road tax

[tell-me-more]

How do I buy a car with no road tax and get it home? I can't insure it until I've seen it and bought it, but I need the insurance certificate to get the tax disc, don't I?

Thanks.

[SeaJayPea]

You would only be able to drive it home legally with a tax disc in the window, so you'd have to put it on a transporter unless:

You know somebody who has legal access to a set of trade plates and would be prepared to use them.

or

You buy it, get the registration document, go to an insurance broker, insure it, take the cover note, MOT and V5 to a Post Office and tax it there

or, if you insure it online on over the phone you must wait until you get documentary proof that it is insured, so you may need to go back a few days later to collect the vehicle

or

Ask the person you're buying it from to tax it himself and pay him the extra (I'm assuming it's on their insurance currently)

Cheers

[tell-me-more]

Thanks very much for your answer SJP.

The car is a long way from where I live, and I'm not insured to drive any car.

If the current owner gets it taxed and I go to view it and like it, could I then buy it, call up an insurance company to get insurance 2 mins later, and then legally drive it home before the documents arrive?

[whiffy]

Why buy an untaxed car?

Has the seller so little regard for the buyer as to present him with this problem?

I would be thinking, why can't you be bothered to tax it.

[tell-me-more]

The seller says he bought it for his mother, but she didn't want it.

[Twenty20]

How is anyone going to test drive the car if its not taxed to go on the road? Would you buy a car without test driving it? Pose the question to the seller.

[therubster]

there is another way thet you could test drive it legally without a tax disc and you could also get it home without a tax disc.

does any member of your family or a freind have a vehicle with a tow bar. if so you could ask them to go with you and tow it to a car park. you can test drive it on there as it is classed as private land and not classed as a highway, therefore you can drive it without the tax or insurance.

if you tow it home you are still ok as long as the engine is not running and there is a ON TOW sign on the back of the car and a trailer board with the reg mark of the vehicle that is towing the car.

in the eyes of the law the car being towed is then calssed as a trailer which does not need to be taxed or insured.

the aa and rac do this all the time.

[Ethel]

If the wheels are on the ground, it must be taxed and insured to be towed on the public highway.

[SeaJayPea]

Hi, tell-me-more. Yes, providing it has a legitimate tax disc in the windscreen and you've insured it, then you can drive it home perfectly legally. I would, however, caution you, as 20-20 says, to make sure that somebody who knows about cars test drives it somehow before handing over your hard-earned cash.

Good luck

[tell-me-more]

Thanks all for your answers.

The seller is not insured to drive the car, but has agreed to ask the trader who sold it to him to tax it for him if he can.

If the car is taxed, could I then just ring up an insurance company and get insurance over the phone without waiting for documents to be sent?

[tell-me-more]

Thanks again CJP. Can I insure a car just by phoning up? No need to send documents or wait to receive them? Sorry to labour the point, it's just I don't want to get on the wrong side of the law.

[SeaJayPea]

Yes, you can get insurance over the phone, and you don't need to have the paperwork in your hand to be able to drive. I'm assuming that your Road Tax problem has been sorted now.

Obviously, if you can get to a computer and insure your car online, then you can print out confirmation that you've done it. But normally, it'd turn up in a day or two, anyway.

Good luck

[tell-me-more]

Thanks again CJP.

As long as I don't _have_ to print out confirmation before I can drive, yes, I think my concerns are sorted now.

I couldn't resist answering Walcott to the England hat-trick question.

[terambulan]

Ask the seller to get the car taxed before you buy the car. The seller can add the tax cost to the selling price.

Phone your insurance company for cover; they will fax u a cover note or give you the policy number......you can now drive the car.

[tell-me-more]

Thanks Terambulan. I've done exactly that as regards tax, and the seller agreed, and also updated the MoT so it had 12 months.