How is a car 11 years older worth more?

I expect your car isn't likely to be a collectible. So, the valuation seems wrong. Is the older car in better condition than the newer one?

Clearly something is missing from this story. Is this older car a collectible? Is the newer car a very inexpensive econo-car?

I'd take this up with an appeal to the tax collector or clerk of Court..whatever your municipal gov't agency sets the rate.

Don't allow your paranoia to creep into your decision about taking this up with tax collector. Fair is fair. After all, they could have bad data that is feeding their valuation.

You can look up the NADA valuation for your cars and compare them. If the tax value is a lot different than the NADA value, you can likely appeal it. I think a lot of states use the NADA value. Also, the state has no idea the condition of your car, so they are likely using an average value.

No and even if it was how would the town it isn't like they go from house to house to check the condition of the cars when the tax is less than a 100 bucks.

Both cars are Honda accords one is a V6 the other a V4 besides that the older ones has more upgrades but that is it.

I Wil try that to be honest we are talking like 15 bucks different in tax not huge dollars just found it odd.

Those damn Hondas; they're so reliable. My wife has a 2006 Honda, and it keeps running without any problems. The only thing she does is take it in for the oil change.

Thanks for the NADA link. Learned that the retail value of my car is $9,225.
It's a 2006 Acura TL Sedan.

According to the website the older car is worth on the high end 2k and the newer maybe about 11k.

Since they have the newer car valued at 2,150 - I think I will keep my mouth shut cause if they actually used this type of valuation I would be paying over 2k for the newer car and 50 for the older whereas right now my bill is 54 for the new and 63 for the older one. I figure I am making out.

I do now they completely value the cars differently for excise purposes though - maybe I will try a search and see how they do it.

Wow, you are making out! At least now you know.

There is no V4 engine in Honda. However that error is not important to this issue..

The bottom line is this whole thing seems to be an error that needs review and perhaps a simple discussion with clerk/tax collector will correct this error. If not, the appeals process can correct this. The relative condition of the tow cars is a minor or non-consideration from the agency's part. They simply made an error which they should correct.

Furthermore, you can address the adjustment on the older car's evaluation without ever addressing the newer car. The newer car's value and how they rated it, is irrelevant to the issue..of them wrongly evaluating the older one's value.

It is 4 cylinder - I assumed it was called a V4 - here is the link:

http://www.nadaguides.com/Cars/2012/Honda/Accord-Sdn

Trust me, FWIW, this is not a V4. They (and the industry) call it an inline-4 or L4. There is no V4 in Honda's lineup.

I've owned several Hondas and the option of a L4 (straight inline) 4 cylinder. However, that is non-issue here.

If you have a discussion with Tax Collector about the eval error this should quickly resolve. If not, the appeal process will get you proper resolution but I'll bet it won't even come to that.

Ok now it makes sense - this is the way it is calculated for excise purposes:

The excise is based on the value of the motor vehicle as determined by the Commissioner of Revenue upon certain percentages of the manufacturer's list price in the year of manufacture. The excise valuation is not based on the actual purchase price or "book value" of the vehicle. The percentages set forth in the statutory depreciation schedule that are applied to manufacturer's list price are as follows:

In the year preceding the designated year of manufacture 50%
In the year of manufacture 90%
In the second year 60%
In the third year 40%
In the fourth year 25%
In the fifth and succeeding years 10%

So basically after year five it keeps the same valuation. Since this was a more expensive car to begin with it will carry a higher initial value.

OK.. that's an uncommon Catch 22. In the beginning of this, I was going to ask you what the initial price of both cars had been..but I got lost ibn thwe sauce.

I'm a bit surprised..but not shocked.

Maybe there's a briefcase full of money in the trunk?

To be honest both prices were pretty close (as least initially) - as with inflation even though the newer car did not have as large an engine or as many bells and whistles, it was about the same price as the older car. We managed to talk him down quite a bit in part, because we were looking at a used car. He got us the newer car for less - must be something to do with commissions/end of month and end of quarter - he probably wanted to win some price for selling x number of cars in the month.

So long story long - we got this car for a good price so the initial sales price of the newer car was quite low. The older car, we had more money at the time so ordered something specifically we wanted thus the higher price, better car in sense even though both Honda Accords. Probably why this 2001 is still kicking.

Did you know that what you paid on the new or market for your car is not relevant to the Excise tax and evaluation? The eval is based on what the car was retailing for with the options. The eval might be close to or mimic the new price NADA value.

I wish!