Mitsubishi and all others - dvla voiding tax disc- back to dealer? - bananastand

Well folks my motoring saga continues. RIDDLE ME THIS:

Acquired car from dealer in Cheshire on 18th Jan 2014. Already taxed to end of April. Tax was bought on 7th November 2013 in Skipton. Previous owner was a company based in Skipton.

In mid February a letter from DVLA arrives telling me the cheque used to pay for the tax was bounced by the bank. Well done boys, only took you three and a half months.

Letter says the tax disc in question expires end of June - I raced round to the windscreen and that appears to be a simple clerical error, as the serial number in the letter matches that on the disc.

I'm guessing that the dealer who sold me the car had no idea of this, as obviously he didn't change the V5 into his name. Or do dealers get notified of this sort of thing? Expert opinions gratefully received.

The cost of 6 months tax was over £150 - I forget the exact amount and I cba running out to check.

THE QUESTIONS:

Did the dealer know of this and "forget" to tell me?

Wouldn't he normally have sent the disc back to DVLA for a refund? If he knew it was worthless he wouldn't have bothered - in fact he mumbled something about dealers no longer being able to do that. Now, the memory of the conversation is ringing alarm bells in the old grey cells!

Even if he didn't know, the fact it was already taxed had a bearing on the price, should I approach him about a refund?

A bit of a poser for you there chaps!

Cheers!!

Mitsubishi and all others - dvla voiding tax disc- back to dealer? - pd

Sounds like the dealer bought the car in with tax, but the previous owner who bought the tax paid with a dud cheque.

No way the dealer could have known this and there is no way a dealer can reclaim tax unless the car is registered in their name so no reason for them to try.

Mitsubishi and all others - dvla voiding tax disc- back to dealer? - bananastand

Thanks PD. Yes I'd figured out that it was the previous owner who paid with a dud cheque.

Thanks for the info, I thought a bona fide dealer could get a refund without putting his name on the V5.

Again, would DVLA not be aware that the car had been sold to a dealer, and who the dealer was, and so write to him? Three and a half months seems an awfully long time to realise a cheque's bounced.

I will bow to the wisdom of those with superior motor trade experience.

Edited by bananastand on 21/02/2014 at 16:32

Mitsubishi and all others - dvla voiding tax disc- back to dealer? - Galaxy

There's nothing to stop you going back to the dealer, explaining what has happened regarding the tax disc, and asking them to put 6 months tax on the car at their own expense! Say you were mislead at the time of purchase and believed the car was actually taxed.

If you don't ask you won't get! The worst thing they can do it say no.

I myself bought a car last year. The dealer boobed over the tax, too. Told me it was taxed for 6 months but, as it turned out, it was a former Motobility car so, once it had changed hands, the free tax on the windscreen was no longer valid. Dealer had to tax the car for 6 months at their own expense, I didn't even have to ask them.