Despite Volvoman's thread, I don't want to drive illegally.
I have managed to source a very, very cheap Mini in London. A friend wants to restore the car in Wales. Unfortunately it has no MoT and only a week's tax, so it needs to be moved quickly, and not under its own power.
I think, on balance, I'd prefer to drive a 3.5 tonne Transit than tow a trailer, although as my car has a tow hitch, I could do either, assuming my standard car licence is valid.
So, does anyone know a company that could rent me a car transporter, whether a van or a trailer, ideally one that I could pick up in the London area.
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I know this is naughty but, if the car has no known serious faults, I would book it for an MOT in a garage near your destination and drive it there, since it's taxed.
AFAIK you are not obliged to use the nearest or even local MOT station but do make sure you are insured, of course, and make sure the garage book in the MOT.
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Bet you won't find a transporter, to hire, but what about...
Check price of having it delivered for you.
Either a local garage, with a truck thats not used as much as it could be, or call the transport department at the nearest car auction.See if they are doing runs in the right direction.
OR, forget the trailer & buy an A bar.It'll fold away into the boot for half the journey & only cost £200 or so.You'll need a trailer board, too.
Intertrade Engineering are makers, if you like the idea & can't trace them, get back to me & I'll get their details off my one.
VB
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Tell the seller that you'll buy it for 40 quid more plus trainfare and petrol than you deal on if he delivers. If the guys selling an unMOTed old Mini he'll take the risk for you I'm sure...
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VB
Forget the A Bar. Being towed does not alter the fact that it still remains a motor vehicle and as such needs Tax, MOT and Insurance.
Make the appointment as suggested and drive it there without any deviations.
DVD
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Join a breakdown service, call them to say you've broken down in London and you want taking home to Wales!
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" Forget the A Bar. Being towed does not alter the fact that it still remains a motor vehicle and as such needs Tax, MOT and Insurance."
Eh up DVD, tangential question sparked by your reply above.
Would an outfit comprising vehicle towing another using an A frame then be allowed in motorway lane 3? Take it as read that each would be allowed in lane 3 solo.
FiF
PS check your mail they've found Saddam!
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Two points spring to mind;
The booked MOT dodge is a good one, but it does not actually have to be to an MOT - it can be to somewhere that is going to undertake the repairs for an MOT (I know because it says so on my recent MOT failure slip!)
So a broken down car on an A-frame is still a car? What is the difference between a car and a trailer then? Which bits would you have to remove from a car before it stopped being a car?
I thought the vital difference was whether the towed car needed a driver or not to steer it, and whether it had a trailer board run off the towing vehicle.
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Sadly, the very nice Mini that I was going to buy is going to be broken up after all. It's a shame because it's an excellent little car, but unfortunately there are only two trailer hire people near me. One is too heavy for my car to tow with a Mini on it, the other just didn't strike me as at all trustworthy, so I've decided to let this opportunity go and wait for another one to come along, only nearer to where the restoration would be done.
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FiF and others.
In a nut shell:
Road Traffic Act 1988 applies to motor vehicles (1) and trailers (2).
(1) a mechanically propelled vehicle intended or adapted for use on roads.
(2) Vehicle drawn by a motor vehicle.
Rogers v Stephens 1950 ? motorcar and trailer are not a single entity.
Newberry v Simmons 1961 ? doesn?t cease to be a motor vehicle by temporary removal of engine.
But
Smart v Allan 1963 ? broken down wreck not to be treated as a motor vehicle.
Reg 12 Motorway Traffic (England and Wales) Regs 1982 prohibits a motor vehicle towing a trailer from being driven in right hand or offside lane of a 3 or more lane Motorway except when overtaking a slow, wide load.
DVD
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Reg 12 Motorway Traffic (England and Wales) Regs 1982 prohibits a motor vehicle towing a trailer from being driven in right hand or offside lane of a 3 or more lane Motorway except when overtaking a slow, wide load.
But if the thing being towed is still a car and not a trailer, that would be OK then? Cars pulling other cars with bits of rope are OK in the outer lane? Surely not?
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I think you'll find that it becomes a 'trailer' & so long as lights, tyres, weights etc all OK & other obvious things aren't falling off,you are within legal constraints.
VB
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