# Sold car but still registered in my name



## Bnage (11 Jan 2007)

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anyone has experienced this problem??

I sold my car 3 months ago to someone I knew from my local. We did the paperwork in the pub (classy I know but it means I have witnesses) He insisted on taking the paperwork and posting it himself (as a favor)

Turns out he hasnt posted it and Im still the reg user. Now Iv had a letter from DVLA asking for £70 as the vehicle doesnt have tax. Iv called the buyer but he wont answer his phone.

Does anyone know where I stand? Iv written to the dvla today to inform them I am no longer the keeper. I dont want to be billed anymore.

Finally, Iv been told he has sold the car (for a profit) Is this illegal? Surely as it is registered under my name. 

Any help is much appreciated.

Bnage


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## Billo (11 Jan 2007)

It looks to me like you should get onto the motor tax office and fill out the necessary form RF134 or RF200 to let them know you have sold the car. They will tell you what to do hopefully.


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## tosullivan (11 Jan 2007)

Bnage said:


> Finally, Iv been told he has sold the car (for a profit) Is this illegal? Surely as it is registered under my name.
> 
> Any help is much appreciated.
> 
> Bnage


Thats illegal unless he's declared as a trader.

Ring the local plod and see what they say


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## SOM42 (11 Jan 2007)

I don't see that the buyer of the car who has sold it on has done anything illegal.  He was surely the legal owner of the car because he paid for it.  The original seller has made the mistake of not passing on the details to the VRO so that the new owner would be registered.  I'm sure this guy will however have the car registered in the new owners name as soon as possible to avoid the kind of letters you got.  He is probably a small time dealer who does this sort of thing all the time.  Moral of the story; The seller must forward sale details to the VRO not the buyer


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## Bnage (11 Jan 2007)

Thanks for your comments. He is not a dealer, my brother actually knows him. I have tried contacting the dvla but they were less than useless and tell me everything must be in a letter..not email!

He has now swithced his phone off so I cannot talk to him about the matter. I think I may just bite the bullet and pay the £70, what Im worried about now is that its still in my name and I may be asked to fork out for the tax as well!


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## SOM42 (11 Jan 2007)

Bnage said:


> He has now swithced his phone off so I cannot talk to him about the matter. I think I may just bite the bullet and pay the £70, what Im worried about now is that its still in my name and I may be asked to fork out for the tax as well!


 
Sorry I didn't realise that you were outside the Republic.  Think writing that letter to the DVLA is your only option.  I would be slow enough to pay the £70 and fight it all the way!


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## Bnage (11 Jan 2007)

Thanks. I have posted the letter today.

I hope its ok me from England being on here? I didnt realise it was Ireland based. Its very helpful though!


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## jhegarty (11 Jan 2007)

tosullivan said:


> Thats illegal unless he's declared as a trader.
> 
> Ring the local plod and see what they say




The op is the only one who broke the rules here , its up to him to send off the form...


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## RS2K (12 Jan 2007)

It was your responsibilty to post the paperwork to get the change of ownership done, and any fallout from your failure to do so is also yours.

Secondly he cannot sell  what he doesn't own.

If you want to bring this to a speedy conclusion ring the cops and report your car stolen.

He won't be long in getting his name on the logbook then.


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## Guest125 (12 Jan 2007)

I think you're right in writing to the dvla. With the car in your name any traffic offences,speeding tickets etc. will fall back on you,not pretty. A lesson learned me thinks!! Have a word with the local police as well they might take a spin over to your lost friend.


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## Bnage (12 Jan 2007)

I think I will make a visit to see him this weekend. His phone is off so probably hasnt received any of my messages. Id rather sort this out as gents instead of concerning the local men in black. 

Your right though, my main concern is the ticketsI may already of unwittingly clocked up


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## SOM42 (12 Jan 2007)

RS2K said:


> Secondly he cannot sell what he doesn't own.
> 
> If you want to bring this to a speedy conclusion ring the cops and report your car stolen.
> 
> He won't be long in getting his name on the logbook then.


