've been found out. ;-|

I wonder what the various governments will do about emissions based tax on diesels. Also, as it seems VW was using said software because the company decided it was too expensive to design and build a sufficiently powerful diesel engine that would meet the anti-pollution regulations.

[Kilkis]

It isn't 0.90 cents per gram. It is €0.90 /gram/km. Thus if the official test shows a particular car emits 110 gram/km then you pay 110 x €0.90 = €99. In any case you don't need to know what to pay. You put the reg number into a web site and it tells you what you owe, payable by 31 December or doubled.

I have not got all the details on the VW case but my understanding is that the cheating was to give false results for oxides of nitrogen not for carbon dioxide. I guess it is possible that the mods also affected CO2 but it is also.possible that they didn't. Thus there is no guarantee that any change to the tax rates will be needed or, indeed, justified. On the other hand, if a particular vehicle doesn't meet all ECE regulations applicable to its year of manufacture it would be driving on the road illegally and might have to be withdrawn. If that happened I think the owner woul have a good legal case against VW, e.g. fit for purpose.

Warwick

[Danny]

My car is a 1600 turbo diesel and I pay no road tax because of low emissions