car tax

[dosset]

a friend has just bought a car from carcraft and drove it home the same day without any motor tax.None of the cars on show had any tax and when we queried this we where told that it did not present any problem as the police have okayed it.Can this be legal??

[pjay1950]

i would have thought that they would be interested because it is illegal to drive any car on the public road without road tax, and after they have just altered the law, it says that anyone who is driving without road tax is liable to a large fine, so the answer is - the police can NOT o.k. it because it is illegal.

[JOEYSHABADO]

Very illegal. They would say that.

[kempie]

Firstly, although irrelevant to the original question, there are exemptions to the requirement for vehicles needing to display a valid 'tax disc' or Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) certificate which include driving to a pre-arranged MOT test. http://www.v8register.net/subpages/sorn3.htm

Secondly, I believe the new car tax rules (Jan 2004) make it the responsibility of the seller to provide either a valid VED or SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification) to the new owner and even if they don't they remain liable for any fines etc. until the DVLA have processed the Change of Keeper on the Vehicle Registration Document/Certificate (V5/V5C). http://www.v8register.net/subpages/sorn5.htm

[davemerlin]

we bought a car from the same company last September and were told exactly the same thing.  When stopped by the local plod we explained the situation plus we had the paperwork to back it up, We told him that we were heading off to buy the tax that very afternoon the man in question said well make sure you do because i will be on the lookout for it.

Secondly Carcraft are not the only place to do this dubious dealing I have spoken to a few garages and it now appears to be the rule rather than the exception - they do not want the hassle of having to tax vehicles for customers - it is "non productive time"

[kiara99]

We imported a car and picked it up from the docks and drove it home without tax.

You are allowed one journey, i.e. to pick up your car and go and get car tax.

This applies to newcars i.e. not yoe registered.

Not sure about others.

we had to get insurance on the car, not easy when not regestered yet!

Then register the car and tax it.

Only took an hour and a half from picking up from the docks to being on the road.

But all that said you are allowed one journey.

Kiara.

[verrecchia]

technically you are not even allowed to have a car sitting on the road unless it is displaying a valid tax disc, you are NOT allowed ANY journeys , if you are stopped without a tax disc when you have just bought a car, it si the officers discretion whether he believes you or not, and whether or not he lts you drive on, remember if you don't have a valid tax disc, then your insurance is void also. dnagerous situation to be in.

[kiara99]

IMPORTING A VEHICLE
A vehicle which is permanently imported for use in Great Britain must be registered and licensed as soon as possible after it arrives in this country. The vehicle should not be used or kept on public roads until the licensing and registration formalities have been completed. However, if the vehicle needs to have an SVA (see section A "Type Approval") or MOT test in order to be registered, the vehicle may be driven to and from the pre-arranged test appointment. Thereafter, the vehicle must be kept off the road until the registration formalities have taken place. Application for registration should be made to your nearest DVLA Local Office. N.B It is not possible to offer an 'over the counter service'; registration usually takes between 48 to 72 hours.

A "brand new" vehicle can be driven to GB and registered as "new" provided the vehicle:

is registered in GB quickly after collection - this is taken to be 14 days but may be extended to one calendar month at peak periods (e.g. prior to 1st March and 1st September)

Only have reasonable delivery mileage and

Not have been previously "permanently" registered.
N.B. UK law requires a vehicle to be UK licenced and registered for road use. To avoid difficulties, importers are advised to transport, rather than drive their vehicles from the port to home or first destination and to keep them off the road until they have been properly licenced and registered.

For most new vehicles you must present evidence of Type Approval from the supplier or vehicle manufacturer, usually in the form of a Certificate of Conformity.  If the vehicle has not been subject to Type Approval it must pass a Single Approval (SVA) Test

The Above is from the dvla site.As you can see it is not advised but is allowable to get your car passed and all docs sorted for it to be driven from port to home.

Which is what I was meaning but probably explained badly.Kiara