Am I being unreasonable?

oligopoly

Hi. I bought a second hand car and taxed it 12 months upfront upon picking it up. Soon after driving I noticed a few issues and got a bad feeling abut the car. I contacted the dealer to explain and he was ok with me returning it for a refund. Due to the Easter weekend I didn't get the chance to post off the V5C form, but figured this would help the seller out by not registering an extra keeper on the logbook.

The car has now been returned, refund received (less a £100 relisting fee - fair enough) but now there doesn't seem a way to get a pro-rata refund off the road tax. I contacted DVLA as per seller's suggestion and they said the only way to get a refund is to add my name as a keeper. The seller is understandably reluctant for this to happen as he thinks it will cost him £400-500 by having an extra name on the book, and so tough, basically.

Am I being unreasonable to want around £150 back for the tax I paid? When he sells the car will they tax it and I get a refund or will it just be sold as having been taxed for the next 11.5 months?

tightauldgit

Road tax doesn't transfer any more so the seller can't sell it with 11.5 months tax. 

I don't really know what the situation is with the DVLA and refunding it but it's not the dealer's problem  to deal with so i don't think it's reasonable to expect them to take a hit on your tax. 

On the other hand, the seller can't really stop you registering the V5 either and I believe it is a legal requirement to do so when the vehicle changes hands.  

Grumpy_chap

You are probably not being unreasonable in wanting the VED refund.
Yours is a situation that the VED processes are not really set up to facilitate.
It may be one to write down as a loss, or ask the Dealer to send the refund on once they do sell the vehicle on (though there are reasons you and the Dealer would possibly prefer a clean break).

On the up-side, you changed your mind about the car and the Dealer was positive in providing a refund less a small admin charge.  Would you have felt equally as happy if the VED issue was not there but the Dealer had applied a £250 charge for the refund?

Consider your situation against all the threads where people are trying to return cars and getting nothing, like this one:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6439136/dealer-will-not-accept-return-of-online-purchased-car/p1

It may all be a case of chalking the £250 (£100 Dealer charge plus £150 VED) to experience.  Whether that is reasonable depends on whether the used car was £500 or £50k or where in between.

Stateofart

I think you've probably saved money on the return.  I would forget about the tax and chalk it up to experience.

sheramber

refund is to add my name as a keeper. 

Surely if you taxed for a year you are already registered as the keeper.

Is the seller a dealer or a private seller?

jimjames

sheramber said:

refund is to add my name as a keeper. 

Surely if you taxed for a year you are already registered as the keeper.

Is the seller a dealer or a private seller?

I assume the OP means they taxed it using the green slip but then didnt complete the change of details. Next keeper change should trigger it though I suspect but it depends when that happens as to the amount refunded.

Grumpy_chap

jimjames said:

I assume the OP means they taxed it using the green slip but then didnt complete the change of details. Next keeper change should trigger it though I suspect but it depends when that happens as to the amount refunded.

At that time, will the refund go to the previous RK before the car entered the trade?

oligopoly

sheramber said:

refund is to add my name as a keeper. 

Surely if you taxed for a year you are already registered as the keeper.

Is the seller a dealer or a private seller?

i did the tax online entering the V5c number.

Seller is a dealer and says the car is "still in the trade"

sheramber

So you haven’t sent the V5 c slip off yet ?

oligopoly

sheramber said:

So you haven’t sent the V5 c slip off yet ?

Correct. Held off as I thought it would help out the seller with me returning it.

sheramber

I’d be inclined tell the dealer he pays me the tax or I send off the slip to register it.