Among the many things I don't know about living in the UK is how to buy a used car. Other than stumping up the cash, what else is required in the way of tests, permits, taxes etc and in what order? Also, can I get one with only a US drivers license? And can I get insurance with only a US license? I will be getting a UK one eventually, but I have to sort out a test, and probably a couple of hours instructions so that I increase my chances of passing the test on the first go.

You could start here (following the links below). I assume your US licence is valid for 12 months in the UK and then you will need to obtain a UK licence. Therefore, you need to start this process before 12 months expires. If you passed your test in an automatic, you will only be able to drive an automatic in the UK, unless you retake your test in a car with a manual gearbox. Otherwise, you just need vehicle tax and insurance plus a MoT if the car is more than 3 years old. The system is mostly efficient, give or take the odd delay.

Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

Browse: Driving in the UK and abroad - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Thanks for the info. I know the deal on the license itself, but my question is can I buy (assume yes) , and particularly can I insure, a car prior to getting the UK license?

Yes, you can. We used GoGirl insurance, which insures women, young drivers and high-risk drivers, which is you if you do not have a driving history in the UK. They also insure men. My wife is the primary and I am named on her policy. I think that in insuring women (low risk) and youth (high risk), they balance it out as a company? Not sure, but the rates were reasonable. I explained the whole situation to them over the phone because I thought insurance would cost a fortune but they said, yes, that's all fine and gave me a decent rate. Actually buying the car was no problem; the dealer didn't care about insurance at all. So long as I could transfer funds to his sort code/account number, all was fine. We both have US licenses.

Exceltent, thanks so much. I''ll check out that company since I've been expecting to be charged a fortune too.

I recently returned from Canada to live back in Scotland and I used Facebook Marketplace to buy a used car . It was pretty easy , l looked for cars under 100,000 miles and with long MOT which is the yearly safety tests cars have to take over 3yrs old and I wanted a small engine 1L . The seller had the sale receipt ready for me to sign and gave me the green " new keeper" slip and he sends the info to DVLA . As soon as you purchase the car you need to pay the road tax you can do this online at the DVLA website or post office I did it online. I used a insurance search site cant remeber the name just use " cheap car insurance" and I picked one called Saga which was way cheaper than what I paid in Canada .I got "comprehensive" insurance which is like full coverage but there are cheaper levels of cover.

Check out Aviva insurance as well when you're getting quotes, I liked their prices and customer service so much that I ended up insuring everything with them. They've had quite a few positive mentions from other regular BE members too.

I made two claims through them (both on property insurance) and it was literally a case of telling them what happened, sending them a quote from our builder, and they put the funds in our bank account.

Thanks, Neil. Do they have 'titles' for cars in the UK? In the US that is a document that shows your ownership of the car, includes the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) etc, make, model. Do cars in the UK even have VINs? Maybe the 'new keeper' slip is the equivalent?

Honestly, the things I don't know....

Thanks, SOS. I'm just waiting for all the dust to settle, and get our stuff delivered. It's currently in Antwerp. We have to go down to Portsmouth for my son's graduation at the exact same time our stuff is likely to be delivered. Of course

With that done, I will be time to figure out what I have to pay off and then move to the car and insurance thing. I'll check out Aviva.

Vehicles have registration numbers, which is your license plate number. That seems to be the number that identifies the car and stays with the car even as it changes owner, but I don't believe it's actually stamped on the car like a VIN. The keeper slip is called a V5C and is kind of like a US registration. There's no title as far as I can tell, but the UK govt keeps a record of who owns the vehicle, so that seems to be proof of ownership. I'm new to all this myself but this is what I gleaned from buying one used car.

You have a “log book “ for each car, similar to the title in the USA.

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-log-book

Thank you, and thank you.

We will be looking for an automatic because I can't be bothered to learn how to change gears, so it will be an automatic-only license for me. I'm guessing that private sellers offer better prices than businesses. Is it usual to get a mechanical check/once over before buying. I know next to nothing about cars myself.

when we moved back in 2016 we also only wanted an automatic because my wife had spent 29 years driving automatics and didn’t want to relearn how to drive a manual. The very first dealer we visited had an 18 month old automatic small car, Hyundai i20, which we took out on a test drive. The car was registered to the dealer and had only ever been used by the dealer plus it still had plenty of it’s 5 year warranty left so we bought it. It served us well for the next couple of years before we traded up.

That would be a good deal. Unfortunately, I can't buy a car that's too small due to OH being 6' 4" and not on a slight build, either He doesn't fold up very well.

bought the company?