Delay in change of ownership (Shannon, Clare)

wrightguy

Hello,

I recently bought a 98' Corolla from a dealer who sells from his house. The car had only 1 owner from new so I am now the second owner. The car had an older type of tax book (a bigger sheet type thing) and I signed and dated it there and then.

The dealer sent the book to the Department of Transport in Shannon on Feb 2nd (3 working weeks ago) but I haven't received the new book with my name as the owner yet. I contacted Shannon twice since then (Feb 18th the most recent) and they said they have received nothing yet and that they are ''very up to date''.

So next thing I did was obviously contact the dealer to inquire did he actually send it and find out what's going on. He told me he definitely sent the correct book that very day and the reason it is being delayed is due to the fact it is an older tax book and it goes to a different department in Shannon that takes longer to process. I told him I was worried about being stopped by the guards but he assured me that I can't be prosecuted as I haven't the car long enough and he told me to tell the guards to ring him if I am stopped to explain this entire story.

I have two questions that I hope someone here might be able to answer:

- Does it generally take longer for the older type tax book to be processed or is what the dealer is telling me is not true?
- Can I be fined or have the car taken off me if I am stopped by the guards? Have I any defense in this?


I know that some of you might be thinking that this dealer is not reputable and is trying to pull something here... Maybe the car is stolen? But I ask that in answering the above two questions that you assume that he is indeed reputable and someone selling from his house wouldn't be doing this kind of thing. I am ignoring the possibility that this 'got lost in the post' as in this day and age that's not an answer. He says he didn't send off another tax book by accident and that he does this a lot and there's is no mistake in the submission.

If it turns out that he is a 'dodgy dealer' then we'll have to consider other options, won't we?

Thank you for your help.

Atlantic Dawn

Type the reg in to the vehicle transaction enquiry link on motortax.ie, if they received the log book it will be listed there with date of sale.

https://www.motortax.ie/PSE

slimjimmc

The document you signed should have been a Vehicle Licencing Certificate (the newer Vehicle Registration Certificate is for cars first registered after April 2004)
http://www.motorcheck.ie/docs/Registration%20Certificate.htm

I seriously doubt it takes longer to process a VLC than it would for a VRC.

It's not an offence to not have the log book but if the car does not have current Motor Tax or NCT then a Garda can indeed fine you if you're caught driving regardless of what the seller says. However most Gardaí will cut you some slack if the car seems in good nick and you can convince them you only have the car a short while and you are trying to get things sorted. If you got a purchase receipt from the seller (always a good idea) that could help too.

Since Shannon apparently haven't received the VLC I'd ring them again and enquire about registering yourself as the new owner. There is a process for new owners to declare themselves as the registered owner where the original documents haven't been received.

If your tax is out I suggest you go to your Motor Tax office and see if you can tax the car there (See the last section http://www.environ.ie/en/LocalGovernment/MotorTax/Renewal/)

mgbgt1978

TBH if shannon haven't received the VLC nearly 3 weeks after the sale (and motortax.ie obviously isn't showing a change of ownership) I'd firstly assume the seller didn't send it.
Presumably the VLC wasn't in the seller's name, but rather the original owner.
If the seller still insists he posted the VLC (and at this stage it must be 'lost in the post') you could always see if he is willing to ask the named owner to request a replacement VLC. If he is reluctant to do so I would start to get concerned.
A bit late now. but I always use my phone to take a photo of the VLC when buying a car....at least I have the named owner's details, and it usually hurries them into posting it to Shannon.

edit; slimjimmc was posting as I was typing. You can apply to get the car registered in your name, but it's a much simpler option to get the named owner to obtain a replacement VLC.