Paying/collecting for used car bought in UK

emm80

Hey all

I'm currently in the process of buying a used car in the uk and have a small refundable deposit on it pending an AA inspection being done on Monday morning, i have had the data check done and all came back fine.

Providing the inspection comes back to my standard I'll be going ahead with the sale and just had a few queries.

It's a large main marque dealer and they are insisting that it will take 5-7 days for any draft or money transfer to clear on their side.this leaves me having to transfer the money over without having actually seen the car with my own eyes or make two return trips .
Now the car has very low miles ,is still under manufacturers warranty and looks immaculate from the images and the AA are very thorough from what I've read/heard.
What I'm wondering is has anyone experience of this and how did you pay the balance ,did you make two trips?pay cash?


Also I'll be driving back and while there's an MOT on it and I will be insured there's no tax,is it possible to tax it or would I be safe enough drivin 2.5 hrs to the ferry?

Wall of text I know sorry,just lookin for advice!

Thanks alot

corktina

its a risk driving to the ferry with no tax, you MAY get away with it but the Traffic Cops are out there on that road.

You will need to ensure also that the Insurance Cert states the car details rather than rely on the other car option on a normal Irish cert, they might well impound the vehicle whilst you get proof its insured

Get the dealer to tax it

Shorty69664

When I bought a car in the UK from a dealership I paid with my credit card. I just put the money into the credit card account before I went over. you could check with the dealership if you could do that?

+1 with the tax. My in-laws are English and they insisted on any car I bought being taxed as they said they really crack down on it over there.
As far as I know you can claim back money from the DVLA for any months the tax is not used.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/motoring/owningavehicle/howtotaxyourvehicle/dg_10012526

colm_mcm

Dealership willbe charged commission by merchant services company for credit card, about 1% so €100 for a €10000 car, maestro doesn't have the same charge but afaik there are limits on how much you can put on a debit card when abroad.

effone

I bought a car in the UK last year. I used transfermate.com. You set up an account with them via email with Garda signed utility bills, handier than going into their offices in Dublin. You then agree the transfer rate and transfer the money from your bank to them the day before you travel. There are no other fees. They hold the money until they hear from you on the day and it then takes a couple of hours to make the transfer.

The dealership ended up taxing the car for me to get to the ferry on their own insurance as mine wasn't accepted on the day. You can claim the majority of it back afterwards.

I left Dublin on an early flight to East Midlands and got back at about 1am the next morning.

Happy motoring!

emm80

Thanks for all the replies

I have called my insurance comp and they will change the policy over at an agreed time before I leave,I'm not sure will I have any physical proof of being insured on the new car,maybe I can get some sort of document from the insurance company with the new car details on it?

Thanks for the heads up on the tax ,I'll make sure there's tax on it.

I'llcheck out transfermate also but I'm hoping to head out Friday so i need to be able to set it up by then whatever method I use.

The dealership suggest bank transfer and actually gave me the full Acc details .
Maybe this is just me being paranoid about handin over hard earned money ,but it could be anyone's account ,even the salesmans bank details!! there's no acc name on it such as the dealers name,I was actually thinking of ringin up the UK bank and checkin it out before paying it,am I overthinkin this??

Thanks alot.

corktina

definately get something to show the UK Police you are insured...they wont be able to/inclined to check it. It would mean a lot of aggro and expense to get your car out of the pound!

guttenberg

emm80 wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies

I have called my insurance comp and they will change the policy over at an agreed time before I leave,I'm not sure will I have any physical proof of being insured on the new car,maybe I can get some sort of document from the insurance company with the new car details on it?

Thanks for the heads up on the tax ,I'll make sure there's tax on it.

I'llcheck out transfermate also but I'm hoping to head out Friday so i need to be able to set it up by then whatever method I use.

The dealership suggest bank transfer and actually gave me the full Acc details .
Maybe this is just me being paranoid about handin over hard earned money ,but it could be anyone's account ,even the salesmans bank details!! there's no acc name on it such as the dealers name,I was actually thinking of ringin up the UK bank and checkin it out before paying it,am I overthinkin this??

Thanks alot.

No bank would entertain you ringing asking that. Would you really be happy if someone rang your bank to confirm that account xxxxxxx belonged to you? Bank transfers are brilliant for you as it only takes a few hours for the money to transfer so you can take possession the same day you pay them.

emm80

@guttenburg
Yea on second thoughts ringing up the bank was a crazy plan!!
The dealer maintains that even with bank transfer it will take up to a week to clear,I don't do much money transfers but I would have thought there would be some sort of same day payment type I could use(apart from cash).


As for the insurance I'll get on to them and get them to post out some proof,all presuming the inspection goes on Monday .

hondasam

I don't think you need tax it to take it on the ferry. You can drive an untaxed veh to get the mot done as long as it has insurance, so I don't think any cop will do you tbh.

Henry Ford III

hondasam wrote: »

I don't think you need tax it to take it on the ferry. You can drive an untaxed veh to get the mot done as long as it has insurance, so I don't think any cop will do you tbh.

It's quite possible you'll get pulled. ANPR will light up like a christmas tree.

Get the seller/dealer put 3 months tax on it. Pay them for it if need be.

Marcusm

hondasam wrote: »

I don't think you need tax it to take it on the ferry. You can drive an untaxed veh to get the mot done as long as it has insurance, so I don't think any cop will do you tbh.

You can drive an un-MOT'd car to the garage for a pre booked MOT; I don't think there's any exception for car tax.

Indeed Hondasam, you are correct (logically) that you can drive it to and from a pre booked MO
T. Probably can't stop on the way back to tax it though!!

afatbollix

Henry Ford III wrote: »

It's quite possible you'll get pulled. ANPR will light up like a christmas tree.

