Road tax already on car - dealer charging for it

[wolfgang]

The car i'm buying has 6 months of road tax remaining on it (presumably this was paid for by the previous owner). The dealer is charging me for the 6 months of road tax even though he hasn't bought it.

Is he supposed to do this?

In previous car purchases the dealer has simply passed on the cost of road tax that he has bought on my behalf. But in this case, the dealer hasn't paid for the road tax, but is charging me for the remaining months.

[irvind]

Part of my negotiations were about 6 months of tax which the dealer agreed to at no cost to me. When I collected the car it had 8 or 9 months of tax on it, quite obviously the tax disc from the previous owner....

[HYFR]

tell him to PISS off and give him a slap for being so cheeky and treating you like you were born yesterday

Dealers can no longer claim back tax left on the car so they have no choice but to leave it on there for you

[iana74]

^^ yep, this.....

[neckarsulm]

Wolfgang, tell us which car and which dealership or we'll start to begin to think this is a wind up.

[wolfgang]

^ LOL, all will be revealed at the weekend AFTER I collect my car. I will do a fair dealer report on my experiences. I like the car but the dealer experience leaves a lot to be desired (which you could say for all manufacturers so this is nothing specific to Audi).

[P_G]

Wolfgang, you seem a genuine guy but if I were you I would walk away from this car however good it is. This dealer you talk about is a complete cowboy. Shoddy shocks mi diagnosed and no corrected already, charging you for road tax, possible brake issues. You have over a dozen thread on this forum which appear all to be around potential issues with your purchase.

He obviously doesn't need to sell the car so you don't need to buy it. There are quite a few around presently, go and find a decent one with a decent dealer.

In my 20 years of buying cars I've never had as many dealer negoatiation hassles combined as you have with this one purchase.

Just as a note, I bought mine used and as part of the Audi 'Approved' and RS charter, it had already had its service done, they gave the car 12 months road tax, new tyres and new front discs and pads as part of the charter without me even having expressed an interest in it. They would have even put it on a low loader for me from London and deliver it to Newcastle and pick up the S4 I was p/x'ing for it.

[bluenosewrx]

What he said, you are certainly making mistake buying from this pumpweasel,walk away.

Mac

[neckarsulm]

I like the car but the dealer experience leaves a lot to be desired

if you continue to buy the car even though the dealer experience is sh1t then they will never get any better.
Walk away, lose the salesman his commission and next time he may think again about being such an ar5e

I don't know why you wont reveal which car it is as trust me, your write up thus far doesn't make me think anyone is going to beat you to it

One question then, have you chipped them a lot on the price? The reason I ask is that if you have offered them close to their cost price then it would make more sense that they are being so tight.

[wolfgang]

The dealer has my £2K deposit so i'm lumbered with this experience. Hopefully the car will turn out to be great and it felt really good during the test drive.

I asked about the road tax just now and the dealer's response was that he bought it off the previous owner as the previous owner was going to claim a refund from the DVLA. Sounds like a stock response. Never mind, i'm going to have to go through with things as I don't think i'll be able to get my £2K deposit back and then won't touch the dealer with a bargepole.

[neckarsulm]

The dealer has my £2K deposit so i'm lumbered with this experience. Hopefully the car will turn out to be great and it felt really good during the test drive.

I asked about the road tax just now and the dealer's response was that he bought it off the previous owner as the previous owner was going to claim a refund from the DVLA. Sounds like a stock response. Never mind, i'm going to have to go through with things as I don't think i'll be able to get my £2K deposit back and then won't touch the dealer with a bargepole.

Negotiate the nitty gritty before leaving a deposit, I can't believe this is a main dealer saying he bought it off the owner, sounds very back street.
£2k is a lot of money to leave in this day and age when companies are going down frequently

[P_G]

You haven't bought anything from him so unless you signed an agreement to say the deposit was non refundable you are perfectly entitled to ask for your money back. They haven't done anything to the car on your behalf that they wouldn't have to do as part of the Approved chrater so there is no recourse.

If he wanted money for the road tax it should have been part of the advertised sale price, not an add on. All these things he is asking you for money for is a complete and utter joke. If there were no tax on it it is not road worthy so how could you buy and collect it? To be road worthy the car has to be registered and taxed accordingly. Different if the tax had run out as they would have declared it SORN.

Go to the dealership or franchise principal without the sales consultant's knowledge and complain and advise you will also be reporting their conduct to Audi UK. The DRC issues should have been diagnosed as part of the Approved charter before they can even put it up for sale which quite clearly it has not.

[neckarsulm]

Different if the tax had run out as they would have declared it SORN.

It's common for dealers to ask buyers to pay for road tax, even with a brand new car (or especially as nobody would have previously taxed it)
I don't have an issue with that, it's just this nit picking on a £30k car that's bugging me

[P_G]

Different if the tax had run out as they would have declared it SORN.

cars in the motor trade don't have to be SORN
It's common for dealers to ask buyers to pay for road tax, even with a brand new car (or especially as nobody would have previously taxed it)
I don't have an issue with that, it's just this nit picking on a £30k car that's bugging me

Agreed don't have to be but technically should be according to the DVLA. Had a similar situation when a dealer wouldn't give me a test drive of a car I wanted to buy because it didn't have tax and they wouldn't tax it unless I bought it. I walked and contacted the DVLA for clarification.

[neckarsulm]

A proper dealer should hold trade plates, that's what they are for!!

Sorry P_G, I edited my post as I re-read yours and the previous owner could well have declared it SORN although they would have had to eventually filled in the sale to the trade section of V5 which would undo that, a dealer wouldn't have but you didn' specifically say a dealer so I humbly apologise