[JHT1888]

I am thinking of buying another car, say I wanted to buy one from a private seller but the car has NO MOT is it illegal for the seller to sell someone a car without MOT or TAX ?

[Kizza]

no its not illegal, i buy cars with no tax and mot all the time.

[JHT1888]

ok thanks, I wasn't 100% sure as I read it was illegal for traders to do so but not private sellers so I wasn't getting a definitive answer

[happy-kat]

You can't drive it though

[JopieBK]

Provided it's roadworthy you can drive it to a pre-booked MOT test, though you still need insurance of course.

[Kizza]

what ^^^ said

[happy-kat]

Can't road test it as a perspective buyer though and as a private person would be relying on driving under the seller's insurance with third party cover but then that isn't possible if not taxed so really as a private buyer it ain't happening.

[JopieBK]

Um, when a private person buys a car it's up to them whether they're happy to buy without a road test or not.

happy-kat, on 24 February 2014 - 06:38 PM, said:

...as a private person would be relying on driving under the seller's insurance with third party cover...

That's flat wrong and appallingly misleading.

Hardly anybody's insurance lets any random person drive their vehicle. Almost always, only named drivers are insured.

Many people have insurance that lets them drive another person's vehicle with third-party cover only, but said people must always check:
- that they actually do have that cover (a lot of people think they have it, and don't)
- the conditions of the cover (a common condition is that the vehicle being driven has an insurance policy in respective on it).

Anyone who test drives a car thinking they're covered under a private seller's insurance is asking for trouble.

For reference, 's/he told me I was insured' does not constitute a defence except in very specific circumstances relating to employment.

[happy-kat]

Sorry my post was miss leading.
We rang our broker to check what our position was before I made my badly worded post.
One of our policies as long as person is over 25 and with out convictions they can drive our car with our permission third party. We can drive someone else's car tpff with their permission though for the car to be road legal would have to have insurance, mot and tax but you make a good point about checking the paper work first and not assuming. I hope to never use the booked at mot drive.