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What to do with tax on a trade-in..


Bakes100

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Afternoon everyone!

 

In the next couple of weeks ill be trading in my car for something different.. :)

 

I still have 8 months tax on it, when agreeing a price with the dealer nothing was mentioned regarding the tax on my current car.

 

Do I just keep hold of the tax and claim it back? As it wasn't discussed in the price agreed for the trade in.

 

Thought id ask on here first before contacting him

 

Thanks

 

Stuart

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Afternoon everyone!

 

In the next couple of weeks ill be trading in my car for something different.. :)

 

I still have 8 months tax on it, when agreeing a price with the dealer nothing was mentioned regarding the tax on my current car.

 

Do I just keep hold of the tax and claim it back? As it wasn't discussed in the price agreed for the trade in.

 

Thought id ask on here first before contacting him

 

Thanks

 

Stuart

 

First thing the trader will do is cash it in anyway. You might as well do it first.

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Dealer can't claim the money on the tax - but he might have taken into account when pricing the vehicle - need to check if it is included in the valuation, otherwise you simply apply for a refund for the unexpired months :thumbs:

 

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/motoring/ow ... g_10012526

 

First thing the trader will do is cash it in anyway. You might as well do it first.

He can't these days, unless he registers the car in his name ;)

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Wouldn't it be seen as "changing" something of value on the car after a deal had been agreed on the car as seen. Almost like swapping the wheels or removing the jack?

 

Steve

Nope. You always, always keep the tax disc yourself. When I traded my Zed in, I stripped everything off the car after they'd seen it. Wheels, shiny bits, stereo, the lot.

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Back in the day traders would sent off the tax disc straight away to claim the money back. But these days traders are not allowed to claim the tax back, so its of no advantage to them whether its got tax or not.

 

When i part ex`d my zed i sent the tax off for a refund as soon as i could. They reckon it can take 6 weeks before they actually send you your cash back. But on a £460 a year tax I was looking at quite a nice refund. Certainly enough to pay 12 months tax on my beemer.

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I think it really depends on how the valuation was provided. If you spoke to the dealer over the phone and just gave the registration and were given a price, then fair enough. You can take off whatever nice bits you want and put it back to standard + cash in the tax.

 

If the dealer actually saw the car and evaluated it based on condition, etc, then in my personal opinion cashing in the tax would not be appropriate because it would naturally lose the dealer potential value in selling the car. But hey that's just me.

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Well speaking as a trader if i value a car with tax etc and then it comes in with no tax, wheels, changed or stereo changed removed i give the customer 2 options........put it all back or go elsewhere!!

Bollocks. Tax is never included in a trade-in. Ever.

 

The rest I'll give you, but unless you specifically state that the car must come in as-is then I say it's fair game as long as everything is of equal quality i.e. I wouldn't swap a set of immaculate wheels for a set of scuffed ones with dead rubber on them.

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I have bought cars for the last 42 years (yes I know I am old) and in at least the past 30 years having bought and sold over 15 cars I have always cashed the tax disc because they don't want it. Cash it in after you take the car to him.

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Well speaking as a trader if i value a car with tax etc and then it comes in with no tax, wheels, changed or stereo changed removed i give the customer 2 options........put it all back or go elsewhere!!

 

I think this would depend on the type of trader we are talking about. In my experience, big main dealer type car dealers simply look in the glasses guide, say yep this is the book price for your car and wont pay anything more. Thats exactly what i found with my zed I just part ex`d. Book price for my 2007 313 GT Roadster was 8.5k. Retail price was 12k. That did not take into account the fact it was a 313 model, as glasses guide only lists the older models. Any factory options on the car made no difference to this price at all, so they ignored the rays wheels, the sat nav, the alezan orange interior, the metallic paintwork etc. etc. etc. All of which the original buyer would have had to pay extra for and on some cars add to its resale value. Any extras I added myself such as the stainless steel exhaust system, or brake upgrade or anything else all added no value to the trade in price at all. The only thing they took into account was the very low mileage, which increased the trade in price to 9k.

 

So, as far as the dealer was concerned they didnt care if I left those bits on the car or not, as the book price is all they paid. Same as with the road tax. In actual fact they didnt even care that the car had 10months MOT on it, as they immediately retested it themselves so they could sell it with 12 months MOT.

 

Main dealers like that will either sell the car on their forecourt (if its a Nissan dealer), or if they only specialise in BMW`s or Audi`s or something then they will ship it off to another trader who will sell it.

 

Now... if you are a smaller trader with a lock up and a bit of forecourt, then in my experience they will be looking to sell the car on quickly and will more take into account things like decent tyres, road tax, full MOT etc.. as it all means less expense for the trader and makes the car more appealing to buyers for that quick sale.

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Tax is never included in a trade-in. Ever.

Trade-in to a large trader where the car is likely to be moved onin the trade - agreed :thumbs:

 

Trade-in where the garage would try to retail it themselves then if has a decent amount of unexpired tax and they think they have a potential buyer lined up then I would expect them to include it as part of the valuation - always check. ;)

 

Trade-in to a small time trader - they would bite your hand off to leave the tax on, especially if it is expensive tax or a low value car - you only have to look at the ebay listings to see the carrot of remaining tax. But also, as we have a family member who specializes in selling sub £1.5k cars for those who want 'sheds' or can't afford anything more, when he is sourcing new stock it certainly is a factor if the car has good tax on it as invariably the buyers expect that and a decent MOT and he dosen't want to buy 6 months worth if he can avoid it. So your use of the word "Ever" is not real world Dan. :thumbdown:

 

But then if you run a tarted up beetle the tax is small change anyway :p:lol:

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I've traded cars to smaller dealers before, and they never got the tax. Ever. :p

 

If I was selling privately then yes, I'd leave it on. But no-one in their right mind should or would ever leave the tax on a car you're chopping in.

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I've traded cars to smaller dealers before, and they never got the tax. Ever. :p

 

If I was selling privately then yes, I'd leave it on. But no-one in their right mind should or would ever leave the tax on a car you're chopping in.

 

Esp when its costing you nearly £500 a year!

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