Bought a car without V5 please help

  • Isabella's Avatar
    Hi! I hope you can help me. I bought a car two days ago. Unfortunately I forgot to ask the seller (a dealer) to see the V5. He took me to the post office and sent a V62 (filled in by both of us) and tax application. I checked the car's status today and it's now taxed for a year. I paid for the car by bank transfer and got an invoice from the seller. He bought this car from an auction as it was classified S by the insurer. He showed me the photos of the car before the fix (he is a car mechanic and has his own garage). I ran a HPI check and the car was not stolen, not scrapped, the plates weren't changed and it had no outstanding finance. It had one previous owner. The car had an MOT done in February. The crash was in March. I asked the seller if I don't have problems with next MOT and he explained that he didn't want to do it because it would put people off if they see it had an MOT done even though it was still valid for months. Is it worth to have the car checked now by another mechanic just for the peace of mind? The car seems to be running fine. However, I read that if there are any hidden issues I have the right to return a car within 30 days if bought from a trader. Also, I insured the car, but when searching the forum, I came across a post saying that even if I insured it, they may say it has been written off in the past and the insurance is not valid? It is my first car and I really hope everything will be fine...
  • 1 Reply

  • Motman's Avatar
    Tricky one. I doubt if you could take it back as you bought it knowing it was a category S. Your best bet would be to have a thorough examination and if that shows anything up, reject it as quick as possible. The V5 is destroyed by the insurance company and you have to apply for it. The new V5 is usually overstamped with something telling of its insurance category write off. https://www.vrauk.org/content.aspx?id=34