Selling Car .. NCT & TAX out .. What about test drives, need advice?

aidanodr

Hi Guys,

I am selling my Motor. The Tax is out since end of June 2015, the NCT is out since April 2015.

So what is the situation in relation to allowing test drives? I am almost certain I cannot allow a test drive because if caught it is ME that will get done for no tax and NCT?

Also least of all the perspective buyer has to have insurance that covers them driving a 3rd party car.

Man - they make it so difficult in this country to sell a car ..

EDIT: More detail on the Car and circumstances in my post at the top of page 2 here.

CiniO

Is there any other country in the world, where buyer could take car for a test drive without valid test or tax?

slimjimmc

Yep, no tax or NCT = not legal to drive or park on a public road, test drives included = Points and fines for the driver if caught. Your car could be impounded on the spot if caught with tax out more than 2 months, or no NCT, of if the Garda believes the driver is uninsured. You could also be prosecuted for allowing it to be used uninsured.
If you want to allow someone test drive without the necessaries then do so on a private road or laneway away from public access.

Potential workaround:
If the car is declared off the road and you have an NCT test booked you could perhaps be allowed to drive the car to/from the NCT centre (or a garage following the test failure). Driver still needs insurance.

mgbgt1978

aidanodr wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I am selling my Motor. The Tax is out since end of June 2015, the NCT is out since April 2015.

So what is the situation in relation to allowing test drives? I am almost certain I cannot allow a test drive because if caught it is ME that will get done for no tax and NCT?

Also least of all the perspective buyer has to have insurance that covers them driving a 3rd party car.

Man - they make it so difficult in this country to sell a car ..

No, it will be the Driver of the Car (at the time) who may be prosecuted for driving without Tax or NCT.
If they are uninsured you may find yourself facing a charge, but that's a seperate issue.

CiniO

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

No, it will be the Driver of the Car (at the time) who may be prosecuted for driving without Tax or NCT.

Are you certain about that?
Would vehicle owner not be liable for any consequences for allowing someone to take untaxed and unNCTed car on public road?

CiniO

slimjimmc wrote: »

Yep, no tax or NCT = not legal to drive or park on a public road,

Are you sure about lack of valid NCT being a reason for vehicle not being allowed to park on public road?
I always though that NCT was only relevant when vehicle was driven, and in case it was parked it's enough if it had valid tax and insurance.

mgbgt1978

CiniO wrote: »

Are you certain about that?
Would vehicle owner not be liable for any consequences for allowing someone to take untaxed and unNCTed car on public road?

Quite certain....although obviously the car could be seized if the tax is more than 2 months overdue.
Apart from that it's the Driver's responsibilty to ensure the Discs are up to date.

biko

aidanodr wrote: »

Man - they make it so difficult in this country to sell a car ..

How about you have it tested and taxed (3 months) first, and just add the costs onto the price of the car?
It will also make it much easier to sell as NCT counts as a rudimentary inspection of the car.

Please don't be one of those "no test but will fly through" people

Sam Kade

Why do people sell cars without an nct? I suppose it will fly through the nct op

allthedoyles

Its only a recommendation that a car with no valid NCT should not be driven on a public road .

If you are caught you face the consequences .

Madness selling a car with no NCT .........for the sake of €55 and a valid NCT , could double the value of car depending on year

Pov06

allthedoyles wrote: »

Its only a recommendation that a car with no valid NCT should not be driven on a public road .

If you are caught you face the consequences .

Madness selling a car with no NCT .........for the sake of €55 and a valid NCT , could double the value of car depending on year

Not if it's a heap of sh*te that needs thousands to fix properly.

Sam Kade

allthedoyles wrote: »

Its only a recommendation that a car with no valid NCT should not be driven on a public road .

If you are caught you face the consequences .

Madness selling a car with no NCT .........for the sake of €55 and a valid NCT , could double the value of car depending on year

Double its value

foggy_lad

slimjimmc wrote: »

Yep, no tax or NCT = not legal to drive or park on a public road, test drives included = Points and fines for the driver if caught. Your car could be impounded on the spot if caught with tax out more than 2 months, or no NCT, of if the Garda believes the driver is uninsured. You could also be prosecuted for allowing it to be used uninsured.
If you want to allow someone test drive without the necessaries then do so on a private road or laneway away from public access.

Potential workaround:
If the car is declared off the road and you have an NCT test booked you could perhaps be allowed to drive the car to/from the NCT centre (or a garage following the test failure). Driver still needs insurance.

If a vehicle is declared off the road then it is an offence to place the vehicle on the road at any time for any reason, this even includes towing or pulling the vehicle partly onto the road to facilitate loading onto a transporter for bringing to NCT centre or scrapyard. Not one wheel is allowed on the road.

CiniO

foggy_lad wrote: »

If a vehicle is declared off the road then it is an offence to place the vehicle on the road at any time for any reason, this even includes towing or pulling the vehicle partly onto the road to facilitate loading onto a transporter for bringing to NCT centre or scrapyard. Not one wheel is allowed on the road.

