My father is now too old to drive and has been told to stop by his doctor. As a result his car has been sitting on my driveway for a few months. I need to sell it on his behalf. He’s not really up to dealing with any of this himself so I’m going to have to do it.

His insurance expired so I had to SORN it.

Therefore it is untaxed, uninsured and the MOT has expired.

The V5 is in his name.

In order to sell it it will need to be road legal. In which order do I go about sorting out insurance, MOT and tax? And is the fact that my father is the registered keeper a problem?

That order

And is the fact that my father is the registered keeper a problem?

You could re-register it in your name if you feel it would be easier.

Why road legal? If you sell to a trader they will normally come and get it with a truck.

Either speak to your own car insurer (assuming you have one) about adding it temporarily or you can take out short-term policies.

Then you can take it for a MOT (and drive it home) as long as it’s pre-booked.

Once it has a MOT pass you can tax it, assuming you’re going to sell privately and will need it road legal for test drives.

I’m assuming I’ll need to drive it to a few garages for them to give me a quote. And then I might try a private sale (gumtree) to get a better price.

If I re-register it in my name does it look like it’s had one more owner and will that lower the value.

How do I get it to the garage for an MOT when it’s untaxed?

First things first.

What is it?

Automatic ? Small?

On the lookout innit

Just explain the position.

How do I get it to the garage for an MOT when it’s untaxed?

You book the appointment and drive it there. The law lets you do that. But it has to be insured.

OK thanks guys.

Josh it’s a 10 reg, manual Honda Jazz with 14K (really!) on the clock. It’s in Dunbar.

I should move this to the For Sale forum.

Yeah if you do put it up ping me as I could well be interested.

It’s not for me though so she’ll need to think about what she wants spend etc.

If you do insure don’t tell the new insurer that you intend to sell. They may decline to cover you (voe).

You’ll get a better price with an MOT but you can sell it without and on sorn. Lot’s of car buyers out there who’ll just come along and pick it up on a trailer. All depends how much you want for it.

Sort of car thats fairly safe to buy as it is. Might get a bit more on the road but why not try as it is. No test drives though.

I’d just sell it as it is and let the new owner worry about tax/insurance/MOT. Arguably it’s less of an issue than it once was as tax is no longer transferable so really it’s just missing an MOT. It’s a 7 year old car so won’t be worth too much even with such low mileage (and will probably have issues as a result, especially if sat stationary, brakes seized, tyres perished, etc) so the value added probably won’t cover the cost of getting it on the road even before you look at any mechanical issues.

Mattsccm is right, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy the car without a test drive. Good look over hear it running straight on a trailer.

(and will probably have issues as a result, especially if sat stationary, brakes seized, tyres perished, etc)

It’s only been stood for a few months not years !! None of the above should be a problem.

I’m surprised that someone would buy it without a test drive. If I wanted to sell it ‘as is’, should I advertise it privately or phone up some dealers?

Depends how bothered you are about what price you get – if you don’t want to lose hundreds then ignore the above and get an MOT tax and insurance as your original plan. I can’t believe the MOT is likely to be a problem at that age and mileage.

Depends whether you want the better price versus the hassle of all of the above donald.
IIRC I sold my dad’s car – which had sat in his garage for several months – without *too* much trouble, I appreciate it was possible a bit more legal than your situation – I did have PofA over my dad though which I suspect you have as well. It was sold with my mum’s approval (though not my dad’s, due to circumstances).

[ bit of background – dad was in hospital, would be unable to drive if he ever came out of hospital, mum wanted the car sold sooner rather than later to avoid hassle, I asked around and was put in touch with a lad locally that was interested in a well maintained but badly driven old person’s Astra ]

hope it all works out.

make sure you get it MOT, you will more than recoup the £25 it costs