Car buying question

[dangie]

Could someone please answer me a simple question?

Can you view, test drive, purchase and drive away a car all within a few hours (same day) from a car dealership?
Can all the necessary forms and insurance be completed?
Thank you

 

[Cowley]

Could someone please answer me a simple question?

Can you view, test drive, purchase and drive away a car all within a few hours (same day) from a car dealership?
Can all the necessary forms and insurance be completed?
Thank you

Do you mean a brand new car? If so I wouldn’t have thought so generally, but even with a used car you quite often find that the vehicles for sale won’t be MOT’d until there’s a definite sale due to the vendor not wanting to have a car on a forecourt with an MOT running down.

I always ask that question if I ring up about a vehicle.

 

[jfollows]

A reputable dealer ought to enable you to register, tax and insure a car at the time you buy it from them. Assuming it’s road-legal, as said above.
There’s nothing special about a car preventing this from being done. It’s only paperwork and a good dealer should know what to do.

 

[87 027]

For a used car, yes, and indeed I have done so just this week. The dealer handled the DVLA transfer online, you also pay for the vehicle excise duty online and if you don't have insurance in place you can buy temporary 'drive away' insurance which in my case cost £27 and gave 3 days' cover

 

[steamybrian]

Could someone please answer me a simple question?

Can you view, test drive, purchase and drive away a car all within a few hours (same day) from a car dealership?
Can all the necessary forms and insurance be completed?
Thank you

My present car I purchased was second hand and still had several months of MOT left to run. I had a test drive and liked it.
I had to purchase road tax from a nearby post office. A temporary insurance was arranged with the dealership.

 

[87 027]

you quite often find that the vehicles for sale won’t be MOT’d until there’s a definite sale due to the vendor not wanting to have a car on a forecourt with an MOT running down.

I always ask that question if I ring up about a vehicle.

I've just checked the MOT history and in fact it was renewed by the dealer a few weeks before my purchase. The test drive was done on trade plates but having looked online this doesn't give cover if the MOT isn't current.

 

[Cowley]

I've just checked the MOT history and in fact it was renewed by the dealer a few weeks before my purchase. The test drive was done on trade plates but having looked online this doesn't give cover if the MOT isn't current.

Yes that’s correct and I think a lot of people don’t realise that actually.

 

[dangie]

Thanks everyone. The car is from a large dealership. It's my son in law who hopes to buy it.

 

[Gloster]

When I bought a second hand car two years ago it was a case of arranging the insurance in advance, and then fixing the road tax and ownership at the garage. I had paid a deposit a few days before and had got them to MOT it.

 

[pdq]

The big car supermarkets, like Motorpoint, Carshop etc make a point of the cars being available to drive away the same day.

 

[birchesgreen]

When i've bought second hand cars i've driven them away there and then (well once the DVLA stuff was sorted out and i called the insurer to switch cars). Mind you the last second hand car i bought was in 2004...

 

[EZJ]

I myself bought a car just a few weeks ago, I'd been on the look out for a specific model with the right miles that had been looked after, I phoned up at 0900, test drive at 1200, car was insured and being driven home at 1330. All very simple to arrange everything you need online now.

 

[87 027]

The big car supermarkets, like Motorpoint, Carshop etc make a point of the cars being available to drive away the same day.

I myself bought a car just a few weeks ago, I'd been on the look out for a specific model with the right miles that had been looked after, I phoned up at 0900, test drive at 1200, car was insured and being driven home at 1330. All very simple to arrange everything you need online now.

Agree with all the above. I arrived at a dealer midweek last week, test drove the models I'd shortlisted based on previous research, and once all the administrative formalities were completed online was on my way back home with the new motor a couple of hours later! So to answer the OP, yes it is definitely possible

 

[Roger1973]

At the risk of stating the obvious (but aware a few people do still get caught out by it) - you can no longer buy a vehicle with the 'unexpired' tax and then renew when the (now virtual) 'tax disc' runs out - the new owner needs to tax vehicle in their name when they become registered keeper. (and you still need to go through the process even if the vehicle is in a class that's zero fee tax.)

This means that unless you manage to buy on the 1st of the month, and / or vehicle has been unlicensed, both new and old owner end up paying for the month in which ownership overlaps...

 

[87 027]

You are quite correct. The VED is backdated to the start of the month of purchase. But to bring it back to the OP's question, the transaction can be completed online while at the dealer's premises and in my case they provided the confirmatory printout in case of any problems en route back home

 

[JamesT]

You are quite correct. The VED is backdated to the start of the month of purchase. But to bring it back to the OP's question, the transaction can be completed online while at the dealer's premises and in my case they provided the confirmatory printout in case of any problems en route back home

Have the DVLA sorted their backlog out now? When I bought a car in 2020 it took three months for them to send the V5 in order that I could tax it.

 

[87 027]

The paper V5C arrived in the post 2 days later

 

[JohnMcL7]

I've had second hand cars I've driven away the same day but some have taken longer depending on what state the car is in, I ask when organising to see a car how quickly I could drive it away as most garages should know.

 

[skyhigh]

When I bought a car in 2020 it took three months for them to send the V5 in order that I could tax it.

Surely you can tax it using the new keeper slip that you retain from the old V5?

 

[JamesT]

Surely you can tax it using the new keeper slip that you retain from the old V5?

I don't recall if I received one, the dealer did the registration online. I certainly didn't have the information I needed to tax it before the V5 eventually arrived.

 

[Minilad]

I did this yesterday. Just make sure you check with the dealer that the vehicle has a current MOT if required and is in a position to be driven away. Some dealers do wait until a vehicle is sold before they do any work on it but many make sure the car is ready to be taken away. I was in the dealership for around 2 hours or so in which time a test drive and all the financial and administrative stuff was completed. Just make sure you ask before you go.

 

[TheSmiths82]

When I used to buy used cars I would often go out to view a car and be driving it within a couple of hours. It only takes a few minutes to arrange the insurance etc and tax it. The main issue as pointing out above is that dealers often prep the car after it has been sold, e.g do a fresh MOT. It depends on the dealer though, I know a few do make sure they have MOTs on their cars that they know will sell quickly, e.g ten year old hatchbacks.

If it is a new car though the quickest I have known was two days as the car was a pre reg but that is rare these days. I had to wait 5 weeks later time I ordered a new car.

 

[87 027]

Surely you can tax it using the new keeper slip that you retain from the old V5?

Yes, this is still possible. It says you can do this online or at a Post Office, but needs to be done before you drive the car as any tax paid by the previous owner no longer carries across to the new purchaser.