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Wed 6 May 2015 12:43
Any - Any - craig-pd130

Interesting article from the Telegraph: A driver selling his car has been banned from driving because the would-be buyer took it for a test drive while uninsured, and was killed in a crash.

The owner was charged with aiding and abetting another using a motor vehicle without third party insurance. He was fined £150, with £620 costs, and disqualified from driving for 12 months by magistrates in Swansea.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/1158...l

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Wed 6 May 2015 12:56
Any - Any - oldroverboy.

Harsh, but correct!

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Wed 6 May 2015 13:39
Any - Any - 72 dudes

Blimey!

I've often thought about what happens when you buy/sell a car privately and you want to give/take a test drive.

I'm insured to drive any car with the owner's permission (3rd party only) but a surprising number of people are not.

On two occasions in the last 10 years, I've sold a car privately. The first time, the buyers were prepared to let me drive, and observe.

On the second occasion it was a more valuable restored MGC GT. A buyer phoned to say he wanted a look and a test drive. When I questioned him about insurance he mumbled that he was insured fully comp. When I asked about him driving other cars, and to bring his policy document along, he got quite aggressive and said he didn't want the car any more!

I sold the car the next day to someone else.

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Wed 6 May 2015 14:23
Any - Any - oldroverboy.

Just checked my policy,,

I can still drive other cars with the policyholders permission, but had to check.....

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Wed 6 May 2015 14:39
Any - Any - slkfanboy

> can still drive other cars with the policyholders permission, but had to check.....

Maybe not. Read it carefully some not all require the car to be insurance (car being test driven), before they are allowed someone to drive a car not belong to them.

Personally an eye opener in that they would use law this way. Not know that facts I suspect he must knowing or not taken reasonable steps to ensure covers in place.

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Wed 6 May 2015 15:11
Any - Any - Galaxy

Another reason why I won't buy or sell cars privately anymore!

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Wed 6 May 2015 17:58
Any - Any - kerbed enthusiasm

I can only assume that this judgement is applying some rule of consequence. If the driver's lack of insurance had been revealed due to a minor traffic infringement I wonder if the judgement would have been so rigorous?

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Wed 6 May 2015 15:29
Any - Any - oldroverboy.

Just checked my policy,,

I can still drive other cars with the policyholders permission, but had to check.....

The only other cars i am liable to drive are those of close friends or family, who I know are insured, but the only one i occasionally drive is an elderly friends car, and i get his insurance cover for him.

I don,t buy or sell cars privately, so no worries there.

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Wed 6 May 2015 15:26
Any - Any - Andrew-T

I've often thought about what happens when you buy/sell a car privately and you want to give/take a test drive.

When I sell a car privately (it does sometimes happen) I do the driving. I make sure the drive is for a few miles so the potential buyer gets a fair assessment. No way he/she gets hold of the keys, never mind getting a solo drive!

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Wed 6 May 2015 16:52
Any - Any - Doc

When I sell a car privately (it does sometimes happen) I do the driving. I make sure the drive is for a few miles so the potential buyer gets a fair assessment. No way he/she gets hold of the keys, never mind getting a solo drive!

Personally, I would never buy a car I had not driven.

How else would you assess the clutch, steering, gearbox, etc?

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Wed 6 May 2015 18:27
Any - Any - Andrew-T

How else would you assess the clutch, steering, gearbox, etc?

If I was thinking of buying a model I was unfamiliar with, I wouldn't start looking at a private seller's. The sort of cars I sell privately would most likely be familiar to any interested buyer. If they were concentrating during the test drive they would get a fair idea of the condition of the car - clutch, steering, gearbox and everything else.

Buyers who don't pay that kind of attention probably only decide whether the car looks nice and tidy.

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