Scrappage for a friend

MichaelR

Hello,

I have a car fit for the scrappage scheme. But I can't afford a new car at the moment.

A friend can (possibly, he's thinking of it) afford a new car on the scrappage deals, but has no suitable car.

Given that we trust each other, can my scrappage car somehow be used to buy a new car for him? I mean fully legally, no forged documents etc.

The scheme I thought of:

- He gets a bank draft for the new car price on scrappage scheme, payable to garage

- I buy new car from garage with the bank draft

- He takes the new car (and pays me small money for my scrappage car)

- I get the logbook in the post and immediatelly fill it in with him as the new owner, and send off to Shannon

The downsides:

- How would he get the car insured while he does not legally own it? Or if he can't, how does he store the car while I wait for logbook and then while the change gets processed? Perhaps, if we tell the dealer of the scheme, the dealer will agree to hold the car on their yard, insured from theft by their insurance? (Or would the dealer stop us despite this being technically legal? But that's one less sale for them so why would they?)

- He would need to have the cash, or finance as cash. No hire purchases.

Would this really work? And/or: is there a better approach? And/or: any downsides I did not think of, or any law that this would break? I would NOT want to do anything illegal.

colm_mcm

should work as long as ye both trust each other.

Garage generally won't car as long as it's paid for. bear in mind the car has to be taxed before the tax book (reg cert) is issued.

thebiglad

This is going to be an interesting thread - so many questions!

I assume that your car qualifies for all the scrappage requirements.

1st point, try to approach the dealers with the scrappage car and see what prices you can get for the car he wants.

As far as if you go ahead with the purchase - downsides I see

You are without a car - are you sure you want to give your own car up and obviously get yourself a replacement.

A new car devalues when it is driven from the dealer, adding another owner immediately won't help either - if he plans to keep the car for a while this is not an issue.

You also had a question about insurance - easy solution is that you stick the car on your own insurance policy, upgrade to comp and put your friend as a named driver (presume you do have insurance for your car). Then when your mate re-registers the car he takes his own insurance and you put your replacement car on your policy.

It is not illegal - if you are happy to go through the hoop-la go for it

colm_mcm

thebiglad wrote: »

A new car devalues when it is driven from the dealer,

One of my least favourite chiches.

That's presuming:

That you want to sell it straight away

That a new car is freely available for what you paid for yours (which isn't actually the case with the scrappage scheme prices)

air

It should be no hassle, I wouldnt even bother upgrading your insurance to comprehensive, there's no reason you even have to take the car away from the garage until it's transferred to your mates name and insured under his policy.
I doubt having 2 names on the logbook will have any impact on it's resale value either Any prospective buyer with half a brain would see that the first owner was just a paper transaction and everyone knows about scrappage so it shouldn't cause any suspicion.

Pdfile

The amount of names on the logbook doesnt make a difference, most Upmarket cars have 5-10 owners within 2-3 years with low mileage for example.

as for the whole plan... make sure your not over complicating it... keep it as simple as possible.

dnme

Why not sell the scrappage car to your friend, then let him do the deal with the dealer?

That way, there's no messing with bank drafts
There's no risk to either party
There's no trust issues
The new car only gets one registered owner

colm_mcm

the scrapage car has to be in the name of the person trading in for 18 months.

dnme

colm_mcm wrote: »

the scrapage car has to be in the name of the person trading in for 18 months.

ah, gotcha, thanks colm

MunsterCycling

Was wondering about doing the same.

air

It's a worthwhile exercise in many cases given that many manufacturers are adding additional discounts in addition to the government scrappage over and above what you would get for a cash deal normally. Your mate gets 1500 for a potentially worthless car & you get the best possible deal buying new.

mickdw

I would tell your friend to buy an 09 car, bypass the scrappage and get an better car for the money.

Your plans sounds ok, friend gets draft, you give it to garage, car is registered to you. Leave it there and do the exchange paperwork as soon as is allowable, that way your friend gets the new car experience of picking up from dealer etc which can be quite nice and you dont have to bother with naming him on insurance.
One query I would have - Is there any condition attached to te scrappage scheme to make you keep the car for 6 months or anything like that? There is a condition like that on the registration book of cars obtained vrt free by disabled people. They must keep the car 2 years unless written off.

air

mickdw wrote: »

I would tell your friend to buy an 09 car, bypass the scrappage and get an better car for the money

Possibly, however if he gets a good extra discount from the manufacturer there mightnt be a huge price difference and he would have an extra year's warranty also and the reassurance of having a brand new vehicle.

colm_mcm

air wrote: »

It's a worthwhile exercise in many cases given that many manufacturers are adding additional discounts in addition to the government scrappage over and above what you would get for a cash deal normally. Your mate gets 1500 for a potentially worthless car & you get the best possible deal buying new.

The likes of Fiat give the Eco bonus regardless, I'd check straight prices before ruling buying straight out

air

Yeah, that's why I said "many" manufacturers, I know that skoda are giving a scrappage discount of approx 4600 or so but a poster here mentioned that he was only offered 1500 off list for a cash deal. As always it pays to suss out all the options.