SORN questions…..

bit of temporary promotion from 1st january gives me the option of using the company car for private use too. i started off thinking nah, not worth it as itd cost me £50 per month for the privilege and only 9p per mile mileage claim for work miles only. other people doing the same job say you probably lose out on the fuel too because of this, especially as its being booted a lot. so…..if i only used it for work itd be kept a couple of miles away, easily picked up and dropped off, bit of a faff at rush hour maybe but why waste money?

however, thinking deeper into it, if i SORN my car for a few months, and my insurance runs out mid january, i can offset those costs (£13 tax, £18 ins) so in effect itd maybe cost me £20-ish per month i’d and get no wear and tear on my car. id have hassle free motoring for a few months, so now im favouring the company car (especially as its a nicer car, newish focus estate).

ive looked into SORN and it says i can either use the 11 digit no on my V5 and cancel immediately, or the 16 digit no on my V11 reminder to cancel from the start of next month.
however, i pay tax by DD and dont get a reminder, so is there a way of accessing this number elsewhere? id prefer to ‘cancel from next month’ then its done rather than try and remember on the 31st. no worries if thats my only option tho.

just another question, i service my car myself (oil and filter change) and its about due now. im thinking why change the oil to have it sat on the drive for months, itd make more sense to service it just before it goes on the road again, would you agree? im not too fussed about questions being asked if i ever sell it, its a 57 octavia, theres no real monetary value in a perfect service history, id just explain why it was sat idle for months.

thanks for any advice.

You can do SORN by post for a future date (within limits) or give them a ring.

Definitely do the service before you store it – let it sit with nice, clean oil. Not the old, dirty, wet acidic stuff.

There will be a 16 digit reference number on the email from the DVLA when you taxed the vehicle. You can use that.

Assuming that you have them an email address, and kept the mail, of course.

When i was off work sick and my car barely moved for 5 months, the brake calipers got sticky..
I’ve had to replace 3 of them, the other I managed to save with a good greasing.
Something to consider, unless the car is still under warranty of course.

There will be a 16 digit reference number on the email from the DVLA when you taxed the vehicle. You can use that.

Assuming that you have them an email address, and kept the mail, of course.

cant find mine, only the wifes which should be the same format, and theres only a 22 digit number. probably safer if i give them a ring…..

Definitely do the service before you store it – let it sit with nice, clean oil. Not the old, dirty, wet acidic stuff.

must admit i was expecting the opposite advice. theres a chance if i carry on doing this job that it may be stood even longer, a year even? youd still change it in that case would you? does it matter if its old and dirty (and acidic?) if its not going through any engine parts? ive asked for advice tho, id be daft not to take it 🙂

When i was off work sick and my car barely moved for 5 months, the brake calipers got sticky..
I’ve had to replace 3 of them, the other I managed to save with a good greasing.
Something to consider, unless the car is still under warranty of course.

yes, there is that possibility, i thought about that with the handbrake and leaving it in gear instead. i ought to move it a few feet up and down the drive from time to time.
no warranty with this bad boy, its 10 years old now and had it a good few years.

thanks

Is the £50/month just what the company will charge you, or does it include the tax you’ll pay on the benefit in kind?

its what the company charge, the tax will be a bit extra. apparently a bit less than a tenner. not that i understand any of how it has been explained to me! 😀

” 17/18 taxable benefit = £xxxx.xx. Total mileage for year is 50% business 50% private so personal liability is half of the benefit = £xxxx.xx less £600 (50*12) contribution to car = £xxx.xx. Tax @ 25% = £xxx pa ie less than £10 per month

Clearly the level of tax will depend on how much you use your car for private use”

obvious really isnt it 😀

As martymac says, not using a car is a good way to see it deteriorate. I’ve done it myself when a family member who was sposed to look after it ‘never got round to it’. Damn thing was a solid, damp mess after 3 months and cost a fortune to fix. Definitely don’t leave the handbrake on. I don’t use my current car much either as I have a works van, so I make a point of taking it out for a good drive once a fortnight minimum. SORN would be an issue if it was on the road of course.

The other thing that crossed my mind was continuity of insurance – is there a cost implication if you have a break and then start again?

i may have the chance to leave the car in a training compound, with plenty of space and ‘roads’ too, so id be able to give it a bit of a warm up and a short drive every now and then. being a diesel (with no dpf) i spose short journeys arent that good for a diesel but better than nothing at all?

id probably be cancelling insurance with this company and changing as most do each year, so no financial implications there. or do you mean a break in ‘no claims’? how does that work? would i be penalised or lose no claims if i didnt have a policy for a few months?

thanks

TBH I don’t know about the insurance, it’s just something I would be thinking about if I was considering a break in my cover – i’ve never done it but it’s the sort of thing some insurance companies might sniff at. Worth investigating but hopefully not an issue.

