So my partner's elderly parents won't be able to visit us till they pony up for a new car? Haha what the heck is this country THINKING.

Its a nightmare anyway driving through the city centre of Utrecht. Such a measure anyway would need to be balanced by cars (less than 8/10 years) being affordable to the majority

It would be better to require more stringent emissions tests with the APK. Not all older cars are a problem.

This policy is also a bit of social exclusion engineering: the less affluent usually are the drivers of the older cars, and so they would then be denied access to the centre, ensuring it remains a [sarcasm]clean and pleasant place[/sarcasm] for the wealthy.

I also wonder if the car industry is lobbying for this...legally enforced temporal obsolescence.

Admittedly, the air quality problem is real, but a joined up fair solution should be found rather than a knee jerk simplified solution. Perhaps just excluding all vehicles from the centre and only permitting horse drawn carts? that would work as well.

Another action against the overburdened car driver. Another excuse to add another cost to people lives.
I have two diesel cars older than 8 years (if you keep this car less than 10 years they would not be economical).
So I will be facing a huge economic burden on my family for the sake of a better air in the city centre. What about the pollution created by the manufacturing of my new car ?
I will probably get rid of those cars, and NOT buy a new one EVER. So my dears, no more road tax, no more APK cost, no more fuel cost, no more garage cost. In other words MUCH less money for all of YOU.

I assume that car taxes will be reduced accordingly to compensate ?.

Finally someone has understood how polluting old cars are.
It is selfish not to see that the saving in car tax (because that's why in here people have old wrecks as cars) will be paid by everybody in terms of worse air quality, breathing problems, pollution.
It is nonsense to go around by bike while breathing exhausting gases of a 30 years old car next to you.

What about oldtimers and classics running on LPG?

I always found it strange older cars are tax free while extra taxes are slapped on new cars!!!

What about "classic" cars that sre not used on a regular basis?

This is a welcome move, but sad that a city council has to act because of poor policy of central govt.
Old cars do not pay road tax in NL and you will notice how many old diesel cars are being imported, mostly wrecks from Germany. With cheap diesel prices and no road tax, we will see this trend continue. Time that NL follows Germany and introduce a pollution sticker system and stop incentives for old bangers.

I hope thathis measure also applies to teh Utrecht bus fleet, much of which is dirty and noisy.

No it isn't, Simon
http://www.gvu.nl/pages/over_gvu.aspx

@AC: the umweltplakket in Germany is a joke, unnecessary bureaucracy. ALL cars registered in EU last 15-18 years already have an objective measure of pollution: the Euro standards. It is written on every car registration. It can be checked by reading plates. They could just use areas restricted to Euro-5 vehicles only (mostly all gas cars post-2001 and all diesel post-2006)

Since January 2012 cars have to be 30 years old before road tax is no longer levied (changed last year). My 20 year old BMW has a class 4 Umweltschuzplakket and is allowed into German cities - I'll use the train to Utrecht, thank you Mw. Schulz.

All those tax-dodging old wrecks - we are talking about you!

Does the government believe the air to be stationary? Banning such vehicles from city centre does not equate to clean air in the centre. Dirty air does move, folks!

An a more hummorous note, maybe they should ban also passing gas in public because it degrades air quality for the sensitive people of Utrecht...

Too many pockets have too much to gain from a 'disposable' Automobile industry for this effort to be accepted on face value.

Understandable, but this is like shaving your skin with a big kitchen knife.

Instead of restricting cars by age, they should restrict by omittance. Set a standard of the maximum amount of pollution 1 car can cause, and ban all cars that pollute more, regardless of their age.

I wonder how many of those new but excessively big cars will be banned if they do it in that fairer way.

@john: save your rant. This is NOT a purpose put up by the awesome minister Schultz (the best infrastructure minister last 20 years).

I am from a country where this kind of stupid solutions is more then normal: does not work out and only stimulate insane new cars buying, that results in extra tax payed, this is the real goal!!! But the problems, namely air polluted and congestion, not solved since '60s. Only FIAT (and other firms) are the real beneficiary, hope not do see the same waste of public moneys with this useless approach. ALL CARS have to be banned: a new car costs so math CO2 in production than keeping my old one can be a real option, even thought does not generate tax.