Towing - Now Debating On The Listing

[PaRtZ]

Just bought a car off ebay for a bargain, and its not got Tax and im pretty sure it's not going to have an MOT and its a long drive from aylesbury to North Wales. So im guessing I'll have to tow it. Now as it doesn't have an mot, and the work doing is going to be hefty on labour me and a friend will be doing the work ourselves so i need to tow it home. but without an MOT, tax and insurance its illegally

BUT

I found an exception saying that if its on the way to the MOT test centre or a garage to get the work done, and I can prove it, its ok? Anyone familar with this?

Would be greatly appreciated

EDIT: Ok that ideas gone out the window. Just want to know if anyone else would say the advert isnt clear enough:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...N:IT&ih=008

to me that says thats its still got a bit of mot left but wont pass it again when it runs out. Not it doesn't have one, as he mentioned no tax, surely he'd have done the same for MOT?

Edited December 5, 2007 by PaRtZ

[Bionic Balls]

something like that yeah....although that it stretching it a bit i think...

like if you break a light, you drive straight home or you get in the shitz kinda thing?

edit- ask the seller? see how bad it is

Edited December 4, 2007 by ad101

[Synergy]

your only to LEGAL options

get a trialer and put it on that.

leave it.

by law a car with no mot or tax can be parked on a street let a lone towed. it sucks i know and a lot of people with disagree with me, but thats the rules as i had bought a car with no mot or tax and had to get it on a trailer.

Edited December 4, 2007 by Synergy

[TomR]

Assuming you can legally tow a trailer, check your license.

[Fish-Finger-er]

Assuming you can legally tow a trailer, check your license.

chances of him being able to tow a light car are very slim, unless the car and trailer either way less than 750kg, or his cars weight exceeds the weight of the towing dolley and the gross weight of the towed car, and it all comes under 3500kg.

however there is a bit that stipulates"unless in event of an emergency" so you could possibly wing it that way(although how youd manage it im not sure, as its not like you could say the car broke down as you wer driving, so you parked it up went home and got your other car and dolly to move it as you wernt supposed to be driving it anyway due to no tax or mot)

but i have to admit ive driven with trailers that dont conform to towing laws anyway, most police are slightly hazy on their knowledge of towing laws and ive never been pulled for it. not that i can advise this.

best bet is find someone wholl do it for petrol money and a few quid like, who got their license before 1997 and has a decent towing vehicle.

[nmt_oli]

best bet is find someone wholl do it for petrol money and a few quid like, who got their license before 1997 and has a decent towing vehicle.

Unlike me who decided to risk towing a mk2 golf (complete, not just shell) on a hefty trailer with.......... a mk2 golf!!!!! And my licnece is only 2 years old, and i havent done a supplementary test.

The laws are indeed very hazy. Ive spoken to 2 police officers, my driving instructor (when i was learning) and phoned the DVLA, all gave conflicting advise. Driving instructor said i could tow nothing, one police officer said i could tow 250kg, one said i could tow anything, and the DVLA said 750kg / 3500 total convoy with heavier tow car

[Fish-Finger-er]

Unlike me who decided to risk towing a mk2 golf (complete, not just shell) on a hefty trailer with.......... a mk2 golf!!!!! And my licnece is only 2 years old, and i havent done a supplementary test.

The laws are indeed very hazy. Ive spoken to 2 police officers, my driving instructor (when i was learning) and phoned the DVLA, all gave conflicting advise. Driving instructor said i could tow nothing, one police officer said i could tow 250kg, one said i could tow anything, and the DVLA said 750kg / 3500 total convoy with heavier tow car

well the laws pretty clear, its just no one seems to know it. but the dvla are pretty much spot on(suprise suprise)

if the gross train weight(convoy weight as you referred to it) is under 3500kg, then the tow car must be heavier than the tow weight. (supposedly its the kerb weight of your car and the gross vehicle weight off the trailers plate ( meaning you couldnt tow an empty car trailer due to the gross weight on the plate, but as most trailers dont have plates, its generally decided by the weight of the trailer)

if the gross train weight excees 3500kg, then the maximum towable is 750kg(so if youve got a 3500kg class vii commercial vehicle(transit 1 tonne chassis cab etc) or a 3500kg class iv car/dual purpose vehicle(landrover defender/discovery etc) you can tow a 750kg trailer.

before 1997 and its pretty much you can tow anything providing the towing vehicle is heavier, till you get to 8250kg(but this now requires a b+e license), then its gets more complex again(as it then requires a c1+ e, or a c+e license, but back on most old farts licenses, this is class 1 hgv, class 2 hgv, at which point i have no knowledge of it).

what gets stupid is, ive done the training to drive a 7.5tonne truck, just failed the test for excessive speed. i can drive one perfectly adequately.but my mum whos never driven anything bigger than a ford transit(which she drove once, previous to that its a family estate car) could legally jump in one and drive one. she could also sit next to me and have me drive one on L plates perfectly legally. which also applies to your towing situation, if you can find someone whos held a driving license since before 1997, you could sit them in your passenger seat, stick L plates on it, and tow all day.

