Trade plates alternative?

[legendtrader]

Are there any? So I buy a car at auction I need tax for the drive back to the garage and also for customer test drives plus if I need to move the car around for any mechanical/bodywork. Are trade plates the only option? I am only going to keep 1 or 2 cars in stock, it's a hobby business. It's almost worth taxing the car for 1 month to avoid trade plates. Any suggestions.

[Jim AK]

Recovery truck or a trailer I would think is only option.

[legendtrader]

Jim AK said:

Recovery truck or a trailer I would think is only option.

Yes this would work for getting from auction to garage but not on customer test drives. I actually purchased a car from a large car supermarket recently. They let me take the car on an unaccompanied test drive with no trade plates. Just wonder how they did this unless they were breaking the law.

[f1nn]

They were breaking the law I should think.

[Packrat]

If you purchased the car private.would it not still be showing as taxed .until the logbook details get changed?

[Jim AK]

Packrat said:

If you purchased the car private.would it not still be showing as taxed .until the logbook details get changed?

Buying privately, assuming it's from Autotrader or similar, would trigger a refund to the RK, & vehicle would then show untaxed.

Stalling sending the document would annoy the RK as it's costing them their refund

May take a few days but it would be illegal to drive on the road & if you had difficulty selling it?

Auction buys will already be untaxed.

[legendtrader]

Packrat said:

If you purchased the car private.would it not still be showing as taxed .until the logbook details get changed?

I would only buy at auction or other dealer. I guess the option is there to tax the car online for 1 month then cancel. If trade plates cost £165 it would only take 1 month tax on 10 cars or so to recover the cost. I guess trade plates are necessary even if only selling 50 cars per year.

[Jim AK]

legendtrader said:

I guess trade plates are necessary even if only selling 50 cars per year.

Basically!

[TooMany2cvs]

legendtrader said:

I actually purchased a car from a large car supermarket recently. They let me take the car on an unaccompanied test drive with no trade plates. Just wonder how they did this unless they were breaking the law.

f1nn said:

They were breaking the law I should think.

TBF, if the OP was driving a car which wasn't taxed - which is what trade plates cover, after all - then it was them that was breaking the law...

[anonymous-user]

f1nn said:

They were breaking the law I should think.

Wrong.

If you take a car on a test drive unaccompanied without trade plates and the car is untaxed and you are not insured on it YOU are breaking the law, not the company.

They simply provide permission for you to drive it so your not twoc'ing the rest is up too you....

[J4CKO]

We test drove a car the other day and I didnt see any trade plates, was definitely untaxed, must be fairly common.


That was a big car supermarket and the salesmen seem to be very by the book.

[legendtrader]

Interesting guys so I guess it was me who possibly broke the law by driving it. This was not a small firm about 500 cars in their compound. I suppose I assumed it was taxed and legal to drive but I was wrong to assume that. I reckon if I had asked if the vehicle was taxed then maybe they would have produced trade plates. Anyways sounds like trade plates are the only way to go and there is no alternative.

[daemon]

legendtrader said:

Are there any? So I buy a car at auction I need tax for the drive back to the garage and also for customer test drives plus if I need to move the car around for any mechanical/bodywork. Are trade plates the only option? I am only going to keep 1 or 2 cars in stock, it's a hobby business. It's almost worth taxing the car for 1 month to avoid trade plates. Any suggestions.

Trade plates arent a fortune and are well worth it.