Pre registered cars - 90 day rule

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Mon 12 Jun 2006 23:20
Pre registered cars - 90 day rule - katie
A main Vauxhall dealership proposes to sell us a pre registered car but owing to the tax incentive they receive for holding on to the car for 90 days after they have first registered it, they have indicated that they will not forward the log book to DVLA (to have our name transferred onto the registration document) until the 90 day period has expired. This will be approx. 30 days after we are expected to pay the balance and take physical possession of the vehicle. Two issues arise. Firstly, we run the risk of having paid for something that we may not own for 1 month and secondly insurers will not explicitly cover a car for which we are not the registered keeper. Has anyone else come across this and if so any ideas??
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Mon 12 Jun 2006 23:25
Pre registered cars - 90 day rule - blue_haddock
Very doubtful it's tax purposes - more likely the dealer are registering it as either a demo which they need to keep for a minimum of 90 days to ensure the relevant discount or more likely using a fleet code to register it to a lease/rental company and they must own it for a minimum period in order to get their fleet bonus.

Being the owner and the registered keeper are two different things - you never own a car on a PCP but you are still the keeper so i don;t see why your insurance company are pulling a face.
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Mon 12 Jun 2006 23:38
Pre registered cars - 90 day rule - katie
Thanks for this quick reply. The dealer did refer to "tax" benefits, but he did also refer to their having registered the vehicle as a demonstrator - so your comments on the discount or bonus may well be right.

Please clarify what "PCP" means?

Most insurers seem to allow 30 days for the DVLA paperwork to be completed and processed following the sale of a car. I'm just concerned that by the time DVLA process the paperwork on this, it could be up to say 50 days (?) after the time we took possession of the car and I don't want my insurance to be invalidated.

Although a main Vauxhall dealer is probably unlikely to go bust, I guess I run that risk until they finally send the log book off to DVLA.
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Mon 12 Jun 2006 23:45
Pre registered cars - 90 day rule - blue_haddock
PCP is short for personal contract purahcse - basically a priavte lease scheme where you pay a monthly payment and after a set period you either pay to buy the vehicle or swap it for a new one. During the hire period the vehicle belongs to the lease company although you are the registered keeper.

A dealer is unlikely to tell you he is using a dodgy fleet code so would refer to it as a demo scheme or a tax incentive. Do not worry too much though this is the way most pre-reg cars are registered and sold.
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