Am I being played re motortax paid by car dealer as part of trade in?

Iospir

Just wondering if this is true or am I being played....?
I recently bought a car from a car dealer , traded in my old car and as part of the deal he agreed to tax the new car for a year.
I've just received the tax disc and it's only for 3 months. When I rang he said dealers are only allowed pay for motor tax 3 months at a time and to give him a ring in December so he can do the next 3 months etc.
I've never heard of this before. Am I overly suspicious or is this true?

Anan1

Why wouldn't you have simply subtracted the cost of the tax from the price you paid for the car? It's not like the dealer can get motor tax cheaper than you. Did you get any of this in writing, or will it be your word against the dealers?

mickdw

I've never heard that there is any such restriction on dealers re taxing cars. Open to correction though.

barone

Hes hoping ya sell on the car before he pays for all the tax prob..

or he will deny it

mgbgt1978

Maybe He's hoping that Motor Tax will be reduced in the Budget

Iospir

Anan1 wrote: »

Why wouldn't you have simply subtracted the cost of the tax from the price you paid for the car? It's not like the dealer can get motor tax cheaper than you. Did you get any of this in writing, or will it be your word against the dealers?

Well he suggested 6 months tax so I just ran with that and said 12 months and you've a deal. I agree it would seem easier for both of us to just reduce the price but I just went with his initial suggestion. Nothing in writing of course.....usual spiel about "don't tell the boss, just between us" etc.

Anan1

Iospir wrote: »

Well he suggested 6 months tax so I just ran with that and said 12 months and you've a deal. I agree it would seem easier for both of us to just reduce the price but I just went with his initial suggestion.

Do you have it in writing that he'll pay 12 months tax as part of the deal?

Iospir

Not in writing so can't prove it if it comes to that. Guess I'll find out in December. Maybe he IS hoping it'll come down in the budget.
To be honest the tax on my last car was at the lowest rate so I thought this car would be the about the same and was surprised to find it was more than double. Maybe he was similarly surprised.

rsole1

Iospir wrote: »

Not in writing so can't prove it if it comes to that. Guess I'll find out in December. Maybe he IS hoping it'll come down in the budget.
To be honest the tax on my last car was at the lowest rate so I thought this car would be the about the same and was surprised to find it was more than double. Maybe he was similarly surprised.

He's coming the bollox.

coolisin

Who is this dealer and can I fool him into doing the same!!
Nice deal OP even if you only get months out of it not so bad.
What type of car you move from and too tax wise?

Iospir

coolisin wrote: »

Who is this dealer and can I fool him into doing the same!!
Nice deal OP even if you only get months out of it not so bad.
What type of car you move from and too tax wise?

I traded in an old old micra (998cc) and got 3 yr old automatic one (1.2). I think the old one was based on age and the new one on emissions. I was quite shocked to find the tax went from €176 to €481. Hadn't expected it to be that much. Actually I did get a reasonable trade in on the old car (presuming the new one's not going to manifest some problem) so I'm not really crying about it ...just wondering if he's kosher.

maximoose

Has the ownership been transferred on the car? Do you have a logbook for it?

AFAIK, when the dealer has the car in his garage code under temporary ownership there is a 3 month restriction on tax... I could be wrong though

Iospir

Yes the ownership has been transferred now and I have received the log book/reg cert.
What you say seems to be what he's saying so maybe he's being straight. The tax had already expired a few months ago so they hadn't been keeping it up to date, perhaps using "off the road" exemption.

maximoose

Yeah that definitely rings a bell with me anyway, I remember a good while back trying to tax a vehicle that the company were the temporary owner of and could only do it for 3 months. I'd imagine he taxed it before transferring ownership to you.

Hopefully he's not a cowboy and gives you the other 9 months :pac:

barone

No 1.2 car costs that to tax

Iospir

Thanks.
Fingers Xd

Iospir

barone wrote: »

No 1.2 car costs that to tax

I wouldn't have thought so either but Motortax.ie have a calculator where you put in your car reg and it tells you the tax for it and that's what came up when I did. Maybe because it's an automatic?
I'd certainly love to be proved wrong for when I have to pay next.

rocky

the tax is based on emissions.

On your older car it was based on cc

Bpmull

When my parent bought a new car last year they paid the dealer and he had no problem taxing the car for 12 months he gave them the receipt and tax disk and all. The car ownership was also in the garages name when he taxed it. but maybe things have changed that was last december and the car was new so it could be different for second hand.

Iospir

Yeah I've seen new cars advertised with a year's tax included. Guess I'll find out in December and March and so on :-)

rsole1

Iospir wrote: »

Thanks.
Fingers Xd

The worst performing Nissan Micra Automatic that I can find is 149g/kg Co2. That equates to road tax of €330

lifer_sean

maximoose wrote: »

AFAIK, when the dealer has the car in his garage code under temporary ownership there is a 3 month restriction on tax... I could be wrong though

+1

You are correct. If the dealer is taxing without adding their name as an extra owner (car registered to them temporarily on the garage code), then they can only tax for 3 months. Not always enforced by the motor tax offices though.

