Untaxed since January

[MDCB]

Hi all,

Looking to buy used for the first time when my lease ends (in a few weeks). Car I’m very interested in has the above quirk. Not sure if that’s totally normal or if it suggests it’s one to avoid. The car itself is relatively desirable, so for it to have been untaxed for so long clearly infers it has been sitting there for a while.

Is this a red flag or par for the course?

Much appreciated!

[Pericoloso]

Lots of cars have been sitting around for a while and lots will sit around for considerably longer.

There's a bit of a thing going on at the moment.

Go and make a cheeky offer ,what's the worst that could happen ?

Cheeky offer ,not insulting.

[MDCB]

Pericoloso said:

Lots of cars have been sitting around for a while and lots will sit around for considerably longer.

There's a bit of a thing going on at the moment.

Go and make a cheeky offer ,what's the worst that could happen ?

Cheeky offer ,not insulting.

Thanks, I wouldn’t have thought the corona saga would’ve had any significant impact until around a fortnight ago, so I was just curious re the average time a used car would sit on the forecourt. Given that the tax expired in Jan, 8 weeks is the bare minimum it’s been unsold (could’ve had months to run on the MOT when first put on the forecourt!)

That said, I think it will very much be a buyer’s market for the next 6 months minimum, so I’ll keep an eye on it for the time being (as I won’t even be able to collect due to the restrictions for a while)

[WonkeyDonkey]

These threads are absolutely pointless without any detail.

Edit: As far as I'm aware dealer cars don't have to be taxed. The time it takes for a car to go from part ex/lease return to auction then to dealer can be a lot longer than you would think.

[Betts88]

WonkeyDonkey said:

These threads are absolutely pointless without any detail.

Edit: As far as I'm aware dealer cars don't have to be taxed. The time it takes for a car to go from part ex/lease return to auction then to dealer can be a lot longer than you would think.

Correct, this is the whole purpose of 'trade plates', in that a vehicle can be legally drive on the road without the vehicle itself needing to be taxed.

Take lease returns to a large car supermarket for an example:

- Collected and returned to BCA or Manheim
- Vehicle may be shipped to one or more BCA / Manheim locations where that type of car can be proven to be "worth more"
- Car goes through 2/3 auctions before it finally sells
- Car is delivered to a large car supermarket, in bulk i.e. a full car transporter
- Car is then prepared (read "valeted" / washed), sometimes stamped in the book as a "sales service" where some big supermarkets market this as an oil change and / or mechanical inspection
- Car sits on forecourt for 2/3 months before a deal is finally done. 90 days on a forecourt is not uncommon, and this is where Evans Halshaw and similar brands discount using odd psychology etc. to get to strange selling prices of £11,481 etc.
- End customer has an agreed sale
- Washed / prepared again and then potentially serviced / MOT'd / any correction work as agreed such as a SMART repair / gearbox service etc

The above could easily take 3-6 months if you think about it - the first part with BCA and their auctions, including collection and delivery from compounds can be a month.

[PenelopaPitstop]

As above. It means that car is "in trade" since January. I'm watching car on Autotrader, that's for sale since November 2019.