Advice and opinions please-Should we scrap our van??complicated!!

Peakma

Hi,My partner bought a van last year, for £300. , against my wishes (I said offer them £200,or leave it),anyway he got it with promises of "we'll turn it into camper van and go away to the seaside etc at weekends" and " I'll do carboot sales in it,and it will pay for itself in no time" (these are two things I'm always trying to encourage him to do,but never happen!). So he put it in for it's MOT (another £25)and it failed on two tyres and the brakes,appart from this it is mechanicaly in good condition,and has previosly been well cared for.Since then it has been sat on the drive,slowly filling up with other junk,and completely in the way.(I haven't mentioned that it is totaly hand painted multicoloured, by the previous ownwers!who travelled Europe in it.but god it's an eye sore)
He never put put it on a SORN, which I have constantly reminded him of,and it's always"yeah I'l sort it out..." but like just about everything else,it never happens.( I worry a lot about what fines we may incure for this).
Anyway a scrap man came round early collecting other various bits of tat(hooray )which he has been hoarding for some reason or another.He offered him £60 for the van,to scrap it.
I think this is too much of a loss(but I really would like to see the back of it).My partner thinks this is the perfect solution,and he will not get any fines this way,as it has never been registered to his name-will he ?will it come back on us in the future?Or would it just be (an expensive) problem solved,gone done and dusted.
I know the people we bought it from,and they are aware he still hasn't put it on a SORN, if he scraped it,would it come back on them?
What should we do any advice??I told him if the scrap man would take him away aswell he can have it for free!otherwise,I'm sure it's worth more than £60, infact I'd rather give it away on freecycle to someone who would make use of it.But then theres still the lack of SORN problem,he was going to just try and take it off a SORN,and claim it must of been lost in the post when he originally sent it off(little white lie).
Whats my best solution to rid my thoughts and drive way of this ridiculous vehicle,should we give it the scrap man for £60, or is there a better solution?
Advice please,as it's been driving me mad for too long.

Bossyboots

Any fines for not paying tax or declaring the vehicle off the road are sent to the registered keeper. They will have no defence to this as they should have sent the paperwork to the DVLA to notify them the vehicle had been sold. It may be that they don't realise the fine will come to them. You can only take a "off a SORN" by buying a tax disc which you now can't do because you have no MOT on the vehicle. Scrapping it will not necessarily prevent a fine being issued for failure to tax or declare off road for the period during which duty was payable. How long ago did the road tax expire?

Peakma

It was on SORN when we bought it,just in the previous owners name.I recall her mentioning last Autumn when I bumped into her that they had been sent a reminder to re-SORN it and I think she sent back our details to them.I'd forgotten this bit till now.It's all such a mess.I don't think he has ever registered it his name??butI can't be sure.
What if he had sent off the relevant paper work at the appropiate time,and it really had been lost in the post??have we not got a leg to stand on trying that way??
And how much is the fine is it a standard fee,or after leaving it this long could it run into £1000's??
I'm annoyed that it is now "my" problem,as I said when we got it,if he wants to buy it then it's for him to sort out.(although I have constantly reminded/nagged him to sort it out)I know we are a couple and maybe I should of just done it all originaly as I thought he never would.But he is forever starting projects and abonding them,for me to clear up after him.And to be quite honest I don't have a clue how it all works,I'm still a learner driver and have never bought or sold a car.
Please your opinions and advice,whats the cheapest way out once and for all?It is really a huge strain on my peace of mind.

tonys_3

Look at it from a mathematical point of view.
To get it past its MOT you can buy two part worn tyres costing under £30
fitted. If it was just replacing the brake shoes, you could do that yourself
for around £30. You will need another MOT and I think it will now cost more
than £25. Then you will have to tax it [including back tax] plus insurance
and hope that as the van has not been used for a while that rust etc will not mean that you will have to spend more to pass the MOT. So it will cost at
least £190 to put it on the road [I am assuming that you will pay your insurance premium monthly].
The question now is do you keep it and save on bus/train fares and hope
nothing expensive goes on it, or do you sell it. If you sell it can you get something like £250 for it [£190 +£60]. If you can't, then take the £60 , as a
vehicle without a Mot certificate is worthless to you.
I appreciate that if you sold the van after passing the test, you could reclaim some of the unused road tax but with the back tax probably not much.
Unfortunately, taxing, insuring and running a cheap vehicle is almost as costly as running an expensive one.

Peakma

Is that an option?get it through an MOT and just pay the back tax and face no fine?(it is over a year since we purchased the van.)

tonys_3

If the car is not registered in your name yet, then yes, go to your local DVLA and register and pay the back tax and there will be no fine. Ring up first
anonymously if you want, to confirm. But the DVLA is not a money grabbing
organisation like the London congestion charge people.

MarkyMarkD

It's the previous owner's responsibility to notify DVLA of the change of ownership, and if they've failed to do so, they are liable for the road tax, not you.

tonys_3

There is another thing. you might find that the DVLA will accept your
submission that the van has been off the road for a number of months and
even thougfh you did not apply for a SORN, they might accept your word-
especially if they see a photo of it and your old failed MOT.

JBsplit

its worth more and more saleable with an MOT what make year is it.

golddustmedia

Bung it on ebay.

Somebody will stump up some funds for it. lol