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Buying a car without tax
liam.mccaffrey - 5/1/10 at 09:01 PM

I'm buying a car (hopefully) this weekend from an independent dealer. I'm trading my current car in for it and am wondering how I can possibly drive it back legally.

The car has MOT, I could get temp insurance but as I understand it I can't go to a post office have a tax disc issued on a temp insurance certificate. So I'll be stranded with an MOT'd insured car with no tax.

The last couple of cars I bought i just drove back without tax but this one is a lot further away and with the crappy weather im a bit worried about it.

How can I do this legally at short notice?


scootz - 5/1/10 at 09:04 PM

Get your insurance sorted out online now, then email the dealer a copy of your certificate... he can then have the car taxed for your arrival.


austin man - 5/1/10 at 09:04 PM

Cant the dealer tax it for you and charge the extra cost


speedyxjs - 5/1/10 at 09:07 PM

quote:
Originally posted by austin man
Cant the dealer tax it for you and charge the extra cost


Id definitely insist on that


liam.mccaffrey - 5/1/10 at 09:08 PM

yeah he probably could, I haven't asked him yet.

The only thing is I'm not 100% whether I am going to buy the car until i get up there. I'm not obligated it either way though so ill give it a whirl

[Edited on 5/1/10 by liam.mccaffrey]


mcerd1 - 5/1/10 at 09:10 PM

this lot say you can if the post office will accept it ???

might be worth checking up on it before buying though:
https://www.tempcover.com/TempCover/tcvTxtReasons.aspx

(got the link from the rust 2 rome banger rally site)


[Edited on 5/1/10 by mcerd1]


blakep82 - 5/1/10 at 09:12 PM

theres no way you can drive it without tax, at all


bmseven - 5/1/10 at 10:08 PM

You will be fine driving without tax assuming
you will have a dated receipt, your section of the V5 dated and are insured.
You will need to then at the earliest opportunity tax the car from the beginning of January

You would have to be unlucky to get nicked, it's a fine only and no points but would most likely just be reported to DVLA.
Job Done

[Edited on 5/1/10 by bmseven]


liam.mccaffrey - 5/1/10 at 10:22 PM

Thats fine assuming i don't have an accident, am i covered, i wouldn't have thought so

quote:
Originally posted by bmseven
You will be fine driving without tax assuming
you will have a dated receipt, your section of the V5 dated and are insured.
You will need to then at the earliest opportunity tax the car from the beginning of January

You would have to be unlucky to get nicked, it's a fine only and no points but would most likely just be reported to DVLA.
Job Done

[Edited on 5/1/10 by bmseven]


prawnabie - 5/1/10 at 10:54 PM

My insurance states that am only insured if the vehicle is licensed.


JoelP - 5/1/10 at 10:55 PM

quote:
Originally posted by liam.mccaffrey
Thats fine assuming i don't have an accident, am i covered, i wouldn't have thought so

quote:
Originally posted by bmseven
You will be fine driving without tax assuming
you will have a dated receipt, your section of the V5 dated and are insured.
You will need to then at the earliest opportunity tax the car from the beginning of January

You would have to be unlucky to get nicked, it's a fine only and no points but would most likely just be reported to DVLA.
Job Done

[Edited on 5/1/10 by bmseven]



nah, they cant refuse to pay out for no tax, thats ridiculous! I crashed with no MOT and got paid out.


Steve Hignett - 5/1/10 at 11:01 PM

As above, I'd of thought - at the end of the day, if you're insured and the car is safe (MOT) then the insurance have no justification for not paying out.

And you are going to tax it within 14 days of getting it home I assume!


morcus - 5/1/10 at 11:02 PM

I think they can.

Best bet is to get the dealer to tax it but I don't know what the rules are on that, Phone a head and ask if he could do it if you decided to buy the car (Making sure he understands not to do straight away) get there early and get an insurance quote with a quote number then if you want it, buy the and arrange the insurance on the phone.

Or you could get hold of a trailer.


MakeEverything - 5/1/10 at 11:11 PM

quote:
Originally posted by liam.mccaffrey
Thats fine assuming i don't have an accident, am i covered, i wouldn't have thought so




...... Dont crash it........

You are permitted a period of grace to tax a vehicle. 14 days IIRC.


prawnabie - 5/1/10 at 11:16 PM

If you use the vehicle in those 14 days though and get caught you will be prosecuted for not displaying a tax disc. The 14 days is a grace period to tax or sorn the car - It cannot go on the road until taxed.

There are loads of ways you can "get away with it" but is it worth it? - you will have to tax/insure it anyway so why not do it sooner and get it back legally lol.


jmh - 6/1/10 at 12:04 AM

Hi There,

I recently bought a car with no tax (about 6 weeks ago), and like you, I was not sure I was going to buy it until the day. In the end I did buy it and what I did was get straight on to a computer do the temp cover and print out a cover note .... then off to the post office.

Now the post office is allowed to refuse but I would say that you would have to be really unlucky to have that happen. I also don't understand why one post office would accept it (like mine) and others would not. At the end of the day you have fulfilled all of the requirements (V5, MOT Cert, Insurance cover note).

Also post offices tend to be quite common .... just find another one if the first one proves to be unhelpful.

Hope that helps


liam.mccaffrey - 6/1/10 at 12:05 AM

Thanks guys, getting it back legally is exactly what i want to do. Not looking to get away with anything.


NigeEss - 6/1/10 at 12:12 AM

How much MOT is on it ? As you can drive without tax to a pre-booked mot......

It's perfectly legal to MOT a car that still haa several valid months an of course you want
your own independant test done


Ok....I'll get my coat................


morcus - 6/1/10 at 01:21 AM

Only problem with the MOT Idea is that if it fails and you've got more than a month left you lose the remainder and have to have the work done straight away to use it.


