Tax and spend

High vehicle excise duty can mean a low price for a used car - temptingly low if you can sidestep the worst of the tax. Alex Wolstenholme knows the trick and the cars to pick

- Alex Wolstenholme

Too good to be true? The price of some used cars can be. You can be browsing the classifieds and spot what appears to be a bargain - until you check what the vehicle excise duty (VED) bill would be.

So this is a story about bargain luxury barges, lightweight sports cars and souped-up hot hatchbacks that get punished by value-ruining duty. But here's the thing: so long as you've budgeted for that, you can bag some cracking bargains.

And with a bit of effort, you can avoid the worst the DVLA has to inflict. The killer £735 tax band was in operation for cars registered between 23 March 2006 and 31 March 2017. Before then, VED tops out at £415, while after it's £190 if a model is five or more years old.

So here are some buyer-beware bargains. Just remember to check the exact road tax band a car sits in (and its ULEZ compliance, if that's important) before you buy, because this can vary with specification.

Alfa Romeo GT (2004-2010)

Alfa Romeo's line-up in the 2000s had its quirks. Selling two similarly sized front-wheel-drive coupés alongside each other today would be madness, but we're not complaining because it now means we've got twice the choice. The GT came a couple of years before the Brera and was more practical and slightly less flamboyant, with five seats but not 4WD. A big boot and perfectly usable rear seats make it a deceptively capacious carrier and as such it isn't hard to make a case for.

It was still available in 3.2-litre V6 form but, in another seemingly strange choice, the engine was completely different from the 3.2-litre V6 powering the Brera. While 237bhp is a tad down on the Brera's newer V6, the GT's makes an even more thrilling noise, and with a lighter weight the car is a keen enough steer to impress any Alfista. Grab a pre-23 March 2006 example to avoid the £735 VED hit. And make sure it has been well cared for to reduce the risk of other scary bills.