Buying a car without a V5 or service history

loskie

just avoid it , avoid the hassle and spend the 10k on a decent car from a reputable dealer. If as you say you know nothing bout car buying one of the dealer approved schemes or a private purchase with an AA type inspection would be ideal for you.
Always do an HPI check, but do it properly as per the instructions. Otherwise you will not benefit from the cover if it goes tits up.

onomatopoeia99

2ba3c wrote: »

I've only ever bought a car before, from a friend who had a dealership and so didn't really understand the purpose of the VC5 other than registering ownership.

The V5C is not a title document, it does not tell you who owns the vehicle. It records the registered keeper, which is not necessarily the owner.

There is no central register of who owns what vehicle akin to the land registry for houses.

BlueFox

I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole, in fact I wouldn't touch this car with someone else's barge pole...

If I spend that amount on a car (and I have done) then I inspect the V5 and service history at the time of viewing and way before I even put down a deposit, and yes I'm talking about at a main dealer.

Just be very careful when spending £10k on a car and avoid it completely if there is no basic vehicle documentation.