Dealer wants to include RFL in price

[Monospace]

I'm buying from a (main, approved used) dealer for the first time in a while. They want me to pay them for 12 months' car tax. A little irritating as I'd prefer to do it myself.

If the dealer is saying they want to include 12 months' RFL is that even possible? I thought that upon change of keeper all road tax is refunded to the previous registered keeper?

I'd clearly like to avoid them putting 12 months on it, then claiming all that refund as soon as I leave...

[JeremyBearimy]

Your over thinking it, its normal for dealers to tax it on your behalf it will go into your name upon taxing so they won't be able to refund it.
It also means you can drive it away legally if they do it.

[HTP99]

JeremyBearimy said:

Your over thinking it, its normal for dealers to tax it on your behalf it will go into your name upon taxing so they won't be able to refund it.
It also means you can drive it away legally if they do it.

Actually it's no longer "normal" since paying online has become the norm; once all paperwork has been completed most dealers will then load up the relevant website and invite you to pay for it either using a card or setting up a direct debit, however it may be an ex Motability car which means that it will need taxing at a Post Office, the dealer will send someone down to the PO to get it taxed prior to collection and pass the tax cost on to the purchaser.

Edited by HTP99 on Tuesday 22 October 17:54

[Mandat]

Monospace said:

I'm buying from a (main, approved used) dealer for the first time in a while. They want me to pay them for 12 months' car tax. A little irritating as I'd prefer to do it myself.

If the dealer is saying they want to include 12 months' RFL is that even possible? I thought that upon change of keeper all road tax is refunded to the previous registered keeper?

I'd clearly like to avoid them putting 12 months on it, then claiming all that refund as soon as I leave...

Thinking logically; what would they hope to achieve by doing this, and how would they get away with it anyway?

[Big_Dog]

Bought a Mini last month and the dealer taxed. 5 weeks so far and no problems yet.

[RammyMP]

HTP99 said:

Actually it's no longer "normal" since paying online has become the norm; once all paperwork has been completed most dealers will then load up the relevant website and invite you to pay for it either using a card or setting up a direct debit.

Edited by HTP99 on Tuesday 22 October 17:54

That’s what happened when I bought mine a few months ago

[WaftyCranker1]

They wouldn’t get the refund as the dealer isn’t the previous keeper anyway... They sorn the vehicle upon bringing it into stock. The dealer will not release a car without having some sort of tax on the vehicle as this would fail an audit. If you wish to direct debit the tax and pay it monthly they should be alright with zero’ing the tax in the order form provided you provide them with proof that you’ve set up the direct debit for it(if this is done online you get a ref no) There is no monetary gain for the dealer in regards to RFL regardless of how they do it. Keep in mind it is the GOV you are paying the RFL to. The dealer is simply doing it in your behalf as this lets them protect themselves from releasing an untaxed car.

Hope this helps.

[Butter Face]

Mandat said:

Monospace said:

I'm buying from a (main, approved used) dealer for the first time in a while. They want me to pay them for 12 months' car tax. A little irritating as I'd prefer to do it myself.

If the dealer is saying they want to include 12 months' RFL is that even possible? I thought that upon change of keeper all road tax is refunded to the previous registered keeper?

I'd clearly like to avoid them putting 12 months on it, then claiming all that refund as soon as I leave...

Thinking logically; what would they hope to achieve by doing this, and how would they get away with it anyway?

It’s certainly one of the oddest reasons I’ve seen for not wanting to get the dealer to tax the car. It’s fantasy to think that it’s going to happen!

[quinny100]

HTP99 said:

Once all paperwork has been completed most dealers will then load up the relevant website and invite you to pay for it either using a card or setting up a direct debit.

Yep - this happened when I bought a car recently. The dealer had agreed to include a years road tax, but the Salesman said it's less hassle for them just to reduce the price of the car by the same amount and I pay for the tax so it's all in my name and I can DD if I wanted to. He filled everything in, then turned the screen and keyboard to me to pay. Works very well.

[interstellar]

It’s more likely they get to report a higher selling price internally for their reports which is the motivation.

They certainly aren’t doing anything wrong, actually they are being helpful.

[Monospace]

Butter Face said:

Mandat said:

Monospace said:

I'm buying from a (main, approved used) dealer for the first time in a while. They want me to pay them for 12 months' car tax. A little irritating as I'd prefer to do it myself.

If the dealer is saying they want to include 12 months' RFL is that even possible? I thought that upon change of keeper all road tax is refunded to the previous registered keeper?

I'd clearly like to avoid them putting 12 months on it, then claiming all that refund as soon as I leave...

Thinking logically; what would they hope to achieve by doing this, and how would they get away with it anyway?

It’s certainly one of the oddest reasons I’ve seen for not wanting to get the dealer to tax the car. It’s fantasy to think that it’s going to happen!

Okay, "claiming the refund" was the wrong wording. "Being automatically refunded" is a better choice. Or just "I end up with an untaxed car for whatever reason". My understanding was that a vehicle becomes automatically untaxed after the keeper is changed. Dealer has a poor rep and if nothing else may just not know what they're doing.

Seemed like a legitimate concern/check. I don't see the harm in the question.

Thanks to all for helping.

[Nickp82]

interstellar said:

It’s more likely they get to report a higher selling price internally for their reports which is the motivation.

They certainly aren’t doing anything wrong, actually they are being helpful.

I would be surprised if that is the case as the actual selling price is rarely important to a dealer, margin and profit being the key numbers.
Plus margin is of course VATable so they would be losing money by not showing the RFL separately.

I reckon the dealer is just trying to be helpful

[Jamescrs]

Last car I bought used from a main dealer they got me to tax the car on their computer whilst I was collecting in the show room, they just loaded the website and gave me the keyboard.

Car I bought after from a large car supermarket they didn't care less if I had taxed it or not just told me to do it the same day.

[4941cc]

Nickp82 said:

I would be surprised if that is the case as the actual selling price is rarely important to a dealer, margin and profit being the key numbers.
Plus margin is of course VATable so they would be losing money by not showing the RFL separately.

I reckon the dealer is just trying to be helpful

Exactly this. Crazy notion.

[davek_964]

I part ex'd against the last car I bought - the dealer did all the online stuff for my tax refund as well as sorting out the tax on the new (used) car.