[Bionic Balls]

if you can find someone whos held a driving license since before 1997, you could sit them in your passenger seat, stick L plates on it, and tow all day.

f**king solution i'd say!

[Gavyn.]

book it in for an mot then drive it back from wherever it is

my dads mate had 20 mot bookings and cancelations with his kit car just so he could take it out and iron out the little problems before the sva test or whatever you call it

oh didn't see that it had to be towed home

towing it with a booked mot will still be fine

Edited December 4, 2007 by Gavyn L

[Pashley26]

Just bought a car off ebay for a bargain, and its not got Tax and im pretty sure it's not going to have an MOT and its a long drive from aylesbury to North Wales. So im guessing I'll have to tow it. Now as it doesn't have an mot, and the work doing is going to be hefty on labour me and a friend will be doing the work ourselves so i need to tow it home. but without an MOT, tax and insurance its illegally

BUT

I found an exception saying that if its on the way to the MOT test centre or a garage to get the work done, and I can prove it, its ok? Anyone familar with this?

Would be greatly appreciated

Yes, that is true...

If a vehicle is booked into an MOT station and you are directly on your way to or from a station you don't need an Mot....I don't know about the going to a garage part of that though...

You'll still be butt f**ked for tax and insurance though

Jarrod

[Will Arnold]

this is a cuntish situation

where r u keeping the car in n wales dude? u still wanting me to ask my dad or can you have it at urs?

wonder what the rules are about getting aa membership, pretending that you've broken down and getting them to take ur car back home

might be worth a shot!

[RobinJI]

The only way a vehicle without an MOT can be driven on public roads is if it is on its way to a pre-booked MOT at the nearest test center. This will still apply to a car being towed, as you're still driving it, even if it isnt powering its self. And the car must be taxed and insured.

Whack it on a trailer and tow it that way. Like someone said, just get someone with a pre 97 license to sit along side and whack some L-plates on

I hadn't realised you were aloud to tow anything over 750kg with a new lisence, thats pretty cool about the heavier car thing. Does anyone know how much a light car trailer weighs? just my golf daily driver is 845kg, and my project car should weigh in as sub 700, Its a bit hopefull to think I could find a trailer under 150kg. haha, Have to just put a bunch of parts of the project car in the golfs boot to bring its weight on the trailer down. haha.

Edited December 4, 2007 by Dont you Just Hate it When...

[Caleb]

jesus didnt think the old golfs were that light

still wouldnt mind a mini marcos, 593 kg !

[Gavyn.]

hmm i was under the impression that you didn't need tax or insurance because you were covered by the test center

[Fish-Finger-er]

hmm i was under the impression that you didn't need tax or insurance because you were covered by the test center

nah you still need insurance to drive to a test centre. you cant tax a vehicle till its moted and insured, so you cant get the tax till after the mot, and obviously it isnt practical to trailer every car thats ran out by a day to a test centre.

as for the legality of towing a vehicle with no tax/mot/insurance. it all depends on the towing system used, obviously a trailer your fine, speaking to different people about this. ive had 2 different answers,(one lad works at a scrapyard, and does collections of vehicles etc, the other works for a local garage that does recovery/bodywork repairs).

answer 1) if a vehicle is being towed,its classed as a trailer, and providing it meets the legal requirements for a trailer its fine. (i.e tyres, wheel bearings, sharp edges, lighting board) apparently this applies even when towing with just a bar between 2 towing eyes and having someone in the rear car steering + braking)

the other said, providing the vehicle is being towed, and is rigidly connected to the towing vehicle, then its classed as a trailer, and falls under the same laws as above(so either a rigid tow frame, that clamps on the bottom arms, a towing dolly or a recovery frame).

the second one sounds right, as the vehicle is being moved without needing any interference, so driving controls etc are not neccessary,and is the same as what the aa/rac/recovery companies use

as for olis golf comment, how about my wrote off 306 on a big heavy duty recovery frame(talking a good 400kg+ frame here, big box section a frame, big vertical supports, pulley, winch, massive bar going across the bottom) being towed by a suzuki sj410 over the welsh mountains, now that aint legal, or sensible.

[Will Arnold]

anyone know if the AA membership thing i mentioned about would work?!

[tipsy Jock]

anyone know if the AA membership thing i mentioned about would work?!

Could work, but if you get busted you are likely to get stranded Oh and if you guys are picking it up from Aylesbury thats less than 20 mins from me

[Bionic Balls]

i think the offending words would be....