 
I would suggest he does own the car.  He paid for it therefore it is now his to do what he wants with it.  

I imagine the cops would take a very dim view of the op reporting the car stolen.  It clearly was not.  The op sold it in good faith and was paid for it.  His error was in not posting the documents to the dvla.


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## RS2K (13 Jan 2007)

Legally he has no title to the car as is.

Yes he has paid for it so I guess it is morally his, but until the log book says so legally it's not. Don'y forget he chose not to send the docs in.

The point about the cops was slightly tongue in cheek


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## Ancutza (13 Jan 2007)

I had a similar issue with a car in the ROI about 8 years ago.  It kept collecting parking tickets for over 18 months after I sold it.  The guy who bought it off me was actually doing time for a number of periods in which it collected tickets, i.e. he was giving it out on 'loan' to his mates whilst he was in the 'big house'

I got on to the Guards and my very friendly local Sergeant put it to bed for me, finally!!!

Having lived in the UK for a number of years, I'd say that if you go down to the cop shop and explain all the details to them then you will get a friendly ear.

In my case it was a error made by the vehicle registration office in Shannon which caused the grief., your equivalent of the DVLA in Swansea.


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## jhegarty (13 Jan 2007)

RS2K said:


> Legally he has no title to the car as is.
> 
> Yes he has paid for it so I guess it is morally his, but until the log book says so legally it's not. Don'y forget he chose not to send the docs in.
> 
> The point about the cops was slightly tongue in cheek




by that logic I can sell you a car... not bother sending in the docs ... then have the cops get the car back for me and you locked up ?


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## RS2K (13 Jan 2007)

jhegarty said:


> by that logic I can sell you a car... not bother sending in the docs ... then have the cops get the car back for me and you locked up ?



Er no.


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## niceoneted (13 Jan 2007)

You could always mention to the guy who bought it from you that you are intending on reporting it stolen as it is still in your name. It might get him to put things right and pay the £70 and also make sure the now new owner is the registered owner!​


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## mo3art (14 Jan 2007)

We had a similar problem with a car that we traded in with a large garage based on the Northside a couple of years back.
They took our old car as a trade in and we purchased a newer car, at which point they asked us for the log book so that they could transfer the ownership to themselves.  We assumed that it would be all above board and handed the information over.
Roll on 3 months later and we receive a summons for dangerous driving and speeding when we had already sold the car.  After many telephone calls to the Gardai and the Garage we managed to get it sorted BUT the gardai confirmed that the original owner of the car is the person obligated to notify the change of ownership.  You should never hand over the papers to the purchaser and always mail them off yourself.


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## redchariot (14 Jan 2007)

If you ever sell a car, *always* send in the notification of the change of owner ship to Shannon yourself. If they don't receive such a notification, you will could still be liable for parking fines etc.


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## Guest125 (15 Jan 2007)

If you're trading in the car in a dealer/garage don't you give your documents to them otherwise all the vehicles on the premises would be in the dealers name. Hopefully the dealer won't mess it up when he gets a buyer for your trade in.


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## Billo (15 Jan 2007)

Motot taxation says

"The onus is always on the seller of the vehicle to ensure that the Change Of Ownership notification is completed correctly and submitted to the relevant authority " 


Billo


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## manukev (15 Jan 2007)

Bnage said:


> I think I will make a visit to see him this weekend. His phone is off so probably hasnt received any of my messages. Id rather sort this out as gents instead of concerning the local men in black


 


so bnage did you get this guy sorted out or what


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## Bnage (16 Jan 2007)

Iv spoken to the dvla today who confirmed the car is now in his name. Its just the fine I need to worry about now.

I will continue to chase him until the deadline for the fine; I dont want it going up to £1000 and then a court appearance!

Thanks for everyones advise. I admit its partly my fault; Im too trusting I suppose. Ill be more careful next time!


