What does it take to buy a car in the UK?

[UglyAmerican]

This post will show my true automotive sickness, I warn you all in advance.

 

I'll be in the UK for about a week next month. I would normally hire a car for 2-3 days. So I'm curious. Let's say I land in Blighty and try to buy a car FOR THE WEEK. Is this feasible?

 

--I'm a US citizen, and passport was issued after 1776 (meaning no UK citizenship, residency, etc).

--I'm only there for a week, so presumably I need to get the purchase/reg paperwork processed quickly enough, and also be able to dump it at the end.

--Not in a position to take a huge loss on the price of the car, in other words buying it for £700 and selling it for £300 wouldn't be an option.

 

So, are my dreams of my own Top Gear shite car challenge completely impossible? I know it's ridiculous, but is it doable?

 

Thanks in advance fellers!

[woolleyiain]

It's doable, I guess. How are you gonna insure it? That'd be the only obstacle, maybe. That and the glacial pace that the DVLA moves at....Used cars are better value over in Blighty though. What a $1500 shitter is over here, you can have for 3-400 quid over there.

[STUNO]

Waste of time. I agree totally with your motivation, but for only a week the whole thing could become a nightmare, especially the selling bit.

[Cavcraft]

One option would be to buy a £300 shitter with a couple of weeks tax left on it then either take it to a car auction or scrap it when finished with. Either way though you're probably going to lose out.Do you not know anyone who would lend you a car for the week?

[UglyAmerican]

One option would be to buy a £300 shitter with a couple of weeks tax left on it then either take it to a car auction or scrap it when finished with. Either way though you're probably going to lose out.Do you not know anyone who would lend you a car for the week?

It's more about the shite ownership than the mobility really. I can just hire a Corsa pretty cheaply if need be. But I can't hire a Skoda Felicia.

[garethj]

But I can't hire a Skoda Felicia.

Think about AA (AAA in the US) cover too I think you'll be stuffed to be honest - it takes more than a few days to buy the right car and more than a few days to sell it too. Have you considered extending your holiday to the full 5 years?

[mk1_4dr]

As said, is there not someone on here that has some suitable shite that you can smoke around in for a week? Thats the only way I can see it working, buying and selling is not something that can really be done in a week, thats before you even think about trying to insure it.

[wuvvum]

I don't think buying would necessarily be a problem - you could always find something reasonably close to Heathrow on the 'Bay and then collect it direct from the airport. The insurance thing isn't insurmountable - you could take out insurance with one of those daily or weekly insurance providers who don't seem to be too fussy about who and what they insure. Selling the car at the end of your visit might be more of a problem though, unless you found a friendly local shiter to sell it on your behalf and then forward the funds on.

[trigger]

The cars are out there, my mate is selling his 1999 escort finesse at the moment, it has a months mot, 3 months tax, cd player, alloys, air con etc and only wants £200 for it as It's getting tatty and needs work for the mot, you could get something like that and just scrap it at the end.

[254575]

http://www.rentabanger.com/ are based not far from heathrow

[AnthonyG]

To be honest I would just try and hire something more interesting than the norm. There are classic car hire firms out there, or pay a bit more to get a guaranteed model of car, rather then whatever subcompact they have in stock etc. When in the US I always use Hertz as they have a tendency for Ford products, and generally get a Mustang (which you can specially reserve) or a Grand Marquis/Town Car (I love land yachts,as you can probably guess ), because they are the only FoMoCo products in the relevant Hertz categories.As for the buying/selling plan, you would a) have to give a UK address for the car's registration and insurance might be a problem (quickly) for a non UK national. You would also have to buy a car with road tax already on it, otherwise the related paperwork would take too long. You can tax a car online, but you need to wait for the physical paper tax disc to be posted to you (it needs to be displayed on the car). As for selling it, you would be looking at giving it away or leaving it at an auction to be sold with no reserve.For a month, it would be doable. For a week, you're probably stretching it.

[VWPowered]

http://www.rentabanger.com/ are based not far from heathrow

oh the scary thought of hiring a 1993 Micra

So the idea of renting out automotive senior citizens to Londoners was born. Today, Darren will charge £47 a week to hire out a 1993 Nissan Micra,

For the chic delights of a bigger, teenaged Honda Accord or Toyota Carina, the price is £70.50 sans cover, and from £110 with it.

scary thoughts indeedy

[Milford Cubicle]

The Rent-a-Banger's fleet, the images show 2 or 3 year old cars and vans, then a beavertail with a Merc W124 estate on the back. I wonder if it's the beavertail you can hire, or the W124.

[VWPowered]

only hire as a pair

[lovejoy]

Greetings from a far(t), you Ugly American ! It may be possible for you to "buy" an old banger from a "friend" over in UK, use it (needs to be taxed, and on the road, etc.) and then sell it back to said friend at the end of your visit, for something less than you bought it for, ideally, the friend needs to reside near Gatwick / ThiefRow, I have done this on ocassions with old dogs like Chevettes, Renault 12 Estates, do you have any "friends" over in Blighty ???

[darkfour]

Think you'll find that the UK insurance companies won't "recognise" your US driving license either. I ran into this problem when my then US GF (now wife) came to visit me and they wouldn't add her to my insurance.Mind you having taken a US driving test which involved driving around a parking lot and not getting above 10 mph, it's not difficult to see why the insurance companies don't accept them.I guess it's a different set of policies when you rent a car.

