Buying a Car in UK
Apr 12th 2019, 8:02 pm
#1
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Buying a Car in UK
We are moving to the UK and will need a car to get around to view properties etc but don’t want to waste money on a rental. Can we buy a car without having an official address whilst we are house hunting? We both have British Passports if that makes a difference? Many thanks
Apr 12th 2019, 9:09 pm
#2
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Re: Buying a Car in UK
In 2016 we bought our car with cash, £8k, and a valid driving UK driving licence. We had rented a house before we arrived and although it still needed furniture and were living with friends we were able to put our rental house as the address to register the car etc.
Apr 12th 2019, 10:23 pm
#3
Joined: Feb 2012
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Re: Buying a Car in UK
You’ll need a UK address to put on the V5.
Apr 13th 2019, 5:22 am
#4
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Re: Buying a Car in UK
from memory you have 30 days to register the vehicle in your name, so it is feasible to buy a car and then register it in your name once you have found somewhere to live.
You will need to buy third party insurance as it is a legal requirement to have this as a minimum and it is not including in your road fund licence (road tax).
Make sure the vehicle as at least 3 months tax and MOT (all cars over 3 years old have a yearly inspection MOT and this is required to insure and tax a car).
You will need to buy third party insurance as it is a legal requirement to have this as a minimum and it is not including in your road fund licence (road tax).
Make sure the vehicle as at least 3 months tax and MOT (all cars over 3 years old have a yearly inspection MOT and this is required to insure and tax a car).
Apr 13th 2019, 5:58 am
#5
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Posts: 54
Re: Buying a Car in UK
We are moving to the UK and will need a car to get around to view properties etc but don’t want to waste money on a rental. Can we buy a car without having an official address whilst we are house hunting? We both have British Passports if that makes a difference? Many thanks
Apr 13th 2019, 6:00 am
#7
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Re: Buying a Car in UK
from memory you have 30 days to register the vehicle in your name, so it is feasible to buy a car and then register it in your name once you have found somewhere to live.
You will need to buy third party insurance as it is a legal requirement to have this as a minimum and it is not including in your road fund licence (road tax).
Make sure the vehicle as at least 3 months tax and MOT (all cars over 3 years old have a yearly inspection MOT and this is required to insure and tax a car).
You will need to buy third party insurance as it is a legal requirement to have this as a minimum and it is not including in your road fund licence (road tax).
Make sure the vehicle as at least 3 months tax and MOT (all cars over 3 years old have a yearly inspection MOT and this is required to insure and tax a car).
Apr 13th 2019, 6:43 am
#8
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Re: Buying a Car in UK
Can the OP use a mailbox or friend's address as their mailing address to purchase a vehicle? Is there a UK law against these options?
Apr 13th 2019, 6:45 am
#9
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Location: Rockingham, Perth
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Re: Buying a Car in UK
I think the basic principle is top ensure the current owner is reflected on the DVLA records, you can register from and address that could be a mailing address.
Apr 13th 2019, 9:32 am
#10
Joined: Feb 2012
Location: Not in Paris
Posts: 18,194
Re: Buying a Car in UK
from memory you have 30 days to register the vehicle in your name, so it is feasible to buy a car and then register it in your name once you have found somewhere to live.
You will need to buy third party insurance as it is a legal requirement to have this as a minimum and it is not including in your road fund licence (road tax).
Make sure the vehicle as at least 3 months tax and MOT (all cars over 3 years old have a yearly inspection MOT and this is required to insure and tax a car).
You will need to buy third party insurance as it is a legal requirement to have this as a minimum and it is not including in your road fund licence (road tax).
Make sure the vehicle as at least 3 months tax and MOT (all cars over 3 years old have a yearly inspection MOT and this is required to insure and tax a car).
Apr 14th 2019, 5:11 pm
#11
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Location: North West England
Posts: 240
Re: Buying a Car in UK
We are moving to the UK and will need a car to get around to view properties etc but don’t want to waste money on a rental. Can we buy a car without having an official address whilst we are house hunting? We both have British Passports if that makes a difference? Many thanks
Apr 14th 2019, 8:50 pm
#12
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Re: Buying a Car in UK
We moved to the UK about 7 weeks ago and just bought a car. We used cash ( direct debit ) at Toyota. My husband registered the car in his name and we used my Mums address ( we are living with her ) however you do not need proof. They used my UK drivers license to obtain the 3 day insurance Toyota offers so we could drive the car home. We also used Aviv to get the fully Comp insurance they were half the price of all other insurance companies ( I used compare market to check many of them although Churchill and direct where not included) LV would not entertain us with my husbands USA drivers license.
Apr 14th 2019, 10:23 pm
#13
Joined: Feb 2012
Location: Not in Paris
Posts: 18,194
Re: Buying a Car in UK
To be honest if you haven’t got a property yet then renting a car is your best bet. You will get a discount if you book for weekly or monthly.
Apr 15th 2019, 9:54 pm
#15
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 6,848
Re: Buying a Car in UK
Try renting from these car rental brokers, who use all the big companies such as Budget, Hertz, Europcar, Sixt etc. but I’ve often found better rates via Auto-Europe than going direct to the rental company websites:
www.autoeurope.com (Also check rates at the same time through their UK site too, www.autoeurope.co.uk).
If you have an American Express credit card, check if the card you have makes you eligible for their car rental protection program; you can pay $25 for each time you rent a car up to a max of 40 days per rental (most countries including Great Britain, although I do know that Ireland and Australia are excluded) and you waive the insurance from the car rental company.....this has saved us a lot of money.
btw; try to avoid collecting or returning rental cars at airport locations as you will pay a lot more....
Also some car manufacturers (and for some reason I think Enterprise car rentals?) offer short term leasing from 28 days/3 months/6 months....try google.co.uk
www.autoeurope.com (Also check rates at the same time through their UK site too, www.autoeurope.co.uk).
If you have an American Express credit card, check if the card you have makes you eligible for their car rental protection program; you can pay $25 for each time you rent a car up to a max of 40 days per rental (most countries including Great Britain, although I do know that Ireland and Australia are excluded) and you waive the insurance from the car rental company.....this has saved us a lot of money.
btw; try to avoid collecting or returning rental cars at airport locations as you will pay a lot more....
Also some car manufacturers (and for some reason I think Enterprise car rentals?) offer short term leasing from 28 days/3 months/6 months....try google.co.uk
Last edited by Englishmum; Apr 15th 2019 at 9:57 pm.
