Car Taxed by Dealer...I think??

mikey4020

So I took delivery of a 60 plate Fiesta on Monday and was surprised when collecting it that the dealer had taxed it for the year. There was a problem getting it taxed as my insurance company wouldn't send a copy of my certificate to the dealer, so I had to wait for it to be delivered to me and then forward it to the dealer. However the dealer phoned me at lunch time on Monday informing me that they had taxed the vehicle and I could collect it the same day (Monday). When signing the paperwork etc the salesman stated that he "wasn't really sure how they got the car taxed but that accounts had managed to tax the vehicle." However when I checked the disc on the Monday night it has been stamped with a stamp that says "Dealer" here normally the PO would stamp it and the registration has been hand written in ink. The cost displayed on the disc is "Nil" as well and I'm sure this has been hand written. Now I'm seriously doubting the legitimacy of this disc, can dealers just hand out discs like this? It' a Ford franchise for a certain well known very large national company so I would be concerned if this was wrong but considering the tax is less than £100 a year I don't really fancy being done for this. Is there any way to check whether the car is taxed legally or not?

benham3160

A supplying agent can tax a vehicle, it's fairly common for a new vehicle to have a "Dealer" issued tax-disc, and yes, it's perfectly legal to write a tax-disc by hand, heavens, what happens if you get one from the post office?

The "Nil" part, well, is the vehicle Band-A? What car is it?

Regards,
Andy

mikey4020

I know it's legal to write the disc by hand. I just thought it strange the figure was Nil seeing as it's a Tax Band D car. Ford Fiesta 60 plate 1.25 engine! Just wondered if this was the norm and anyone had heard of a similar situation before really.

benham3160

mikey4020 wrote: »

I know it's legal to write the disc by hand. I just thought it strange the figure was Nil seeing as it's a Tax Band D car. Ford Fiesta 60 plate 1.25 engine! Just wondered if this was the norm and anyone had heard of a similar situation before really.

Odd?

Ask them about it, unless they've done a fiddle...... Wouldn't worry to be honest, check it on www.vehiclelicence.gov.uk if you are really bothered.

You could just ask the dealer too?

Regards,
Andy

mikey4020

Seems to all be legit after checking that. Will mention it when they phone later in the week to check everything is ok. Thanks for the help just found it all a bit strange to be honest.

Gloomendoom

I've just bought a car and it seems that the deal includes a weeks 'free' insurance provided by the dealership which will allows them to tax the car ready for me to pick it up. They don't need me to provide an insurance certificate.

Maybe your dealer operates a similar scheme... when needed.

fat-pudding

When I worked in a dealership I could tax customer cars using our company insurance certificate but the old dragon down the post office would sometimes get in a stress about it, we only did this when we had no other way forward really.

iNath

Everything the dealer has done is all legit and above board.
Ford give you 7 days free 'driveaway' insurance to enable you to take the car home and sort out your own insurance if you have not already done so, this also enables the dealer to tax it.
Cars in tax band D or below are free to tax for the 1st year, this is why the cost says NIL. See here and read the section 'First year rates - Cars registered on or after 1 April 2010 (based on fuel type and CO2 emissions)'.

mikey4020

I wasn't eligible for the 7 day Ford insurance as I'm just under 21. It looks like they've used their own insurance to tax it and it all seems to be above board. I had no idea about this first years tax disc rate though, neither did the salesman apparently as I'm sure he'd be using this as a selling point if he did!! Thanks for the help

Gloomendoom

I wish mine said 'Nil' instead of £245

bigjl

I have bought 6 new cars over the years and the dealer always taxed it for me prior to collection. Though the last 2, bought in Dec 2003 and Apr 2004, I had to provide my insurance three days before collection.

Years ago the dealer used to stick a disc saying "tax in the post", and there was some leeway for the first few weeks.

But that was before ANPR and the law allowing untaxed cars to be seized.

You might find that the salesman assumed you had bought new before, and therefore knew that they would tax it.

As you already know buying a used car rarely means the dealer will tax it for you.