Legal? Legit??

[dunova]

Right, basically there's a L reg BMW 320i that i want to get. The cars beautifull, lovely drive, smooth, etc etc. BUT, its not registered to the guy selling it :?

The chassis numbers match with the V5 document. The last registered owner was in Bristol (where we are). The guy says he's owned it for the past 2 years, but has barely driven it because he has a work van and the wife has only really driven it to her nans and back-hence my he hasnt bothered/got round to registering it in his name. The car also has no tax, but full MOT. Could it be that he hasn't registered it because he didnt want to tax the car and he's probably been driving without insurance?

If i get a check done by the RAC or AA, would this clear it up for me? I'm not bothered if this guy has been driving without tax, but could it have any repocutions on me if i bought it? The past 2 years MOT's confirm that the mileage has only gone up by approx 1500miles, so it does kind of match with his story of not driving it much, so not registering it under his name.

What do the RAC/AA checks tell you? Any info on this is aprreciated.

[Jack]

afaik if the V5 isn't in his name he can't sell it, as it a) doesn't belong to him and b) the V5 isn't in his name so he can't sign it away?

How does that work though? Surely the previous owner would have to have signed it over when he sold it to this guy?

I'd have thought AA/RAC check should confirm "current" owner, i.e. who its registered to with the DVLA?

[dunova]

Well i saw its currently registered to a women that lives in Bristol. He said he bought it from a dealer. Surely the person he bought it from would have sent off the bit of the V5 you fill out and sent it off?? If not, then they would have been fined as soon as he didnt tax it (because it'd still be registered to them).

It's SOOOO annoying!! Why couldnt it have just been legit :evil: I think i'm probably best not to touch this one, its just its a really nice car. Comfortable, quiet, fast and looks great! I've seen another 320 coupe with leather and aircon though for ?1900. Abit more, but might be worth a look.

I really cant understand why/how it wouldn't be registered to him?!? He has the key and alarm fob so surely it couldn't be stolen?? I dont get it :?

[Jack]

Well i saw its currently registered to a women that lives in Bristol. He said he bought it from a dealer. Surely the person he bought it from would have sent off the bit of the V5 you fill out and sent it off??

MY GT-Four has the previous keeper as an RAF guy, not the dealer I bought it from.

And surely the woman who's the registered owner would be getting tax notices for it, and being fined when it doesn't get declared SORN or taxed...? I thought the system was supposed to prevent this situation...

Best to walk and leave it... plenty more fish in the sea so they say. I'm always wary of cars that look toooo good, I remember my first Fiat was immaculate... then 2 weeks later we found the engine was totalled lol

[dunova]

Done abit more thinking and........He has the full V5 with the bottom bit missing. The bottom bit is what's filled out when a dealer buys it. Maybe when they sold it to this bloke, the garage gave him the V5 (when THEY should have filled it out and sent it off) and then he just didnt bother to register it to himself. No-one got done for the tax because as far as the DVLA are concerned it's still sat on a garage forecourt??

If this is the case then if i bought it, i'd fill out the V5 'New keeper' bit, send it off and then when the new V5 came through i could tax it. Do you know if i could then suffer any repocutions? If it HAS dissapeared from the DVLA's system and then it suddenly pops up out of the blue they may be suspicious. Then if i say, 'Well it was his car for 2 years, ask him', then 'he' won't exist because he was never registered to it!!!

Oh god, think i'm going to have to leave it. Such a shame though because i love the car. I might phone him and see if he can give any kind of explanation.

[skud52]

take the logbog with the existing keeper on and when u tax the car sign the new keeper details and hand it in at the same

i had this problem however i explained it all to the woman at the post office n she was very helpfull

you wont get any shit if you buy this car as u will be registed owner of the date you sign so any problems in the past wound be given to you

[dunova]

So i can tax the car with the current V5?? If i took it to the post office and signed it and handed it in i could tax the car there and then?

With the hpi checks, do you know if the one's on the net are any good? I've seen some for ?25-?35. What exactly do they tell you? Are you better off going to the RAC or AA and getting one done do you know? Thanks for the help guys :wink:

[novagirlracer1]

i think he has bought it from an auction as my boyfriend bought a car from a garage and they said they was goin to send the log book off but it never turned up the guy admited it had never had one and it had been bought from auction so my boyfriend had to send off for a new one id check with the tax people first because obviously he has to declare it as sorn as he would get a fine for not been taxed

[skud52]

So i can tax the car with the current V5?? If i took it to the post office and signed it and handed it in i could tax the car there and then?

yes plus they will send the new log book out 2 you, i took mine end of feb and it arived the other day

[Aragorn]

tbh as long as its not stolen you'll be fine

my first car was a similar situation

i registered it and a week or two later the police were at the door saying it had been used in a bank robbery 4 months previous and wanted to know who we buaght it from as it had vanished from their system and they couldnt trace the folk involved in the theft

[Ben]

I drove the Vectra and the Gold for around that long without registering them to me.

[dunova]

I drove the Vectra and the Gold for around that long without registering them to me.

Whats the point in doing that though? Wasn't taxing it a problem?

I didn't buy it in the end anyway. I should be looking at a Vectra sri with gsi bodykit soon, although it's in Brighton :roll:

Ben, i managed to get a loom today so dont worry about bringing one up from Newport, cheers anyway. Hows the gte?

[Chris]

If a dealer buys a car he/she will fill in the bit on the logbook which says about buying it to someone in the motor trade. This gets sent off and leaves the rest of the V5. The responsibility of the car gets taken away from the previous owner, the advantage of doing this is that, another keeper doesnt get added to the logbook, If the car is only in the hands of the dealer for a few days they dont have to wait for the logbook coming back etc, but if the dealer wants to tax it they must go to their nearest DVLA office.

Chris

[hendrix]

ive got 2 nova's that arent in my name :o mind you neither of them were in the name of the person i baught it off :roll:

[Jack]

The length of time it takes to get a change of owner on a logbook, it'd be quicker and easier to legally change your own name to the same as the person who's currently on the V5 :lol:

[Ben]

I drove the Vectra and the Gold for around that long without registering them to me.

Whats the point in doing that though? Wasn't taxing it a problem?

No speeding tickets or tax reminders.

[NovaloadedAgain]

Doesnt matter who's name is on the V5! You can still tax it.
I had a renault 5 gt turbo & I bought it off a bloke in Harrogate, Yorkshire. When I got it home, It was registered & primarily insured in my nans name! Lol. Then I got the road tax. No problems.