London Ultra-low Emissions Zone

[Nastyjar]

The Mayor of London has proposed that in a few years all petrol cars moving within the boundary of North Circular and South Circular will have to satisfy Euro 4. £12.50 a day if you don't.

As the owner of a 2001 Euro 3 Audi A3, this is a bit of a problem.

What do people think of my chances of converting my current car to Euro 4 standards?

Thanks in advance!

[Grumpy Northener]

[quoteWhat do people think of my chances of converting my current car to Euro 4 standards?
][/quote]

I think that this is an easy fix - simply sell the vehicle in question and purchase something that meets the new requirements - whilst you are probably attached to your Audi and do not want to part with it - in the long run my suggestion will save you a load of time & heartache - I make no apologies for my bluntness (I hail originally from Yorkshire after all) - it's not as though a 2001 Audi A3 is a collectable rarity in the world of modernish Eurobox cars so there is little need to mourn it's loss

[TerryG]

First thing to do is take it for a test and see how far out it is of meeting them. If it passes then you have to have it re-tested every year but that's it (it's not cheap but I have only seen it done on HGVs which may be more expensive). If it fails then you can have a custom exhaust made to introduce adblue (or similar) which will bring your emissions down but the modifications would cost more than the car in question is worth and the annual testing + cost of adblue unless you are in London every day would probably make it cheaper to pay the charge.
http://alternativefuels.about.com/od/re ... adblue.htm

Given it's a relatively modern cheap car, i'd just flog it and buy something else.

[megadethmaniac]

My heralds probably the most perfectly green car ever. It emits no co2 and is gradually turning back to its naturalstate of ferrus oxide.... Hey some day it might be back to propper tin and run! i live in hope.

Seriously, most classics are used for very few miles per year and their nil ved has IIRC exempted them from congestion charges. Whats the issue? Most pollution is caused by poorly maintained white vans or buses that may have met the emissions targets 12 months ago but now belch out huge plumes of unburnt fuel and soot.

[gazza82]

Most pollution is caused by poorly maintained white vans or buses that may have met the emissions targets 12 months ago but now belch out huge plumes of unburnt fuel and soot.

Follow most 4x4 oil burners around London and you will be surprised how many look like they are badly maintained by the smoke that emits from the exhaust .. and not just when under acceleration ..



But It can't beat the old Honda Accord I saw on the M40 yesterday .. that was trailing the innards from the rear silencer box out of the tail pipe!!! No pollution granted, but you wonder about the state of the rest of the car ... (didn't look like it was being cared for that well!)

[SirTainleyBarking]

Most pollution is caused by poorly maintained white vans or buses that may have met the emissions targets 12 months ago but now belch out huge plumes of unburnt fuel and soot.

Follow most 4x4 oil burners around London and you will be surprised how many look like they are badly maintained by the smoke that emits from the exhaust .. and not just when under acceleration ..



But It can't beat the old Honda Accord I saw on the M40 yesterday .. that was trailing the innards from the rear silencer box out of the tail pipe!!! No pollution granted, but you wonder about the state of the rest of the car ... (didn't look like it was being cared for that well!)

Try following Diesel Mondeo's and the jags based on them. They have a nasty habit of going to default settings and smelling of soot and kerosine

[rich.]

have you thought about moving out of london to somewhere civilised?

[GHT]

have you thought about moving out of london to somewhere civilised?

Sold my humble home in Wanstead, East London, for a seven figure King's ransom. Bought a spectacular five bedroomed property, two of the bedrooms have en suite. There's a double garage and a massive garden. The entrance hall is bigger than any of the rooms of our Wanstead home and the galleried landing is something that I thought was in fairy tales. The latter cost just over twenty percent of the former.

[TerryG]

I didn't get 7 figures but have a similar experience getting out of London. Selling a 2 bed flat in East London and moving up to Staffs means I now have a 3 bed detached house, 4 acres of land (which a garage is being built on as the current one is rubbish) and enough change to mean my mortgage is tiny and stress levels are much lower.
Rich moved to France which I wouldn't exactly call civilized

[JPB]

Some of us bought & sold in that damned London and were left with effing huge negative equity to deal with , which in my case involved faking my own drowning and running away**. My flat in a very plain row of semi pairs was sold at a loss, yet the money from that bought me pretty much every other bit of property I've ever owned since, but then it is mostly in the borders region where a castle usually costs around fifty three pence and a pint of Auld Ridiculous - at a further fourpence ha'penny - to keep the solicitor happy.
My two bedroomed bungalow is worth around twenty seven and a half pence yet came with mains electricity and a roof. Here in the lovely countryside, pollution is a thing that happens in other places. Get rid of the modern car, buy a fleet of old jalopies and enjoy stress-free motoring to your heart's content.

There, sorted!
Next week: "There's a new pizzeria where the local launderette used to be, am I within my rights to burn it to the ground?"


**-That may have been an inaccurate account of what happened as the man in the white coat took away the bad memories with his magical electricity, which he applied to my head with a pair of large battery clamps.