Car tax help please???

[carrie78]

I'm going to look at a car to buy on sun/mon. The car is untaxed. If I decide to buy it I will sort insurance out over the phone but i presume it will take a day/ couple of days for me to get the insurance details through and be able to buy tax.
Where do i stand in this untaxed period - am i not allowed to drive it?

Thanks
Carrie

[Mad Dave]

Correct.

Legally you cant drive it until youve got tax for it, and you cant get tax until youve received a covernote.

Tis a pisser, but i think thats where you stand im afraid.

[pbrettle]

Of course there is always a certain amount of discresion involved. I managed to get done for not having tax while driving to the post office to buy it (and before anyone says, it was off the road for a month or two anyway....!). Could have been let off, but the BiB decided that I was taking the pi55 - asked what I should have done, his response was take a bus.... thats helpful when you live in a village and the nearest PO was 6 miles away....

Still, in general there is some discression involved though - for example, failed MOT's - you cant get tax without an MOT and if they expire at the same time then how do you get the car to and from the testing station? As long as you dont take the pi55 then you should be fine..... BUT it is technically wrong and therefore if you are caught then you can expect a fine - but it does come down to the time of day / direction of the wind / mood of BiB....

Personally I wouldnt take the risk, but then having forked out £100 for a fine last time, I dont want to go there again.

[loaf]

Mad Dave is correct and if you encountered a Trafpol/DoT/council plague rat in a bad mood you would have a tough time.

However, in reality, as long as you have the sale documents (including the MOT and the green bit of the V5) on you when stopped to prove you have literally *just* bought the vehicle and are awaiting documentation, you will in all likelihood be provided with a producer to take your tax disc and insurance cert to the local nick within 7 days.

[tonyrec]

carrie78 said:

I'm going to look at a car to buy on sun/mon. The car is untaxed. If I decide to buy it I will sort insurance out over the phone but i presume it will take a day/ couple of days for me to get the insurance details through and be able to buy tax. Where do i stand in this untaxed period - am i not allowed to drive it? Thanks Carrie

I think that we have got to be sensible about this.
If i was in the same position, it would not stop me from picking up the car. I would however carry all my Docs and proof of sale etc etc.

Whenever we stop someone driving without Tax, from our side it normally points to one thing..No Insurance.
This cannot be backdated the same as the Road Tax.
As long as you can back up your story with docs then you should normally be ok

[Davel]

Still feel that most coppers would be reasonable about this and so long as you had the receipt for the car and could prove that the situation was genuine, you wouldn't be threatened with prosecution.

Mind you, it could depend on your attitude at the time and the mood that the copper might be in!

Good luck anyway - but I think that you'd be very unlucky to be stopped.

[carrie78]

I'm amazed that there is no procedure to cover this type of thing.
What about these new road tax cameras? I can't explain the situation to them as i could a police officer.

So the only way to do this legally is to get insurance in advance on a car i don't know if i want to buy to then be able to get road tax?

Thanks everyone for the comments.

Thanks
Carrie

[carrie78]

Does anyone know if the tax cameras are being used?

Thanks
Carrie

>> Edited by carrie78 on Thursday 28th August 12:35

[chrisgr31]

carrie78 said:

Does anyone know if the tax cameras are being used? Thanks Carrie >> Edited by carrie78 on Thursday 28th August 12:35

What tax cameras?

I seem to recall Tonyrec saying some time ago it takes time for the DVLA database to get updated with the purchase of tax discs.

Therefore if you were caught by a tax disc camera my guess is they would soon realise that a day or wo later you bought the tax, it was backdated and all is hunky dory.

[Munta]

I guess the question is why would anyone buy a car that is untaxed?

If it is untaxed then you are unable to test drive the car. Personally, I would not buy a car if I had not tested it. And I guess that would be the governments answer to this issue.

If you buy the car to do it up, then you could argue that you should get a truck to take the car away.

And that raises an interesting question. Can you legally tow a car that has no tax, Mot or insurance?

[wiggy001]

Munta said:

I guess the question is why would anyone buy a car that is untaxed? If it is untaxed then you are unable to test drive the car. Personally, I would not buy a car if I had not tested it. And I guess that would be the governments answer to this issue. If you buy the car to do it up, then you could argue that you should get a truck to take the car away. And that raises an interesting question. Can you legally tow a car that has no tax, Mot or insurance?

I was with a friend a few years ago when he ask a BiB this question as he wanted to tow a car to a trackday that was not taxed. He was told that officially the car must have tax if it is being towed, even if only the back wheels are in contact with the road.

Whether anything would be done in reality is another matter

[sidekick]

I just bought a car from a main dealer on a part-ex, the car I was buying was untaxed and when I was haggling the price the salesman made a point of saying "and of course you can cash in the tax disc on your part-ex to get the money back on the unused portion". So it would appear that the practice is quite widespread (within the motor trade at least) where the dealer or the seller of the vehicle will cash in the tax disc for a refund, thus leaving the vehicle untaxed for the next owner.
As the car needed prep'ing before I took delivery it gave me the chance to arrange insurance (and get the insurer to send the cover note straight to the dealer, which arrived the day following me phoning the insurer) and for the dealer to tax the car on my behalf.
If you're buying the car privately why not ask the seller to get the car taxed prior to completing the V5 transfer of ownership document. That way, you can get insurance cover via a phone call and the car will be already taxed for you?

[carrie78]

chrisgr31 said:

What tax cameras?

I recall hearing a chitty chitty bang bang ad on the radio about tax disk cameras. Not heard any further info tho.

Carrie

[wanty1974]

It looks like it... none of the trade forecourts round here have any cars with tax disks on.

[carrie78]

Every second hand car i have bought (about 5 including the vx) came with no tax. It is from a garage so unable to get owner to get it. I'm travelling a fair way to see it so if i buy it i was planning to sort insurance over the phone and drive it back.

Thanks
Carrie

Has anyone any info about the tax cameras?

[Mr E]

You can drive a car on dealer plates without tax I believe.

Certainly every car I've driven from a dealer had dealer plates and no tax.

Last time I did it, I got my insurance co to fax the dealer a cover note and then the dealer went out and organised the tax.

[carrie78]

I was under the impression that the Post Office won't take a faxed copy of insurance certificate/cover note?

Thanks
Carrie

[sidekick]

carrie78 said:

Has anyone any info about the tax cameras?

I have only once seen a (white) DVLA van parked on the side of the road with two cameras on tripods with wires that went into the back of the van. I assume they were doing ANPR linked up to the DVLA database (either live or a local copy). The van was quite clearly marked "DVLA" on the side.

I have also heard rumours of fixed DVLA ANPR cameras but don't know if this is real or locations!

Sorry not to be of more help

>> Edited by sidekick on Thursday 28th August 15:07

[Mr E]

That's what I thought as well. More to the point, the cover for this car didn't start until the following Saturday, so how the dealer got the tax I'm still unsure of.

[icamm]

Just to tidy up a couple of points.

1. If taking a car to a pre-booked MOT it only needs to be insured. It does not need tax or be road legal in any other way (although if it was dangerous you could get done) as there is no other way to get an MOT. Even if it fails you can legally drive it home again unless it is impounded. However, you must go by the most direct route and not stop at the shops etc.

2. Car dealers normally either advise the seller to cash the tax back or do it themselves. Often they do it themselves as it adds an extra few quid to their profit. They should then use trade plates when giving test drives as these effectively give the car road tax for that journey.