Motor tax and registration query

matlock

I went to look at a car that I'm very interested in buying yesterday. I'm a bit new to this so probably made some rookie mistakes.

The tax disc in the car expired 02/15 but I never thought too much about it until I got home. When I checked the car on Cartell it told me that the car was actually last registered up to 08/15. The dealer told me that it had been traded in a month or two ago, and had been off the road for a while before then, which was fine, but then the Cartell report told me that the current registered owner has been in possession of the car since 2012. This means that the car is still registered to the guy who traded it in, and the dealer hasn't registered it in his own name.

Is this normal practice for dealers in order to avoid being liable for tax while it remains unsold? Or is this dodgy? Can he actually legally transfer the registration of the car to me?

I'm going to ring him in the morning to clarify all this, but would appreciate any help/advice anyone would have beforehand.

Atlantic Dawn

The ownership won't change until you actually become owner, when the dealer has it for sale it's in a sort of limbo. Put the reg in to the vehicle transaction enquiry section on Motortax.ie and it will tell you when it was traded in.

aujopimur

The system allows for registered motor dealers to put change of owner on hold until its sold.

matlock

Thanks for the replies. The vehicle transaction enquiry results in:

Change Of Vehicle Ownership
No Changes notified in the last 3 months
Vehicle Registration Certificate
No Vehicle Registration Certificate issued in the last 3 months

He's agreed to take our old car as a trade in. I'm concerned about not having the new car taxed until the change of ownership goes through, which will take a few days after we actually collect the car.

Again, I'm slightly clueless on all this, and this obviously happens all the time, but any clarification would be appreciated.

colm_mcm

It is a bit concerning that the car wasn't taxed for so long. It won't affect you taxing it, but a car with no tax for 6 months that hasn't sold in nearly 3 months of being in the garage would have me on my guard.

matlock

I think it's only been for sale for a matter of weeks rather than months. I've done a web archive search on the website of the dealer and it doesn't appear in the last save in mid-October.

The car is in very good nick and drives well from what I can tell. He's also offering a two month warranty. And he's a dealer who's been around for a while rather than the shortlived portacabin dealers on the Naas Road.