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Buying a car on ebay (non dealer)


Teal
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Looking to purchase a used car on ebay, there is a car listed which I contacted the seller about to see if it would be possible to arrange a test drive. I received this reply

 

"We have no problem in theory with you driving the car, and are sure that you will find it to be a very quick and sure footed drive, however the tax has run out so it will need to be at your risk in this respect."

 

Firstly what could the penalty be for driving without tax on a car, and is there any way that I can arrange some temporary cover for the test drive and then purchase tax before collecting it should I decide to buy. I presume that an AA/RAC and HPI check are absolute musts, but will either show up anything if the car has been cloned? I have found details about the company the seller works for and it all seems legit- is there anything else I should be doing?

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Fleabag and I have both bought cars from that site and found things were not as clear as they ought to have been. Having said that, there are guidelines that dealers have to comply with that the private seller would hope you don't notice on the day.

 

I know this doesn't answer your questions but the point I'm not making very well is that the more distant Ebay or other online advertised car is more complex than simply buying from Fred a few miles up the road. We both travelled a great distance to get the cars and trusted that the sellers were being about right. So you go take a look then go home and consider what you saw - but you then have the may lose out to another buyer dilemma.

 

A quick looksee and we did the deals that we may not have done were we to just go look at another car likely to be there next week. Thus you feel rushed to make a decision. I'd guess this is the pitfall we also face when responding to any distant private car sale. I did a HPI check on the Pinin I bought but have since found the body is mounted to the chassis about 30mm off centre - even though it drives fine and no tyres are scrubbing.

 

Driving an untaxed car is of course an absolute offence that is unlikely to be discovered at the risk of him having his car taken, and dare I say it an understandable one in the case of a test drive. I'm not suggesting you'd do that BTW: but may I draw your attention to the fact that motor insurer's are now stripping cover to the bone now that so many "compare.com" sites abound. I myself am in a predicament of this particular part of the insurance market recent turmoil. "comprehensive used to be "all risks" years ago but this is now in name only to cover an own fault claim.

 

The driving other peoples cars bit seemingly rarely applies to anything other than emergency use, and their small print allows the insurer to opt out of settling a claim quoting the dictionary terms of "emergency" EG: a sudden unforeseen crisis (usually involving danger) that requires immediate action rather than driving your friend home from the pub or whatever.

Edited by Dave-G
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I bought my car off Ebay and also sold the old one through Ebay but the seller had added a clause that he had it advertised elsewhere and so reserved the right to withdraw the auction.

 

I went round to view and treated it just the same as if I was buying locally i.e did all the checks and then offered him the buy it now price and gave him a deposit and he took it off Ebay.

 

I don't see how it is any different from selling in a local paper, people still come round to view (I would be dubious of anyone who didn't) and if happy will go away and bid up to asking price, they will check all the documentation, HPi checks or whatever they wish to do and if happy buy it.

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