Declared my car SORN, now need to sell

Docefc

Hi everyone, 
When we were sent home from the office and furloughed on 80% I looked at ways to trim the fat and make it more palatable, with a 60-mile round commute every day the car was the obvious answer and it just so happened the 2012 Honda CRZ's insurance and tax was up for renewal that same week. Seeing as we're a two-car family and there's no way of accessing the Honda when the Family Fabia Estate is on the drive I decided it would be safe to temporarily declare the car SORN and uninsure on a temporary basis until I returned to work. We now find ourselves in a situation where it is highly unlikely I will be returning to the office (though I am now working from home 4 days a week no longer furloughed) this calendar year and my pregnant wife will be going on maternity in Septmeber, meaning that we can drop to one car. So I need to get rid of the CRZ. It needs a service, some new tyres etc and I'd obviously need to declare it back on the road (taxing is only £20 so no problem) but the big issue I have is insurance, temporary insurance is frankly extortionate and I want to sell via Autotrader/Privately rather than Webuyanycar so I can't define the length of time I want insurance for. Does anyone have any advice? Perhaps policies with good cancellation T&Cs so I can sell and not replace? 

jimjames

I'd leave it as is until you find a buyer. If they want to test drive it then they could take out temporary insurance. You can always agree to deduct the cost off the price if they buy and it will sort out those that are serious. We recently needed to drive a car back after purchase, insurance for a 35 year old for 24 hours was £15 so shouldn't be a deal breaker

AdrianC

Yes, a cheaply-cancellable policy is absolutely the right answer.

Car_54

jimjames said:

I'd leave it as is until you find a buyer. If they want to test drive it then they could take out temporary insurance. You can always agree to deduct the cost off the price if they buy and it will sort out those that are serious. We recently needed to drive a car back after purchase, insurance for a 35 year old for 24 hours was £15 so shouldn't be a deal breaker

So you'd advertise a car and expect the potential buyer to pay to insure it for a test drive? Good luck with that.

Andy_L

jimjames said:

I'd leave it as is until you find a buyer. If they want to test drive it then they could take out temporary insurance. You can always agree to deduct the cost off the price if they buy and it will sort out those that are serious. We recently needed to drive a car back after purchase, insurance for a 35 year old for 24 hours was £15 so shouldn't be a deal breaker

if its been SORN'd they can't take it out for a test drive even with insurance. 

alan_d

Car tax isn't transferred to a new owner, so the only reason to tax it would be for test-drive purposes - which also needs insurance.
I'd suggest advertising as it is, be clear with it's current status and requirements, and state that a potential buyer would need to show they have temporary insurance to test drive it - you can tax online that day if needed for a test drive.

EdGasketTheSecond

How can you tax it based on someone else's insurance? The temporary insurance probably wont even show up on the database in time to tax it. I've had insurance take two weeks to show up on MIB.

AdrianC

Andy_L said:

if its been SORN'd they can't take it out for a test drive even with insurance. 

I'm perfectly happy taking a SORNed car out for a test drive. I won't touch one that's uninsured.

EdGasketTheSecond

AdrianC said:

Andy_L said:

if its been SORN'd they can't take it out for a test drive even with insurance. 

I'm perfectly happy taking a SORNed car out for a test drive. I won't touch one that's uninsured.

Perfectly happy to break the law then?

AdrianC

I'm quite happy to share Solon of Athens' viewpoint.

"Laws are for the guidance of wise men and the blind obedience of fools"

If I'm buying it, it'll get taxed straight away.
If I'm not, it's not my problem.
I don't know if I'm buying it until I test drive it.

(And I'd like several thousand speeding offences not to be taken into consideration, too)

Car_54

AdrianC said:

I'm quite happy to share Solon of Athens' viewpoint.

"Laws are for the guidance of wise men and the blind obedience of fools"

If I'm buying it, it'll get taxed straight away.
If I'm not, it's not my problem.
I don't know if I'm buying it until I test drive it.

(And I'd like several thousand speeding offences not to be taken into consideration, too)

Whether you buy it or not, you are committing an offence, as is the seller. Nick Freeman might be more useful than Solon of Athens.