Apologies, I wasn't quite clear....
Buying a plate for your cat won't make any odds, it's based on the day/month and year the car was registerred. You can buy a 2000 car and pay less tax on a larger engine - but buying a private plate will make no differance... the DVLA aren't that slow! :)
Here is the full break down:
Any car registerred BEFORE 01/03/01 pays £125 if the engine is under 1549cc or £190 if it's over.
Anything ON or AFTER 01/03/01 pays based on the amount of CO2 they emit. (See table below)
Band
CO2 emission (g/km)
12 months rate
6 months rate
A
Up to 100
Not applicable
Not applicable
B
101-110
£35.00
Not applicable
C
111-120
£35.00
Not applicable
D
121-130
£120.00
£66.00
E
131-140
£120.00
£66.00
F
141-150
£125.00
£68.75
G
151-165
£150.00
£82.50
H
166-175
£175.00
£96.25
I
176-185
£175.00
£96.25
J
186-200
£215.00
£118.25
K*
201-225
£215.00
£118.25
L
226-255
£405.00
£222.75
M
Over 255
£405.00
£222.75
Another interesting loop hole is the old RX-7's - they're 2.6litre dual turbos but many of them when they were imported were registerred as 1.3 (as they technically have 2x 1.3 engines) so they only pay £125 a year!