If you can drive it about, that is good. Ideally up to working temperature and plenty of braking to keep the discs clean.

You won’t get out of paying for the insurance these days, git’s have you by the tight and curlies to pay the whole lot.. worth talking to them and asking though.

To declare sorn, you just need the number off the front of your v5c, apply for scorn online, job done.

If you’re gonna periodically warm it up, make sure it’s properly stinking hot.
Iirc, from a technical document made by skoda, they estimate that whatever time it takes for the temp guage to get to normal, it takes double to warm the whole engine.
And then double that to warm the gearbox.
So if it’s (say) 5 mins to get the needle up to normal, it’s another 5 to warm the whole engine, then another 10 for the gearbox.
I remember reading this on briskoda, because i fancy an Octavia vrs.

As mentioned above, you need continuous insurance these days, might be possible to get a layup policy but they’re probably more suited to longer term as you might with a classic.

Continuous insurance does not apply to sorned vehicles.

I understand what your trying to do but I’m willing to bet that once you go to put it back on the road its next trip will be to the scrap yard. Once you get the mot fail sheet.

Standing around in the elements does cars no favours .

I sit corrected! Could of sworn that even when Sorn insurance was required now. Probably some scaremongering I listened to, either way I’d still want insurance unless the car is Low value.

Likewise. layup insurance/project insurance isn’t expensive anyway.

Well it might be if your planning to store it away from your property.

You won’t get out of paying for the insurance these days, git’s have you by the tight and curlies to pay the whole lot.. worth talking to them and asking though.

but i wont be asking to cancel early, just not renewing when its due mid-jan?

I understand what your trying to do but I’m willing to bet that once you go to put it back on the road its next trip will be to the scrap yard. Once you get the mot fail sheet.

Standing around in the elements does cars no favours .

yeah, i can see it wont do it any favours, ill see what i can do about storage. id get a few opportunities to run it for 20 mins or so id say from time to time……

Likewise. layup insurance/project insurance isn’t expensive anyway.

Well it might be if your planning to store it away from your property.

never heard of it. a quick google suggests firstly that if my car is SORNed id have 2 years grace for no claims, which would be fine. whats this layup or project insurance all about? why cant i just keep it on private property uninsured?

You can that’s up to you. If it gets stolen or vandalised that’s on you.

must admit i was expecting the opposite advice. theres a chance if i carry on doing this job that it may be stood even longer, a year even? youd still change it in that case would you? does it matter if its old and dirty (and acidic?) if its not going through any engine parts?

Yes, do the service – the longer it is standing, the stronger the case. Don’t start it up every week/ 2 weeks / month- it will do more harm than good. Oil / moisture will be held inside the bearings and can/will cause corrosion just by sitting there. Running it off load just adds condensation to the oil and makes matters worse unless you get the whole engine hot enough for long enough to boil it off.

just serviced it today, right PITA as some of the undertray screws were seized, and the air filter screws. spent ages getting them off and will buy new to replace, just left a few out for now.

oil filter was also a bit screwed up, looked like it had been crushed slightly, a bit of investigation shows that euro car parts often supplied filters that were slightly too long so looks like thats why. got a new one in now from a local parts shop.

id prefer to run it every week or two, but if the advice is to leave it thats what ill do. im just a bit conscious of the comment ^^^….
I understand what your trying to do but I’m willing to bet that once you go to put it back on the road its next trip will be to the scrap yard. Once you get the mot fail sheet.

Standing around in the elements does cars no favours .

my lad bought a cheapy from his mate and its been stood on our drive for a few months while his lessons have stalled. he had to clean all the mould from the upholstery and steering wheel the other day so id prefer to give mine a bit of a 15 minute run with windows open periodically.
i thought about the diesel too getting moisture in. google suggests a full tank can help bu not giving room for condensation.

whats your thoughts on this? still leave it standing or run it? full tank or doesnt it matter?

thanks

I left my old Civic standing for the better part of 6 months. Brakes seized but tbh they did that regardless. Other than the battery being borked there were no other issues. It did suffer from damp at first (thanks to it being valeted inside shortly before being laid up) but cracking the front windows kept it dry, the aero vents stopped rain ingress.

Longer than that I wouldn’t like to say what nick it would be in. Things can seize and if not in good condition they will. Tyres can suffer, if you are totally leaving it get it on axle stands. Disconnect the battery and put it on a trickle charger to maintain it or budget for a new one. If you can get it inside, tarps only trap moisture!