Buying a car - Waiting on V5!

[disco1]

Afternoon guys,
For info I'm buying a car via a private sale, the cars great but had private plates on it so I informed the guy I'd buy it subject to him putting his private plate on retention and old plates put back on. He agreed, v small holding deposit placed.

He's sent off to the DVLA and the plates have been transferred over, new MOT/tax disk arrived but he was informed by the DVLA the V5 will follow in a few weeks time.

I'm quite an impatient type so was wondering if the purchase could be done whilst awaiting the V5? Is this ok and something to steer clear of? Should I just bide my time? Not sure I can handle a few more weeks!

[road_rager]

I just had the same with a bike I just bought, I told the seller I wasn't bothered about waiting for the V5 & could he just send on to me (which he did 2 weeks later). I think it's more of a risk to the seller as you could pick up speeding & parking fines etc.

[Thesaint01708]

1) Be impatient and risk wasting your money on a ringer/stolen car
or
2) Wait and have reasonable peace of mind.
and
3)If it falls through, you dodged a bullet!

[andy-xr]

You can do it now, but it'll cost you £25 at your local DVLA office I think

[Thesaint01708]

am i the only one seeing a bigger problem?

if the seller doesnt have the V5 its not just an inconvenience it could be a sign that the seller doesnt actually own the car they are selling?

or have i missed something?

[MattW]

Just as a point of interest I recently bought a new car and I reckon it took the best part of 2 months for the V% to turn up. Colleague has been waiting 3 weeks so far for hers.

[paulmon]

Thesaint01708 said:

am i the only one seeing a bigger problem?

if the seller doesnt have the V5 its not just an inconvenience it could be a sign that the seller doesnt actually own the car they are selling?

or have i missed something?

V5 is not proof of ownership anyhow. Make a judgement call if your experience with the seller has been positive to this point then there is no reason to think that the V5 wont arrive in the post. I've done this a couple of times, I just sign my bit and ask the buyer to stick the V5 in the post when they get it.

If however you have suspicions all is not what it seems then walk away or ask for more proof of ownership (Insurance, receipts with name and address on, etc)

[steve singh]

Comes down to how much you trust the seller.

[Thesaint01708]

paulmon said:

V5 is not proof of ownership anyhow.

I get that. same as having the keys is not proof of ownership however in this day and age you would want as much 'proof' as reasonably possible before you hand over your hard earned cash?

[rallycross]

It's no big deal if you see all the docs at the start before leaving the deposit then get copies of all docs including Reg transfer docs then do the deal, the current owner will get the v5c and Mot back within ten days with an ink stamp with the new Reg - get him to post this to you.

It then takes ages to get the new doc, still in his name, when this comes back get him to fill in your details and copy it before sending that back to the dvla. It could take 2 months before you get the docs with your name but so what? As it clearly states on the docs the Reg keeper is not necessarily the legal owner.

[B'stard Child]

When he got the Retention certificate for the "private Plate" he also got a green new keepers slip with the reg number changed to the original and stamped with the DVLA office stamp, a new tax disc and a authorisation to allow the new (old reg) plates made up

You can buy the car and fill in your details on the green slip (temporary reg doc enabling you to tax the car if required) - he can fill in the details on the reg doc when it arrives and date it from the date of transfer.

Depends on how much you trust the seller..........

[kpb]

Ignoring the private plate angle of this - I see a lot of cars advertised as 'V5 is on its way from DVLA' and I have a bit of a cautionary tale. I bought a car with this scenario and the head gasket went within days (my own fault for taking a short test drive due to lack of fuel when I viewed it).

The guy told me he'd taken the car as part payment for a Range Rover he'd sold. But I reckon he had picked the car up, the V5 was with DVLA to be transferred to his name and then realised it was a pup, so shifted it on to muggins before it went bang.

My opinion since then is that if something doesnt look right, it probably isnt.

[mcflurry]

When's the tax due ?