Get the seller/dealer put 3 months tax on it. Pay them for it if need be.

Its minimum of 6 months in the UK.

As all ready said most motor ways in the UK have AMPR cameras on them so if any of the 3 is not on a car it routes the nearest cop to pull you over.

You can get the tax back from the DVLA once you prove its on Irish plates.

copacetic

emm80 wrote: »

@guttenburg
Yea on second thoughts ringing up the bank was a crazy plan!!
The dealer maintains that even with bank transfer it will take up to a week to clear,I don't do much money transfers but I would have thought there would be some sort of same day payment type I could use(apart from cash).


As for the insurance I'll get on to them and get them to post out some proof,all presuming the inspection goes on Monday .

Dealer is talking rubbish, transfermate will get it there same day. I've also previously used them and it took 2 hours or so.

Bank of Ireland said that same day transfers needed to be processed by 10am, but didn't open until 10am the day I needed to do it and only told me about the same day limitation after 10am. Let me down badly, but setup transfermate and got money transferred all in same day.

hondasam

In order for the OP to tax it himself he would need Insurance and I think that has to be with a UK broker. Only the reg owner can get the tax back.
I'm not sure motor dealers can get tax back.

CiniO

Why OP can't use cash to pay for the car?
It's the simplest option.

hondasam

CiniO wrote: »

Why OP can't use cash to pay for the car?
It's the simplest option.

Depends on how much cash, you are only allowed bring a certain amount of cash out of the country.

CiniO

hondasam wrote: »

Depends on how much cash, you are only allowed bring a certain amount of cash out of the country.

I recall something that over 10k euro you have to inform the customs.
But that doesn't mean it's prohibited to carry more.
But I'm not sure what are exact regulations in regards that.

emm80

I don't really feel comfortable carrying that much cash on me all day traveling .the AA also advised me to use draft /money transfer as cash would leave no paper trail -although the fact it's not a private sale to some cowboy in a car park should mean I'm ok in that regard .
I wasn't aware of the 10k limit if I'm honest !

Bigcheeze

There is a paper trail. The dealer will give you a receipt.

golden lane

dealers are normally obliged to tax the car before it is collected....and you pay for it....

min. six months....you can claim the other five months back, if you apply immediately...

ABajaninCork

I remember when buying my car, I had to give the dealer the tax money separately, and he taxed the car before I left. No dealer will let you drive off the lot without taxing the car AND proof of insurance.

OP - dunno who you're insured with but check Quinn (Liberty). They were the only ones who would insure me both in the UK as well as Ireland. All I did when I moved over was to inform them of the Irish address.

LittleGarry

I brought a car over in February 2010. I bought it from a dealer just outside London (Audi A4 - £19k). The way I handled the transfer in agreement with the dealer was that I got a sterling draft here about 4 days before heading over. I scanned this draft and emailed the scanned image to the dealer. The dealer passed the scanned image onto their bank to verify it's authenticity. I brought the actual draft over with me and handed it to the dealer when I was happy with the car - job done:D
On the insurance - I got the reg number from the dealer before I went over and got a cover note from my insurer here with the specific car details on it, then when I got the car back here and re-registered it they issued me the full policy documentation with the Irish details.
With regard to the tax, I noever even thought to ask in all honesty, there was no disc displayed on the car when I picked it up. I drove from London to Holyhead (overnighted in a mates house in Birmingham) and had no hassle - maybe I was just lucky?!

emm80

@littlegarry

That sounds like a pretty good way for both parties,did you scan and e-mail the draft yourself or was that done by your bank?

At the moment my plan is to call Barclays bank in the morning and enquire as to the length of time for a money transfer from my particular bank to clear on their side,surely they can tell me this as I cannot get a definitive answer online,if it's less than 3 days then I'll xfer it Tuesday morning first thing and head over Friday -of course this is if the AA inspection comes back perfect eg:car is as new.
Otherwise I'll either use transfermate or maybe the method of scanning the Sterling draft because I'll want to see whatever faults the inspection throws up with my own eyes.
Also I'm with One Direct,I think their under the Aviva banner,they said I would be insured for up to 90 days abroad.I'll make sure and get proof to bring with me.

Thanks for all the opinions/advice I feel alot more confident about it now at least !

LittleGarry

Yes, I brought the draft home and scanned it myself.

emm80

Well just back on Irish soil ! Thanks for all the advice it went pretty smooth, I got BoI same day transfer to UK,even though it took 2 days it was there in time.
I brought about 20% of the price of the car with me as cash as a precaution.

Bus from galway to dub,Flew from dub to birmingham ,train to stoke,ferry back

The dealer taxed the car for me and had no probs with any cops on the way to the ferry.
Now to get it VRT'ed !
on a side note just over half a tank of diesel for stoke to holyhead an dublin to Galway via donegal !I shoulda went diesel yonks ago!!
Thanks again!

hondasam

emm80 wrote: »

Well just back on Irish soil ! Thanks for all the advice it went pretty smooth, I got BoI same day transfer to UK,even though it took 2 days it was there in time.
I brought about 20% of the price of the car with me as cash as a precaution.

Bus from galway to dub,Flew from dub to birmingham ,train to stoke,ferry back

The dealer taxed the car for me and had no probs with any cops on the way to the ferry.
Now to get it VRT'ed !
on a side note just over half a tank of diesel for stoke to holyhead an dublin to Galway via donegal !I shoulda went diesel yonks ago!!
Thanks again!

Happy,safe motoring and good luck with the car.