Buying an uninsured car but would like to test drive it.

[TullyK]

Hello all,

I'm interested in buying a car from a private seller who currently has the vehicle uninsured and SORN. It has full MOT and service history so on paper it should have no problems, but I want to check it drives OK before committing to the purchase.

Is there any way around this issue that the car cannot be currently driven on the road? I'd even be happy to provisionally purchase the car if there was a way I could back out if there turned out to be something wrong that the seller had not mentioned and that wasn't obvious from a static viewing.

Thank you in advance for your help

[Roo]

Dayinsure, although that won't get you around the problem of no road tax.

[TullyK]

Can anyone think of a way around the tax issue or possibility of making a provisional purchase based on all be as described?

Thanks

[TurboHatchback]

I would get a days insurance policy and just risk it with no tax. Stay off the motorways and the chance of being caught is extremely minimal, it's a non-endorsable offence even it you do.

Disclaimer: Clearly this isn't legal. If you want to be completely legal you'll either need to trailer it to an off-road location or get/pay the current owner to tax it for a month.

[marshalla]

TurboHatchback said:

get/pay the current owner to tax it for a month.

And the current owner will need to insure it as well. (can't be taxed and uninsured).

[kambites]

Until you are the registered keeper only the current owner can tax the car and if he does so and you do decide to buy, you've lost that months' tax because it's non-transferable.

I believe it's now illegal to own a taxed car without insurance so if he's going to tax it, someone will have to insure it for the duration of the tax.

[TurboHatchback]

marshalla said:

TurboHatchback said:

get/pay the current owner to tax it for a month.

And the current owner will need to insure it as well. (can't be taxed and uninsured).

That is true. No tax sounds like the only practical option then really.

[trashbat]

Could you pay a mechanic to test drive it using their trade plates?

[kambites]

I think the penalty for driving without tax is only an £80 fine or something. I'd just get day insurance and take that risk, assuming the seller is happy with it (after all it's him that will get the fine if it's spotted electronically). Obviously avoid anywhere there's likely to be ANPR cameras.

[marshalla]

TurboHatchback said:

marshalla said:

TurboHatchback said:

get/pay the current owner to tax it for a month.

And the current owner will need to insure it as well. (can't be taxed and uninsured).

That is true. No tax sounds like the only practical option then really.

Mind you, if the current owner is serious about selling, he really ought to keep the car in a road-testable state.

[talksthetorque]

I test drove a car in Tesco Car Park. Because of this I could only go slowly.
I bought it.
It fell to bits in 12 months.
So Beware....
( Ok - it was £150 )
Is it a special car or a run of the mill car that's cheap.
There may be a reason why the seller has made it difficult to test drive.
Or it could be perfectly legit.

[wack]

You could take it for an MOT

I have a sorn defender , stupidly I let the MOT run out, the problem was the garage I use is 40 miles away

I rang DVSA and DVLA and they both said it's ok for me to take it there as long as it's straight there and straight back

Find the cheapest MOT station and book it in , all you need is insurance, the only caveat is I don't know how the law stands if it is already MOd'd and you'd have to test it or driving back wouldn't be legal

Depends if you're a worrier, some would have tanked up there without bothering to check if it's legal but not me