Buying a car with no tax - Private seller - Advice please

l-cooper9

Hi,

Just after some advice please.

I have found a car that I would like to go and look at and test drive however, on their advert they list the car having no tax, its just run out. I recently heard last month on the news that it is now illegal to own a car with no tax unless you declare it SORN. The car is being sold privately, not through a garage, so does this mean I would be unable to test drive the car?
Also, if I did buy the car, when I come to tax it would I have to pay for the months its not been taxed for i.e if the tax ran out end of May and I buy it now would I be charged for tax from May onwards?

I haven't even seen the car so it could be a pile of cr*p but just want to know where I stand with test driving it and taxing it.

Thanks

Laura

scheming_gypsy

new laws or not, you shouldn't be driving a car on the road without tax so that hasn't changed. although it's down to you if you want to take it for a blast to make sure it's ok before committing to buy.

and yep, if it hasn't been SORN'ed then the tax has to be continuous so it'd need taxing from when it ran out.

s_b

if its sorned it also means car not insured
just imagine if you had an accidenty
banned
lose your job
wife leaves you
name in paper
parents of children you massacred vow to hunt you down once you leave prison

just not worth it is it?

go to a dealer,there you have choice,rights and the benefit of full insurance cover,free balloon and of course accompanied test drive:)

fivetide

s_b wrote: »

go to a dealer,there you have choice,rights and the benefit of full insurance cover,free balloon and of course accompanied test drive:)

Of course - as this is MSE you should never never buy privately and always go to a dealer and pay a few grand more for the same car as opposed to shopping about private and retail and finding the best package for your budget.

Sarcasm aside, it depends what the car is and what it is worth. Technically no, you can't drive it but if you have a decent inspection done then it really shouldn't be too much of an issue. You'd need your own insurance once you bought it anyway so that means you could then tax it.

I wouldn't discount it immediately, a lot of cars are ending up SORN thanks to the new insurance laws so gives you lots of haggle space.

5t.

TonyMMM

s_b wrote: »

if its sorned it also means car not insured

Not necessarily.

..to answer the OP:

To test drive, you should make sure that there is insurance in place that covers YOU to drive the vehicle. This could be your own current insurance, if you have DOV cover, or could be the current owners policy, if that covers any driver (very unlikely). You could take out a day insurance policy if necessary.

Without tax, no it shouldn't be on the road .... but that is much less serious than the insurance, and you may be willing to risk it for a 10min test drive.....up to you.

Back tax ... you are only liable for the tax from when you become the owner of the vehicle....any backdated tax for "missing months" would be the responsibility of the current owner.

boyse7en

if its sorned it also means car not insured

Not true, I've got a car that's insured and is also SORNed. I suspect many 'classic' or summer-only cars are still insured throughout the periods when they are not taxed.

l-cooper9

Thanks for the info.

I have left a message with the person selling the car asking if it has been delcared SORN or not.

I would preferrably like to try and drive the car, its about £4k, which to me is a lot of money to spend on a car especially by not being able to test drive it. But then again I dont fancy test driving it without tax and end up in trouble, not really worth it.

Tax isnt expensive for this car, so it would be much easier for them to just tax it so people can test drive it. By the look of the pictures from the advert it looks like its parked on a main public road (not in a garage / private) so should be taxed really.

scheming_gypsy

let them drive it, you might not be able to feel anything that isn't right but you'll hear any noises and know if it moves.

All you can take from the pictures is that it was parked on the road, they could be a couple of weeks old or the car was moved to get some decent pictures.

s_b

A little bit of sensible advice for you now then OP after my little laugh
if this car is worth £4k and the owner has let the tax run out and its parked on the road and he needs to sell it,what does that tell you about the car and even the owner too?
I will let you into a little trade secret either the guy is skint,tight,bankrupt or all 3
has the car been kept in the same skint ,tight,couldnt care less state?
i assume this car is less than a dealer or comparable private for the area
be careful the country at the moment is full of desperate convincing people with lemonade pockets who will screw an individual who doesnt take due precautions like all the usual checks we all recommend on here


hpi
check it over carefully
check all paperwork corrosponds to sellers house
does seller seem cosha

scheming_gypsy

s_b wrote: »

if this car is worth £4k and the owner has let the tax run out and its parked on the road and he needs to sell it,what does that tell you about the car and even the owner too?
I will let you into a little trade secret either the guy is skint,tight,bankrupt or all 3

or he has a normal sized garage which barely fits a car in, never mind being able to take photos if it while it's in there?

pitkin2020

welcome to the new world of buying a used car. The seller has probably replaced his car so has had to SORN it because he has no insurance on it and has cashed the TAX back. You can still go and have a look at the car, fire it up but you won't be able to test drive it unless its on private land.

SB just because the pics were taken out on the road doesn't mean thats where its kept or it wasn't taxed at the time the pictures were taken.