Selling my car (no insurance, no tax, battery dead)

rorylando45

Hi there, just looking for a bit of advice!

I am looking to get rid of my Fiat Punto. I bought it second hand in Manchester in July 2011 for about £930.

However, six months ago I moved down to London and I no longer need to use my car down here. When I first got to London I cancelled my insurance and obtained a partial refund on my road tax. The MOT is valid until Oct/Nov (I can't remember when exactly, but at least another month).

For the last six months the car has just been sitting in my driveway. This has caused the battery to go dead. I tried charging it yesterday but it is completely dead.

What options do I have for getting rid of the car? I realise I am unlikely to get anything near what I paid for it back, although the car is in fine working condition other than the dead battery.

I was thinking I could buy a new battery and then list the car on eBay/Gumtree/Autotrader...but I imagine there would be difficulties with potential customers wanting to test drive the car, when it is not taxed and I am not insured on it?

Alternatively I could just not bother replacing the battery, and sell the car for scrap..but I looked at a couple of quotes online and I think I'd only get about £100 for that

Hope to hear some thoughts from anyone who is more knowledgeable about selling cars than I am! Thanks a lot

EDIT: also forgot to say that I declared the car off-road with DVLA and I have a SORN

paddedjohn

Bung it on eBay, it will fetch better than scrap price on there. Alternatively you could invest in a battery and new mot and sell it from your local rag.

CKhalvashi

paddedjohn wrote: »

Bung it on eBay, it will fetch better than scrap price on there. Alternatively you could invest in a battery and new mot and sell it from your local rag.

As above.

The amount of money that some crap will fetch on eBay (we managed to get £2400 for a 6yr old Skoda with about 400k on it) is much better than you'll find anywhere else.

I know that the abovementioned car ended up being sold in bits, and this is where there's a huge eBay market for both buying and selling cars.

CK

rorylando45

OK it seems like eBay is the general consensus..but how would the high bidder take the vehicle away from my driveway? When it is declared off-road and the driver (presumably) wouldn't have insurance?

paddedjohn

rorylando45 wrote: »

OK it seems like eBay is the general consensus..but how would the high bidder take the vehicle away from my driveway? When it is declared off-road and the driver (presumably) wouldn't have insurance?

That my friend is the buyers problem, not yours.

rorylando45

I would've thought that I would be liable for the vehicle until DVLA have been notified of the sale though?

For example if the buyer came to collect the vehicle then crashed it on the way home, then as far as DVLA are concerned, I am the registered keeper of the vehicle?

Also, would you advise that I replace the battery before selling it on eBay? Or just sell it as it is?

If I don't replace the battery then whoever buys it is going to need a tow-truck to take it away!

(Thank you for patience with all my questions! )

paddedjohn

Will the battery not charge up or is there a scrappy nearby that you can get a second hand one from?To avoid any problems over ownership of the car you should get the new owner to sign the relevant part of the V5 and also a dated and TIMED receipt so that you can prove to the Police that you were not the owner of the car at that time.

rorylando45

Nah I tried charging the battery yesterday but it's completely dead. Yeah OK I think I will try to get a replacement battery on the cheap then, then list it on eBay! I will post my results in here!

marlot

It might be worth getting a local garage to collect it, do an MOT and drop it back. If they use trade plates you don't need to worry about tax and insurance - and the car will sell for more with a new MOT.

wongataa

rorylando45 wrote: »

I would've thought that I would be liable for the vehicle until DVLA have been notified of the sale though?

For example if the buyer came to collect the vehicle then crashed it on the way home, then as far as DVLA are concerned, I am the registered keeper of the vehicle?

Also, would you advise that I replace the battery before selling it on eBay? Or just sell it as it is?

If I don't replace the battery then whoever buys it is going to need a tow-truck to take it away!

(Thank you for patience with all my questions! )

That's why you fill out the relavent section on the V5C where you detail the new owner and give the new owner the tear off part. Then you post the V5C to the DVLA.

TrickyWicky

Also making sure that the V5 has been signed by the buyer and you have a copy - scanned or a photo of it.