buying untaxed private car

paulr70

hey all

am interested in a used car but having checked online its been untaxed since 20th february this year. is it still illegal to road test the car since it hasnt been taxed for 6 days or would they give a period of grace if i was stopped by thr police?

thanks

unforeseen

There is no grace period. If your checks show it is not taxed then ANPR will too. Police aren't interested in the reasons for no tax and will issue an FPN if stopped. Not sure whether they would impound the car as well.

No tax since 20th implies the car has been SORN'd so definitely shouldn't be on the road.

twhitehousescat

20th february ?

why the 20th?

marty2be2000

You'll not be able to drive it at all until it's taxed and insured.

If you buy the car, you can tax it as a new owner online before you drive off using the ref number on the green new keeper supplement only, do not use the ref. number on the main V5C as that is linked to the current owner and not you.

Don't forget insurance either, even if you have DOC cover on your existing policy as that only covers cars not owned by you and even then usually requires the car to have a policy in place already.

marty2be2000

twhitehousescat wrote: »

20th february ?

why the 20th?

I am guessing that is the date the current owner got their new car and declared the one for sale as SORN which takes effect immediately.

AdrianC

marty2be2000 wrote: »

I am guessing that is the date the current owner got their new car and declared the one for sale as SORN which takes effect immediately.

Indeed - they probably changed the insurance over, so needed to SORN it so as not to breach the continuous insurance regs.

So... unless you've got insurance that gives you driving-other-cars and doesn't require the other car to be insured in its own right (possible, but a long way from certain), then you aren't test-driving it at all.

Personally, I'd be happy to test-drive it untaxed. I wouldn't test-drive it without being 100% sure I was insured.

paddedjohn

If your insurance will allow you to drive other vehicles (without that vehicle needing its own policy) then book the car in for an mot local to where it's based and you can then test drive it to the garage.

Billy_Bullocks

paddedjohn wrote: »

If your insurance will allow you to drive other vehicles (without that vehicle needing its own policy) then book the car in for an mot local to where it's based and you can then test drive it to the garage.

Or in fact any mot station.

paddedjohn

Billy_Bullocks wrote: »

Or in fact any mot station.

Yes but why book it in to a station 50 miles away if they are only test driving the car??? A local station would be more convincing to the police if stopped for no tax especially if the car already holds a lengthy test certificate

Billy_Bullocks

paddedjohn wrote: »

Yes but why book it in to a station 50 miles away if they are only test driving the car??? A local station would be more convincing to the police if stopped for no tax especially if the car already holds a lengthy test certificate

Just making the point that distance isn't an issue when you have a prebooked test.

Rover_Driver

paddedjohn wrote: »

especially if the car already holds a lengthy test certificate

The car would only be exempt if it was for a compulsory test, which it would not be the case if there was a current certificate.