This was on the road until the summer but would now need some TLC to get it up and running and through a mot again.

Was a good runner with many new parts including Alternator, crank shaft oil seal/Clutch and front tyres.

sure you can sort it out though...most people on ebay are quite understanding....

Edited December 5, 2007 by ad101

[joshball]

Cant you buy one months tax and then like when you get to north wales you can et your money back for the months tax - one day.

And its legal that if you have you car booked for an M.O.T then you can actually drive your car.

So book a MOT and then get one months tax crive to wales and then get the money back for your tax!

Echo.Josh

X-x-X

P.s It should work

[PaRtZ]

Cant you buy one months tax and then like when you get to north wales you can et your money back for the months tax - one day.

And its legal that if you have you car booked for an M.O.T then you can actually drive your car.

So book a MOT and then get one months tax crive to wales and then get the money back for your tax!

Echo.Josh

X-x-X

P.s It should work

problem is you need an mot and insurance to get tax

[Pashley26]

Nothing missleading about "This was on the road until the summer but would now need some TLC to get it up and running and through a mot again."

If it dosen't say it's got it....

It hasn't got it ! XD

www.bradleyjamesclassics.co.uk All of our cars state wether they have mot's and when they run out....All the ones with no MOT dont...

And anyway, everyone ALWAYS asks the question "When does the MOT run out"

Did you speak to the guy before you bid ?

Jarrod

[Fish-Finger-er]

Cant you buy one months tax and then like when you get to north wales you can et your money back for the months tax - one day.

And its legal that if you have you car booked for an M.O.T then you can actually drive your car.

So book a MOT and then get one months tax crive to wales and then get the money back for your tax!

Echo.Josh

X-x-X

P.s It should work

your bullshitting knowledge is amusing and scary at the same time.(after telling tomm to remove his headgasket to check his tappets and that it was a simple job i tend to take a lot of stuff you say with a shovel sized pinch of salt)

1) you cant buy tax for 1 month, its 6 or 12 months.

2) you cant get your money back on the 1 months tax that you cant buy.

the cheapest way you could do it is to buy 12 months tax, drive it back to wales on the 12 months tax, when you get back you surrender your tax before the end of the month and sorn your vehicle. you then only lose 1 months tax.its impossible to lose any less than this.

3) you cant buy tax without mot or insurance.

4) you cant drive a car round providing its got an mot booked. you can drive a vehicle directly from its place of keep or repair, to a pre booked mot, and then if it fails, you can drive it directly back home again, or to a place of repair. key words here are "pre booked mot" "directly" and "to a place of repair or an mot station". basically he can only drive directly, the shortest route between his house and a test station legally speaking, of course the police leave some leeway, stopping at motorworld, or a petrol station would generally be tolerated out of common sense(unless you wer stopped doing 98mph on tescos pretrol station, in which case, better pass the soap). so he cant book an mot for a week on tuesday, drive his car round and then take it for mot after doing 1100 miles on it. the whole "closest test station thing" kinda holds some water, but its not totally set in stone, as prices for mot's vary, as do waiting lists. therefore its kind of generally accepted that a local test station is acceptable.

the other option for taking it home, which is highly illegal, but providing your sensible and have someone whose vehicle fits the bill and there willing to be a part of it, its very unlikely youll get caught(its a lot more subtle than towing a clearly overweight car) is to find a mate with a white 205, borrow his plates and tax(or get him to get a new set of plates made up), go down their, bolt em on, stick the tax in the window and get him to drive it home, if the police stop him, its a taxed, insured, mot'd vehicle on the police records. its only when they look at vins that issues may occur, but unless you have a serious crash. then its little to worry about.

[anzo]

Know anyone with trade plates? (eg. Garages, scrap yards or gypsies).

[Prawny Baby]

anyone know if the AA membership thing i mentioned about would work?!

It does for sure.

We did it when we bought a f**ked car for tori.

bought the car, pushed it 500 yards down the road, ran the AA.

AA man arrived, asked why the engine was cold. We said it broke down rushing home in convoy with a friend last night, so we left it there, and came back today to see if it would start, it wouldnt (had no HT leads incase he tried!), so we needed a tow!

It worked, 40 miles home, job done

Just take a load of shit with you to make te car look lived in if its new!

[Pashley26]

Know anyone with trade plates? (eg. Garages, scrap yards or gypsies).

I have trade plates...

But the rules for using them are very strict, you can only use them for buisnesss use.

The person driving with the trade plates must be registered to that plate and be the repairer.

You must be on a straight route to the garage, No stopping off for a pint on the way !

And they must be used within context, So no ford fiestas with no doors or a floor but a cossie engine up front XD

Best off getting it delivered.

Jarrod

Edited December 6, 2007 by Pashley26