Used car dealer and logbook.. have I been scammed??

[Rosemary 10]

3 weeks ago we bought a car from a used car dealer in Wakefield, it was serviced and MOT'd before we picked it up and the place seemed not too shady (RAC registered, clean smart premises etc, though I know this doesn't mean much). When we got home we realised we didn't know how to go about taxing a vehicle without the logbook, but soon found out you just need the new keeper supplement to do this. At which point, we realised (doh!) that we had come away without this. I realise that this was a very stupid thing to do, all I can say in our defence is that we had 2 kids (age 1 and 4) in tow, and there had been quite a bit of faffing around discussing stuff with the mechanic as the central locking stopped working while we were there....

 

Anyway it was past closing at the garage by the time we realised this so we phoned them first thing the next morning. They said they had posted the logbook in its entirety the night before so we would just have to wait. This meant that we can't tax the vehicle, which has been sat on our drive ever since. We are currently holding onto our old car, and paying out for insurance on both. We thought it would only take a week or so for the logbook, but when it still hadn't arrived by the end of this week we phoned DVLA to ask for some advice on what to do, and whether there was any way we could tax it...they told us they are currently processing the registered keeper change, but that the car was being processed into the name of the garage that sold it to us! Phoned the garage today, they told us it was standard practice in the used car trade to do this, and when it came back to them, they would then send it off again (?????) in my name. At this rate it will be weeks before we can tax and drive it.

 

Is this really the way it is done? If so, why?? And if not, why have they done this? I can't see any dodgy advantage to them wanting to be the registered keeper, as I understand it this doesn't give them ownership of the vehicle, but it does give them liability (for speeding, parking tickets etc).

 

If anyone can shed any light on this I would be grateful, please don't bother posting just to tell me we were stupid for not getting new keeper supplement. I spend enough time thinking this already!!

[nexusdee 10]

It may be that the garage had just got the car & was sending the log book to be changed into their name which I believe is standard practice so that the vehicle is covered under their insurance. Hopefully it was just a mix up that the log book had been sent to the DVLA rather then yourself.

[JackLakeland 10]

I think they do this to keep the number of owners down when selling. Say if it had one owner before they bought it, that's how they could sell it, one owner. If they'd registered it when they bought it they'd have to sell it as with two owners.

 

I'm not sure about this but slightly remember something that someone told me years ago.

 

Edit- I suppose they couldn't sell it to you unless they are registered owners so there is some legal requirement that it is registered in their name upon sale.

Edited April 21, 2012 by JackLakeland

[mafya 243]

I think they do this to keep the number of owners down when selling. Say if it had one owner before they bought it, that's how they could sell it, one owner. If they'd registered it when they bought it they'd have to sell it as with two owners.

 

I'm not sure about this but slightly remember something that someone told me years ago.

 

Edit- I suppose they couldn't sell it to you unless they are registered owners so there is some legal requirement that it is registered in their name upon sale.

 

Motor traders don't need to send the log book off in their name, they can fill the yellow part when buying the car and keep the rest of the logbook which they fill with details of the person they sell it two and also should give you the green new keepers slip.

I havn't a clue why they are doing it this way.

[CeeCee 10]

It certainly isn't the way things are done and this is why the car dealers always tax the car for you before you collect it or should do ! I've never heard anything so ridiculous that you have had the car for 3 weeks and can't drive because of the dealers incompetence.

[alchresearch 214]

Phoned the garage today, they told us it was standard practice in the used car trade to do this

 

It most certainly isn't.

 

Make a complaint and make them tax the car as soon as they have the paperwork. If you can get them to pay for it as a goodwill gesture.

[Rosemary 10]

Mmm, thanks everyone for comments. I still can't figure out why on earth he has done this, there is just no sense to it. But now that I've heard a general consensus saying it's definitely not normal practice I will feel more confident in being assertive about it and making a complaint. In the past I have only bought cars from main dealerships (ie ones also selling new cars) and have generally spent more on cars - this is the first cheaper and older vehicle I have purchased from this type of yard and just didn't know if they operated differently for some reason.

 

It has been such a pain, but on top of the inconvenience there has been the added worry of whether or not he is deliberately ripping us off in some way. I still can't think how he could possibly be gaining anything from what he has done so I am least holding on to the fact that it seems he is just incompetent and not actually a crook!

[truman 10]

I think they do this to keep the number of owners down when selling.

 

If they're registering it to themselves then aren't they adding an extra owner/keeper?

[JtotheC 10]

Mmm, thanks everyone for comments. I still can't figure out why on earth he has done this, there is just no sense to it. But now that I've heard a general consensus saying it's definitely not normal practice I will feel more confident in being assertive about it and making a complaint. In the past I have only bought cars from main dealerships (ie ones also selling new cars) and have generally spent more on cars - this is the first cheaper and older vehicle I have purchased from this type of yard and just didn't know if they operated differently for some reason.

 

It has been such a pain, but on top of the inconvenience there has been the added worry of whether or not he is deliberately ripping us off in some way. I still can't think how he could possibly be gaining anything from what he has done so I am least holding on to the fact that it seems he is just incompetent and not actually a crook!

 

I think they just sold the car before they legally owned it in fear of missing the sale. Just a bad one for you that you have to miss out on driving. However does this mean you took it home without road tax, hence driving it illegally, not a position you should have been out in really. Deffo get them to tax it for you.

[JackLakeland 10]

If they're registering it to themselves then aren't they adding an extra owner/keeper?

 

Not while advertising. It can be advertised as one less owner if the register it after the sale..

[GreenyGreen 10]

I'd rather pay a bit more and buy a car from a reputable dealer than anyone else.

[Rosemary 10]

I think they just sold the car before they legally owned it in fear of missing the sale. Just a bad one for you that you have to miss out on driving. However does this mean you took it home without road tax, hence driving it illegally, not a position you should have been out in really. Deffo get them to tax it for you.

 

I think you're right, it's the only explanation I can think of. You're also right we shouldn't have been driving it home without tax, we have been so dappy about this whole thing to be honest we just assumed it had some tax on it, forgot to check and then only spotted it when we got home. A car buying basic you might think, and I'm not normally so slack about stuff.

 

On the plus side had an email from him today, he has apologised (though not really explained himself) and said he will buy us six months tax. So hopefully it will all be resolved very soon......