[meggersdog]

Too many obsticals for it to be doable in one week.The car needs to be taxed you might be able to persuade the owner to trade the car to you (doubtful) or tell them you are exporting it then you will have the full V5.As stated before a UK address is needed for DVLA and those are the only ways of keeping the V5 without sending it off to DVLA.Insurance is another problem, a hotel might do but again a UK address is needed.As for selling it on again it might be awkward with only the green slip of the V5.An auction will send a cheque on to you but usually two weeks after the car has sold.High admin charges in that case.One of those "we buy any car" type companies will buy your car there and then but you will take a hit on the price.Other than that a friend over here could sell it on for you.Depending how trustworthy they are.

[saabhappy]

Do you not know anyone who would lend you a car for the week?

Just what I was thinking but several livelier minds beat me to it. What you need is a classic car nut over here who's taking a holiday in the States and you could arrange a mutual swap with no money having to change hands. By the time the documentation's been processed you'll be back home if you try and buy and sell one.

[UglyAmerican]

Some interesting stuff seems available to hire, not brutal weekly rates either.There seem to be some who hire out cars like the Fiat Panda. That could be a kick, and it's cheap.I'd love to find a UK equivalent of a company we have in the states, Rent-a-Wreck.You lads always talk about the brilliant (crappy) nature of BL cars. Just want to get in on the fun.

[Pete-M]

Screw registering it in your name. Buy from your local dodgy motor auction, pay cash, give them your favourite alias, insure it with "Day Insure" or similar, run it around for a couple of weeks, flog it on and give the V5 you get from the auctions to the next owner. You're bound to find something silly in any auctions, and if the thing only has to last a couple of weeks and get close to the money you paid for it when you're finished with it surely the idea is to pay as little as possible and just drive any old heap?

[pogweasel]

You could rent an Aygo for twenty quid a day from these people:

http://www.londoncarhire.com/

 

However, I think if you asked really really nicely someone there would be able to find you something less appealing, maybe an old Talbot Horizon or Mk4 escort or similar dross.

[UglyAmerican]

You could rent an Aygo for twenty quid a day from these people:http://www.londoncarhire.com/

My math could be off but they seem to be advertising an Aygo for 20 quid a day or 165 per week. Oh right, 8 and a quarter days per week. Believe it or not Budget and some of the other chains even have comparable deals. I had a Corsa in Oxfordshire for 17 a day in the fall.

[Cavcraft]

Where abouts in good old Blighty are you visiting? I'm just thinking it's possible someone on here will live in that area and may know best local rental firm or an auction where you could score a cheap runner?

[UglyAmerican]

Close enough to Oxford.

 

I've found these lads with a Panda available for 25 quid a day, and some other stuff too.

http://www.eurodriveuk.com/carhire.htm

[FredTransit]

I am with you Pete M, stuff registering it! Go to the auctions, pay cash, get any paperwork that's with it, you can tax it on a trader's insurance policy if you know anybody with one, chuck it back in the auction and hope for the best when you leave. Of course it's very illegal to drive without insurance, but you might be able to get temp cover (never looked to see if they have a no non UK license clause). You could even scrap it to get back some money, but a normal car would only net you about £150 at the best price. You can tax a car on the new keeper's green slip, or try to convince the seller you are a trader, that way you can get the whole V5, less the slip at the top of page 2, that tells the DVLA it's gone into the trade.Have a look at thishttp://www.gumtree.com/london/10/52762310.htmlIt doesn't mention needing a UK license. Gumtree is also great for cheap cars. Like thesehttp://www.gumtree.com/london/83/52758683.htmlhttp://www.gumtree.com/london/44/52754744.htmlhttp://www.gumtree.com/london/61/52698161.htmlI would love to do this in the states, if I could be arsed to to go through immigration....

--Not in a position to take a huge loss on the price of the car, in other words buying it for £700 and selling it for £300 wouldn't be an option.

Whatever you spend on a rented car is gone forever, so whatever you get back from selling a car you have bought would be a bonus.I don't want to sound racist, but many none UK residents get away with doing none of the legal things (tax test insurance) for months with car buying, so if you buy one with some test you could try saying you have just moved here and are waiting for the paperwork. It's not very likely you would get stopped if the car has tax and appears on somebody's insurance. Just don't have an accident....

[UglyAmerican]

Scummy arrangement with insurance and reg eh? Well if they deport me I could save on the plane ticket back home.

[Mr Lobster]

The Rent-a-Banger's fleet, the images show 2 or 3 year old cars and vans, then a beavertail with a Merc W124 estate on the back. I wonder if it's the beavertail you can hire, or the W124.

I noticed that and was a bit disappointed.Years ago (about 1993) I worked for Practical Car Rental which at the time was based around the idea of renting out older cars. The fleet we had included a 1983 Renault 18, 1986 Metro, H plate Escort (in various different shades of red), an assortment of Transits all with well over 100k on them. But the jewel in the crown (at least as far as shiters today would be concerned) was actually the newest pair of vehicles on the fleet - 1 x FSO Caro 1.9 diesel and 1 x FSO Caro Pick Up.

[FredTransit]

Forgot to mention, I have come across rent a banger before, on set. They brought 3 dressing cars to a shoot, none of them were road legal and one of them didn't even run!

[Torsten2001]

http://www.rentabanger.com/ are based not far from heathrow

You must NEVER use these people, a friends sister booked a car from South Africa for her xmas UK trip, they took £400 off her her card, she booked a delivery to SW London on Boxing Day, the never delivered, they weren't open, they kept her money, a right shit xmas for the poor girl

[FredTransit]

PM sent Ugly American BTW....