HOL - 6/1/10 at 09:32 AM

I had this when I bought the wifes car last year. A year old forester from Subaru.

After I had agreed to buy, the dealer phoned his insurance for a temporary 3rd party covernote for the car and sent his boy down to the post office, with the logbook.

10minutes later, he was back with a tax disk.

So it is possible, for the dealer to tax it.


MikeRJ - 6/1/10 at 09:40 AM

quote:
Originally posted by morcus
Only problem with the MOT Idea is that if it fails and you've got more than a month left you lose the remainder and have to have the work done straight away to use it.


Are you sure about this? I was always under the impression that remaining MOT was still valid, though you would still be liable for driving the car if it was not roadworthy.


phoenix70 - 6/1/10 at 10:57 AM

quote:
Originally posted by NigeEss
How much MOT is on it ? As you can drive without tax to a pre-booked mot......

It's perfectly legal to MOT a car that still haa several valid months an of course you want
your own independant test done


Ok....I'll get my coat................


You won't get away with this one, the only reason you can drive a non taxed car to an MOT is because you can't tax it. If it has a valid MOT then you can and must to drive it on the road.

[Edited on 6/1/10 by phoenix70]


blakep82 - 6/1/10 at 11:31 AM

^ yep, if its MOT'd then theres no reason why it can't be taxed. it MUST be taxed to drive on the road (unless you need to drive to an MOT, if you DON'T already have one)
there's no grace period. as far as i'm aware, there is if you've bought tax online, but waiting for the post. then as long as the rozzers can see its been taxed on their computer, then you have so many days to put the disc in.

you CANNOT drove it without tax. all you'd need to do is drive past a traffic car with ANPR on and you've had it. points, fine, and i think they can take the car off you and crush it, no questions asked


bmseven - 6/1/10 at 12:40 PM

There is no points for no tax!
& typically an £80 fine tho if you were reported and subsequently taxed it then hey


prawnabie - 6/1/10 at 01:22 PM

There is a grace period of 14 days, this refers to the 14 days you can have no tax on the car after it has expired. If you do not tax or sorn it within this period you will be highlighted by there much hyped "computers".

The car cannot be "on the road" within these 14 days, but can be driven to a pre booked MOT test if there is no MOT left.

Its also worth noting that you cannot TAX a car if there is only a few days MOT left. im not sure of the exact number though.


stevegough - 6/1/10 at 01:23 PM

Just to go off on a slight tangent from this thread, but on the same lines.......

Last year my son bought a car which tax had just run out - when he came to try and tax it - he wasn't allowed to do so - the reason was that the car had been previously recorded on the V5 as registered to a disabled person (hence the tax was 'free' ) - as my son wasn't disabled, he was not able to tax it until he had re-registered it in his name and recieved the new V5. He then had to go IN PERSON to the DVLA offices, sign a declaration that he wasn't disabled - they then sent the V5 to Swansea - only then was he allowed to tax it. He was not permitted to use the car for almost six weeks.

Red tape gone bonkers

Moral - watch out if you buy a car on a 'disabled' V5....



[Edited on 6/1/10 by stevegough]


sonic - 6/1/10 at 01:37 PM

Hi Guy's
If the Garage or Motortrader you are buying it from has full motortrade insurance he can tax any car with it.
He needs to fill in the small Green section on the V5 and say the full V5 has been sent off,they will then tax it.
If not as long as it has a valid MOT and you have a insurance note with a number on take your laptop go to the nearest McDonalds as they have free WiFi connection and tax it on line.
The coppers scan your reg plate these days and check before they have pulled you to see if the car has Tax so if you do it on line it will not flag up with them.

Second thing is if you get caught with no Tax they can take the car off you and have it crushed so beware.


Peteff - 6/1/10 at 01:43 PM

If you have a receipt and are driving it home you will obviously not be trying to get away with anything, just get insured.


johnston - 6/1/10 at 03:30 PM

quote:
Originally posted by prawnabie
Its also worth noting that you cannot TAX a car if there is only a few days MOT left. im not sure of the exact number though.


well thats a load of tosh I taxed a MK2 golf with 1 day
mot left on it in the tax office not post office.

One year My mum cocked the form up once first time she posted it by the time she got it back to fix and posted it again it would have got to them on the last day of MOT but she chanced her luck anyway. She got a years tax.


bmseven - 6/1/10 at 05:04 PM

I spoke to a traffic copper at work and said he wouldnt nick you if you had just bought it and had all the paperwork in order.

You will not be able to insure and tax it online on the same day as it takes a while for the info (24-48 hrs) for the information to populate the insurance database.


prawnabie - 6/1/10 at 07:37 PM

quote:
Originally posted by johnston
quote:
Originally posted by prawnabie
Its also worth noting that you cannot TAX a car if there is only a few days MOT left. im not sure of the exact number though.


well thats a load of tosh I taxed a MK2 golf with 1 day
mot left on it in the tax office not post office.

One year My mum cocked the form up once first time she posted it by the time she got it back to fix and posted it again it would have got to them on the last day of MOT but she chanced her luck anyway. She got a years tax.


Just shows you the consistency isn't rife in the post office either!


morcus - 6/1/10 at 08:45 PM

I'm sure it says on an MOT certificate that getting it tested again with more than a month on it invalidates the old one, I haven't got one handy as the car here with an MOT is the jag and as I posted earlier, I'm not risking unlocking it again.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/Mot/DG_4022108 This says that doing so within a month of expirery won't hurt the old one but I can't see anything explictly stating you'd lose it here but I'm sure I've read it somewhere.