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## sonnyikea (17 Jan 2007)

If the car is now in his name (or at least I would have thought the name of the person he sold it to) what date does the transfer of ownership have on it? You could pay the £70 and then send the tax disc back to get a refund for the difference between the change of ownership date and the tax renewal date. As the refunds are full months and not part months it should only cost you a months road tax (based on the dates on the previous posts).

I'd say it would be difficult to prove to the DVLA that you sold the car prior to the tax being due, due to the fact that the change of ownership date is the only evidence they have to go on.


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## blinkbelle (17 Jan 2007)

Hi everybody.

This thread has gotton huge, i havent much time to read back over the posts, the answer to my question is prob there.

This morning my brother rang me.  He has gotton a letter from the tax office sayin car out of tax end of jan.

He sold this car to a dealer 7 months ago.  I have seen this car been driven around my local town.  We both think the dealer has sold it because it has not been on his list of cars for sale.  Also my brother gets his car serviced with him and hasnt seen it.

What should my brother do? go to the tax office and fill out the form someone mentioned here?

I remembered this post on aam so said id ask.  Hes very annoyed about it.  

thanks.


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## gipimann (17 Jan 2007)

Hi folks,
The following webpage may be of use to you as it details the requirements on buying & selling a car in Ireland.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/c...ying-or-selling-a-vehicle/change_of_ownership


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## susie1 (7 Dec 2007)

several months ago i sold a car, posted off the docs to shannon, however i started getting fines for unpaid parking.  i contacted shannon and explained the car was sold and they had documents. i also sent them a letter stating same.  however, today i've gotten 2 summons for court in Jan for these upaid fines.

where do i stand, the car appears to be still registered in my name?  do i have to attend court or just contact shannon 'again'.

thanks


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## smcgiff (8 Dec 2007)

Ditto. Happened to me with a dealer with my current car. I bought it from a dealer two years ago and for the best part of a year I was getting letters from the tax office to pay for road tax, even though I knew the car was sold from the dealer to another person.

Eventually the Motor Tax Office sent me a form which I was to get witnessed by a solicitor or Notary to swear I had sold the car. There's a specific form so I guess it's common enough. 

Out of indignation (oh, with the world in general  ) I never went to the trouble of getting this done. The tax office stopped sending me demands after the Third and final request. 

Now, that I know more about it I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND IGNORING the demand and fill out the avadavat.


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## Sylvester3 (9 Jan 2008)

This happened to me today - I received notification of a parking penalty for an offence on the 18/12 for a vehicle I traded in during October. I called the parking office and they said to fill in the notification form supplied with the notice to show the details of the trader and their address. I then called the trader involved and he said to send him the penalty notice so that he could deal with it. My colleagues from the motor trade say that it is common practice for dealers to not change the ownership of a vehicle until it has been sold on, but that it should not be used until then.

I'm really surprised by this - it seems a big messy hole that could cause lots of legal and financial headaches. Is there a way for me to transfer ownership seeing that the dealership has the relevant documents?


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## sam h (9 Jan 2008)

Had the same happened (traded in & got speeding fine).  Shannon want me to get the notary but I didn;t see why I should have to pay for this (would have if it went to late).  Took about 10 calls & eventually got it sorted.  I said to Shannon that this was a crazy set-up & then (for the first time) they said that there IS an interim form for the dealers to send in but most don't seem to as they are liable once this goes in, until they sell it & send in the final tranfer of ownership.  Very lax set up....as the seller is the one wasting time to sort it out!


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## Sylvester3 (16 Jan 2008)

Ok - this has gone further now and we have to get a sworn affidavit stating who we sold the car to and on what date. Can anyone tell me how we go about arranging this? GOD!! I hate all this at the same time as buying a house!


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## csirl (17 Jan 2008)

> My colleagues from the motor trade say that it is common practice for dealers to not change the ownership of a vehicle until it has been sold on, but that it should not be used until then.


 
Are you sure this is always done? Last time I traded in car, I transfered the old car into name of the dealership - they requested that I do this. Was a well known v. large dealership in Dublin.


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## Sylvester3 (17 Jan 2008)

It is probably common practice, but it is definitely not the correct way of doing things.


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