Buying a car without the V5

blued
blued Posts: 698 Forumite
I plan to view a car at the weekend and the current owner has said he cant for the life of him find the v5 anywhere. He has checked and a new one can be applied for (at cost of £25) using a v62 form. For a current owner this takes 10 working days and a new owner 20 working days.

He has said if I wanted the car he can give me a written receipt but other than insurance documents he cant prove ownership as he bought it privately from a friend.

He has forwarded me the mytextcheck messages that he's received that details that it isn't stolen etc. (if interested I'd obviously do my own HPI check).

By googling his name I've found a review the owner wrote for this car back in October so I'm leaning towards it not being stolen!

I know the advice is to not buy a car without a v5 but there are genuine where people lose things. I could pay a deposit and ask him to apply for the v5 and wait (proabably at least) 2 weeks for it to come through and then go down and buy it. Not really ideal for me or the seller though!

Is there anything else I can do to check ownership?
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Comments

  • pendulum
    pendulum Posts: 2,302 Forumite
    It wouldn't stop me buying if it was a good deal. V5s do get lost. Haven't seen mine for a while. Just make sure about the written and signed receipt and paying by cash isn't really recommended as no trail, could pay by cheque and whilst that clears the new V5 should arrive not long after if he applies for it now?
  • mambo69
    mambo69 Posts: 451 Forumite
    I sold my car without a V5, and you ring the DVLA up and order a new one over the phone. if you want the car get him to ring the DVLA and order it whilst you are stood listening, all he needs is the phone number and a debit card

    Mine then took 4 days to turn up
  • pitkin2020
    pitkin2020 Posts: 4,029
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    Have to say the owner can get it in 10 days, if interested leave him a small deposit and tell him he must produce the V5 before you complete.

    Yes V5's do get lost but with such a quick turn around for the owner to get a new V5 its an unnecessary risk.
    Everyones opinion is the most important.....no wonder nothing is ever agreed on.
  • rev_henry
    rev_henry Posts: 4,959
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    I think the official advice is don't do it, but given your circumstances its probably alright. My dad did a few years ago, the car had been repossesed which would have explained it, and the new one came through later on. That was from a dealer though...
  • spiro
    spiro Posts: 6,403
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    One thing you need to bear in mind is that V5 does not prove ownership it proves who the registered keeper is, they are not necessarily the same thing.

    If you buy it and he gives you a written receipt make sure it clearly states that he is the owner.
    IT Consultant in the utilities industry specialising in the retail electricity market.

    4 Credit Card and 1 Loan PPI claims settled for £26k, 1 rejected (Opus).
  • Mark_Hewitt
    Mark_Hewitt Posts: 2,098 Forumite
    So it takes 5 days? Tell them you'll come back in 5 days...
  • blued
    blued Posts: 698 Forumite
    Thanks all. I'd rather not have to make a trip down to view and then another trip down to pick it up a couple of weeks later because it's 200+ miles for me. Calling the DVLA and ordering a new document on the spot seems like a good idea.
  • pitkin2020
    pitkin2020 Posts: 4,029
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    If he can't find the V5 why hasn't he already got on the phone to the DVLA to get it sorted now?? Rather than waiting for a buyer to sort it??

    Rememebr if the car is nearly out of TAX you wont be able to renew until the V5 comes as you wont even have the green slip part to present at the post office.
    Everyones opinion is the most important.....no wonder nothing is ever agreed on.
  • blued
    blued Posts: 698 Forumite
    He hasn'd ordered one because according to the form it will take 2 weeks to arrive so he might not have it in time for the sale. If the new keeper orders it straight off then it takes 4 weeks. So he's thinking instead of ordering it, waiting for it to arrive, filling it out and sending it to the new keeper for a signature and then on to the DVLA for it to then be returned to the new keeper, that it would be easier for the new keeper to just order it and have it come straight out to them in their name.
  • blued
    blued Posts: 698 Forumite
    Tax runs until March so 2 months should be plenty of time for a v5 to arrive. I would hope so anyway.
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