Except in case if it's driven for NCT and then back to garage for repairs, and then again back home and back for NCT retest.
As slimjimmc mentioned.

zl1whqvjs75cdy

No tax, no nct and looking like no test drive? Good luck selling that.

aidanodr

allthedoyles wrote: »

Its only a recommendation that a car with no valid NCT should not be driven on a public road .

If you are caught you face the consequences .

Madness selling a car with no NCT .........for the sake of €55 and a valid NCT , could double the value of car depending on year

OK, thanks guys for the info, its as I thought, just double checking.

With respect to the car being a heap of cr*p - no it is not. It is an 03 Mazda MX5 roadster 1.6 with 82k inc hardtop.

So one could say specialist buyers market, not for everyone .. I know here come the hairdresser car jokes blah blah

Anyway .. I am only selling it as I recently got a newer one at a price I just could not turn down. Seller needed to sell as new family was arriving. Done within the MX5 community.

You see, alot of MX5 owners love their cars and like to see them going to a good home - another MX5 or roadster owner, car fanatic type person .. anyway it is a more limited sales market.

My insurance is obviously on the newer MX which is my daily driver. The NCT and TAX lapsed around June 2015 on the other MX. SO, where do I go from here?

Transfer insurance to the old MX for a day, then to the NCT centre? Based on it passing, if not, more insurance transfers if allowed by insurance company.

Not sure about this thing of driving to the NCT centre & back only, with no tax or nct?

Nor am I fully sure having an NCT would double the sale price of a car or anywhere near that?

At most I might achieve about €3k for the 03 MX if very lucky. This biz of building the extra costs into the sale price I wonder about. I dont think that is possible in the 2nd hand private market and on cars that are over 10 years old ala the new insurance landscape where insurance companies are not insuring cars over 10 years old .. Which by the way will have to have an effect on that part of the market that likes older cars and keeping them in very good condition ..

slimjimmc

Bear in mind that some insurers such as AXA require the borrowed car to have a valid NCT cert (if one is required) and be road legal. So even if the driver has 'driving other cars' extension the conditions of his policy may mean he is not actually insured to drive a borrowed car without tax/NCT.

aidanodr

So Chicken and Egg ...

If it is true that I can drive directly to/from the NCT without current NCT / TAX then I would do that in a heartbeat. I would transfer my insurance for a day to do so.

However as is the case with many things in Ireland / Official Ireland - you ask one person about this and they will say its gospel, ask another and get a flat no. This thread shows exactly this .. along with the odd non helpful glib answer or assumption

If you ask an official body like a Garda or county council office you might get two different opinions also .. no one being able to point at the defacto information written somewhere in plain english.

Thats what i am afraid of - the whole thing is smothered in here say .. even from one insurance company to another.

The most eloquent solution would be that you could drive your untaxed car direct to the NCT centre and back as long as you have proper insurance AND - if it were available - a temp official notice from either the tax authorities or NCT centre or Garda saying what you were doing & time limited to that day. And fine - no problem if reasonable fee for this notice ( a money earner? )

Of course other alternative is to hire a truck / trailer to drop to / from NCT centre. I looked into this. Cost working out at €90 each way and thats just for the test. If fails then to / from garage, to / from NCT centre. Those €90 mount up ..

aidanodr

OK here we go:

http://www.environ.ie/en/LocalGovernment/MotorTax/QA-DeclaringaVehicleOffTheRoad/

=========================================================

Q15. What if I’m due to have an NCT while my car is off the road?

A15. A vehicle may be used during the period of a non-use declaration in two cases:

- to bring it to and from a test centre for the test; or
- to bring it for repair after a re-test, or back to where you are keeping it while it is off the road after the repairs. This option may only be used where an appointment has already been made for a re-test.

The same rules apply to roadworthiness testing for commercial vehicles.

If you are bringing the vehicle to a test centre or to or from repairs after a test failure, it would be advisable to carry a copy of the appointment for the test or re-test with you.

=========================================================

So - only if the car is declared off the road can you drive to / from the NCT centre without tax and nct cert ...

AND - if one did want to tax the car again yourself to drive it to the centre then back, tax ( in this case ) due since July 2015 until now + 3 months more minimum has to be paid. To pay this tax via motortax online you then need insurance details before you can pass step 3 .. So it looks like you have to transfer the insurance from the new car to the old, then you can proceed beyond step 3.

As I said - they dont make it easy

OK - I have a hands up - I should have officially declared it off the road before end of June ( end of Tax ). That was ignorance of the procedures on my behalf. I wasnt aware of the new rules that a declaration had to be made a month before the tax was up via a form RF150. If I had done this i would have been able to transfer insurance for a day and drive to / from nct centre. Mea Culpa - hard lesson learned, maybe useful info for others though.