@op, If the deal was for 12 months tax, and you got 3, then wouldn't it be reasonable for the garage just to refund you the balance, and let you tax it yourself ? It appears that they are just making life difficult for themselves and for you, probably in the hope that you will not pursue it.

lifer_sean

Bpmull wrote: »

When my parent bought a new car last year they paid the dealer and he had no problem taxing the car for 12 months he gave them the receipt and tax disk and all. The car ownership was also in the garages name when he taxed it. but maybe things have changed that was last december and the car was new so it could be different for second hand.

If it was a new car, then it would never have been in the dealer's garage code. Only applies to secondhands. TAN authorisation is used for holding of unregistered vehicles, which then must be directly registered in the buyer's name.

Bpmull

lifer_sean wrote: »

If it was a new car, then it would never have been in the dealer's garage code. Only applies to secondhands. TAN authorisation is used for holding of unregistered vehicles, which then must be directly registered in the buyer's name.

Sorry I didn't really say it clearly. Basically the garage had a demo car a couple of days old. It was registered the 1st of December last year it had less than 10km on it when my parents bought it so it was new but technically the garage was the first owner and it was registered to them before transferring the ownership to my parents. I know it is really confusing. But really my parents were in the right place at the right as it was a demo car but because it was so new it was never really driven by anyone.

Iospir

lifer_sean wrote: »

+1

You are correct. If the dealer is taxing without adding their name as an extra owner (car registered to them temporarily on the garage code), then they can only tax for 3 months. Not always enforced by the motor tax offices though.

@op, If the deal was for 12 months tax, and you got 3, then wouldn't it be reasonable for the garage just to refund you the balance, and let you tax it yourself ? It appears that they are just making life difficult for themselves and for you, probably in the hope that you will not pursue it.

I've to go to the garage next week so I'll certainly be suggesting that to them then. Reckon you're right. I imiagine they're hoping I'll start panicking each time they leave it til the last minute to tax each time and do it myself cos I really had to nag them on the first 3 months as it was.

Iospir

rsole1 wrote: »

The worst performing Nissan Micra Automatic that I can find is 149g/kg Co2. That equates to road tax of €330

If you enter the reg of a 2009 automatic micra (there are a few for sale online at the moment) it comes up €481. I double checked it by entering a reg other than my own.
If you've some proof (and I'm not being smart here, maybe there's something from the manufacturer etc) that the emissions are lower than we're being charged for then I'd be happy to put it to the Motortax office in the hopes of a reduction.
Might be a new thread though.

rsole1

Iospir wrote: »

If you enter the reg of a 2009 automatic micra (there are a few for sale online at the moment) it comes up €481. I double checked it by entering a reg other than my own.
If you've some proof (and I'm not being smart here, maybe there's something from the manufacturer etc) that the emissions are lower than we're being charged for then I'd be happy to put it to the Motortax office in the hopes of a reduction.
Might be a new thread though.

Yes sorry just looked on Nissan Uk and in fact it is 159g/kg so it is €481. I find that extraordinary that a small car and small engine would put out so much co2.
Don't suppose you have the option to go by cc engine size as it would be lower. Can't see Micra sales taking off with that sort of emissions.

Iospir

rsole1 wrote: »

Yes sorry just looked on Nissan Uk and in fact it is 159g/kg so it is €481. I find that extraordinary that a small car and small engine would put out so much co2.
Don't suppose you have the option to go by cc engine size as it would be lower. Can't see Micra sales taking off with that sort of emissions.

Oh well, worth a look.
As far as I know they apply cc to older cars but cars made after a certain year are charged by emission. I suppose I had an easy ride for a lot of years on my old auto micra which given it's age was probably emitting all sorts for all I know and was charged by cc.
(New manual Micras are only charged €225 though)

djimi

€481 is very high for something like a Micra considering my Type R Integra costs €592 to tax on the old cc system...

Iospir

Yeah. Sad but true. There's a lot to be said for driving an oldie or classic car that's for sure.

Topper Harley

Iospir wrote: »

Yeah. Sad but true. There's a lot to be said for driving an oldie or classic car that's for sure.

Not really, with the exception of large petrol engines, most cars these days have lower tax based on the co2 levels. Especially diesels, where you can now tax a 3 litre for about €600 whereas before it would have been about €1500.

When you're researching the car you're buying it's always worth finding the co2 emissions level and check what it'll cost to tax or at the very least ask the dealer.

It might have changed your mind, although it sounds like you got a good deal on the car (probably because of the price of taxing it).

lifer_sean

Bpmull wrote: »

Sorry I didn't really say it clearly. Basically the garage had a demo car a couple of days old. It was registered the 1st of December last year it had less than 10km on it when my parents bought it so it was new but technically the garage was the first owner and it was registered to them before transferring the ownership to my parents. I know it is really confusing. But really my parents were in the right place at the right as it was a demo car but because it was so new it was never really driven by anyone.

That makes sense. If it was registered in their name anyway they could tax it for any period they wanted ... the fact that they were a dealer becomes irrelevant in that case.

Iospir

Just to round off this thread I started......the dealer DID pay the next 6 months tax when it was due so that's 9 months paid so far. Obviously that means he could have paid 12 months to start as he wasn't limited to 3 months at a time after all but sure....happy days :-)