In the materialistic world of today, everyone appreciates speed. Having your own car not just provides you with the same but also facilitates your living, making the day easier and interesting for you. It helps you reach places in minutes. It is an asset which changes your life for the good. But along with pleasures it provides, comes the overheads. These overheads are not just of maintenance but of car taxes that you need to pay. In every country the owner of the car need to pay car tax in accordance to the car tax rates of the country. The government of United Kingdom in 2008 introduced Co2 based car taxes. These modified road taxes charges the owner with the tax as per the volume of Co2 emitted by their car. The new rates of car tax are designed to reduce the Co2 emission by the cars and hence, promote greener, environmental friendly cars.

The collection of vehicle excise duty, issuing the driving licenses to the drivers, numbers to the vehicles and other operations related to the vehicles are managed by DVLA. Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is an organization under the government of United Kingdom which maintains the complete database of all the drivers and the vehicles in the country. It is under the direct control of department of transportation. Based in Swansea, South Wales, it has a network of offices known as local office network, all around Great Britain. Electronic vehicle licensing allows the users to pay vehicle excise duty online or by phone.

In UK, if you own a car, whether you drive it or just store it on the public road you need to pay the road tax, also known as vehicle or car tax. If kept off road, the vehicle should either have Statutory off Road Notification (SORN) in force or should be taxed. Else your car could be removed or wheel clamped. Car taxes in UK are based on the car's Co2 emission in g/km. Various car tax bands are created based on the volume of the Co2 gas the car produces. Cars producing up to 100g/km of gas are placed in car tax band A, between 101-120g/km gas in band B whereas 121-150 g/km of Co2 gas in band C and so on. The owners whose cars fall in DVLA car tax bands A and B are not required to pay increased car tax rates. This surly is the reward for having environmental friendly vehicles.

Once you have paid the DVLA car tax, you need to display a valid tax disc in your front window as the proof. The road tax can be renewed half yearly or yearly using the reference number from the reminder form or valid MOT certificate. DVLA keeps a regular check in order to identify the untaxed cars. Fine of £80 is imposed within 4-6 weeks if your tax is running out. The amount could be reduced to £40 if paid within month. If not it is increased to £1000 plus your car may be clamped. If declamping fee is not paid within 24 hours, DVLA impounds your vehicle and disposes it if not claimed within 7 days. You need to keep your tax and MOT updated and have insurance in order to troubleshoot tax related problems.

To save money on car insurance costs, whether you are insuring a new car, second hand car or any other vehicle, it is suggested that you research cheap and good car insurance. Many people in the UK find their car insurance increasing year-on year and it can be the most costly aspect of car ownership (see UK car tax rates). The main assumption behind car insurance prices is wrong - people usually consider the cheapest car insurance as the fulfilment of only the minimum requirements by the policy, but this is not the case. Cheap car insurance refers to the provision of insurance a discounted rate.

Getting hold of cheaper car insurance in UK is not a difficult task as many insurance companies in UK are trying to increase their profits by giving discounts on car insurances and optimizing their prices. They can and do, also increase the sales of other insurances like home, life, business etc to allow for these discounts.

To really gain cheap car insurance, consider the following factors especially if you have not yet purchased a new or second hand car.

- The customers' profiles are the most common factor that is considered by insurance companies i.e. the persons age (see young drivers car insurance), if the insured person has been a safe driver with nil or just a few such records of accidents low premiums would not be difficult to obtain.

- The size of the car engine and the car model and are also factors that make a difference to the available insurance rates. The more the car is worth and the faster it drives, the higher the car insurance costs.

- Female drivers are given a special acknowledgement by insurance companies and cheap car insurance policies are available for women in the UK. This is due to the reason that females are defensive drivers and take less risks being more cautious and alert than men.

- You can also get discount on your car insurance for having anti-theft devices in your car, airbags, and other safety features such as antilock brakes, and using automatic seat belts.

- It is vitally important that you provide the insurance company with true and complete information about yourself and the vehicle that is to be insured. If you fully satisfy the insurance company's' criteria then you will get good, cheap car insurance quotes.

- Some insurers also offer car insurance discount when a customer buys more than one policy for other vehicles or other insurance, as mentioned above such as home insurance, life insurance etc. Insurance providers may offer substantial savings if you take out a policy for more than two cars.

To get the best deal you should record and compare all the car insurance quotes received for the same coverage and for the same time period. For obtaining numerous quotes, you can also contact local insurance agents or research online. The latter option is helpful in obtaining quicker quotes.