Look after your car’s value in Birmingham this winter – Motorway

Car owners in Birmingham are already experts in emissions compliance. As one of the UK’s first charging Clean Air Zones (CAZs), motorists with non-compliant vehicles have had to upgrade their cars to avoid charges and fines. In fact, in 2022, Birmingham was the UK’s 6th-highest location for EV purchases.

Now, with the cost of living crisis showing no signs of normalising until at least the end of 2025, it’s a good idea to follow your car’s value and make a plan for looking after that investment. Nearly two thirds of motorists in the UK accept that they will always lose money when they sell their car, but it simply isn’t the case.

Motorway isn’t just an online car-selling platform; it also offers free tools for checking compliance and tracking changes to vehicle values – two of the best things you can use to ensure your car isn’t costing you more money than you realise.

How can I check compliance with Birmingham’s CAZ?

To check that any car, van, or minivan is compliant with Birmingham’s CAZ, enter its reg into Motorway’s free ULEZ Checker tool.

Greater London’s ULEZ and Birmingham’s CAZ have the same compliance standards in place, requiring petrol engine vehicles to be rated at least Euro 4 standard, and diesel Euro 6. These engine ratings relate to the level of emissions – standards that typically improve every year. Since diesel engines have higher emissions than petrol, they are required to comply with a more recent, low emission standard than petrol.

If your vehicle is compliant with TfL’s ULEZ, you’ll also be able to drive in Birmingham’s CAZ without paying the daily charge, which applies to non-compliant vehicles every day of the year.

The good news for compliant car drivers is that you will likely get away without your running costs increasing too much over the coming years. Road tax (VED) bands are changing in 2025, and the government’s Clean Air goals change fairly frequently, so the lower in emissinos your vehicle is, the easier it will be for you to predict how much it will cost you going forward.

How do car values change each year?

Motorists who check in on their valuation every year or less may think that their car value moves in a straight line. However, that’s simply not the case. Car values change from week to week and month to month, not just responding to age, mileage, and condition, but also to supply and demand in the used car market, interest rates, models becoming runouts, and all sorts of other factors.

With a third of drivers in the UK not knowing their car’s value, and many taking on high levels of car finance debt, it’s imperative to keep track of what your car could fetch so you can plan to sell it at the best time, getting great value.

Motorway’s Car Value Tracker shows you the last two years’ worth of valuations on a graph, not just quoting prices but showing you how fast your car’s value may increase, hold, and decrease.

To get started, simply create a free account, and enter your reg and mileage. You can track up to six vehicles for free, helping you look after family finances by comparing the value you can get for your cars.

How does Motorway work?

When you sell your car on Motorway, thanks to its speedy online car profiling system, you can have a sale agreed in as little as 24 hours.

To get started, just enter your reg and mileage on Motorway’s website or in the app and you’ll get an instant valuation for free. It will be based on live data from Motorway’s sales platform, including the thousands of offers made by dealers every day for cars just like yours.

You then continue to profile your car in Motorway’s app, which is available on the App Store and Google Play Store. All you have to do is tap to select answers to questions about your car’s spec and condition, and take photos of your car from several key angles.

Your car will then be entered into their online daily sale, where verified dealers have the opportunity to offer their best price. Rather than having to manage communications with multiple buyers, Motorway simply sends you your winning offer at the end of the sale.

Then it’s just a matter of choosing a date and time for your buyer to come and collect your car – for free. You’ll get the money straight into your bank account, and if your car is financed, the dealer will clear the remaining balance before paying you any surplus.

Over 5,000 verified dealers from all over the UK use Motorway’s platform to buy privately-owned used-cars like yours. Check your valuation and eligibility now.

Get double rewards when you refer a friend

Know anybody else who might be looking to sell their car? You can both get an unexpected gift. Share your unique referrer link and you can split £200 in rewards, for a limited time only. Sign up for free on Motorway’s refer-a-friend page to get started.

Just in time for the holidays, Motorway is offering double their usual referral rewards until the end of January 2024. When a friend follows your MentionMe link and successfully sells their car on Motorway before 31st January 2024, you’ll both get a £100 Amazon.co.uk Gift Card.