What make and model of car is this for £1000? I ask because even a 54 plate Corsa would be around £2500 retail, so £1000 seems very low for a 54 plate car. First things first. Your friend needs to contact the seller with this information - they MAY be completely innocent or unaware of the alleged problem. Depending on how that goes, you then need to either follow it up with the finance company or bring in the police. The seller (if the finance co is correct) was not the owner and thus not legally allowed to sell the car in the first place. That becomes deception or fraud if they knew, or handling stolen goods if they didn't. It is highly unlikely the police would take any action against your friend as they seem an innocent victoim of a deception to me. Start with the seller first though. The very first thing the police would ask is 'have you spoken with the seller about this?' Good luck

The thread you linked to is a different matter. You have two responsibilities here, two seperate issues. One is to tax the car or declare it sorn on or before the first day of the month the VED expires. The second is to notify DVLA of selling the car. Tackiling the latter first, you have now received confirmation that you are no longer the registered keeper. Either because DVLA have marked the car as 'in trade' or because it has been resold or scrapped. You should have sent DVLA the yellow section of the V5 when you sold the car, but you know that now and this matter appears to be closed. However there is the first matter. It is your legal duty to have the car either taxed or SORN when you are the registered keeper. There is no middle ground, except if the car is 'in trade' and traders are not required to notify DVLA of car being SORN. Bewteen the VED (tax disc) expiring at the end of June and you selling the car on 7 August, you should have had the car on SORN. But you didn't. Even though you no longer own the car, that only covers you from when you sold it, ie 7th August. Up to that point you were responsible for taxing it or declaring it. As you didn't the car was legally kept (on or off road) without a valid VED or being SORN'd and thus you will be liable for the £80 fine. Timewise, I am sure PatDavis will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe there is no time limit for DVLA to get around to this. Could be next week. Could be next year! The one this I am sure, is that they WILL get around to it. I hope that helps.

I wouldn't count on it! You sold the car on 7th August, the tax ran out in June. Is that correct? So, unless you declared it SORN on 1 July or taxed it YOU are liable for an £80 fine and knowing the DVLA, you will get it too. If you think that gap between you selling it on 7 August and the tax expiring (I presume 30 June 2009 or was it 31 May 2009?) will go away, think again. It may take weeks or even months, but they WILL fine you. In this case correctly as you didn't tax it or declare it SORN when you are obliged to.

I agree Pat, but I am referring to the markings that the OP said were very hard to see. Not at all - unless you are Stevie Wonder!

Sorry, but that is crystal clear that it is a disabled bay to me.

IGNORE THEM AND NEVER, EVER CONTACT THEM AGAIN.

Does this 'mother' approve of her beloved daughter driving uninsured then? She is worried about £40? What if her dopey bimbo brat had reversed into a child instead? There is NO alternative here. Report this uninsured driver - neighbour/friend or not.

Ok, to answer your question there are one or two things that are in your favour. 1. 'sold as seen' means nothing unless it is a private sale. 2. As this was a car dealer, even if just selling one car a month from home, they are a trader. As such you have protection under various laws including the sale of goods act. 3. Did your BF buy this car to breakdown on the motorway? No? OK, then the car is not fit for the purpose it was purchased for. So, first things first. Ring the dealer and tell them you are rejecting the car under the Sale of Goods Act and you want it collected by them at their expense. Secondly, contact your credit card company who are equally liable for your loss and inform them that the goods are not of merchantable quality and that you have asked for a refund and ask them to mark the transaction to that effect for now. Write a letter to the garage and send by recorded delivery informing them that you are rejecting the car and demand a full refund of the £1000 and collection of the car within 7 days. You can also ask for the £60 towing fee, but I wouldn't hold out too muchn hope for that. I expect that they will either ignore you or phone you with some abuse. If they do the latter bring in the police if there are ANY threats. 'I will kick your BF's ass' etc. If you do not get the car collected by them within the 7 days then just start court proceedings and /or charge back the card. Do not be afraid to use the courts, but also get onto trading standards immediately too. People do not understand the power the TS have and they can have crooks like this jailed if need be. I speak from experience! Don't upset trading standards!!!! Good luck and keep us posted. Above all, remain polite and calm. Do not stoop to this knuckle scraping feck-wits level.

Only if it was an accident. If it was deliberate you do not need to report it.

Reject the car, get your money back and if they still have it that will include returning your old car to you.

And how did they manage that with the wheel removed then?

I believe what you have done here is nothing more than libel the company.

What happens if you own a hotel?

It's all irrelevant anyway. The sign is there. Just because the picture isn't brodcast quality doesn't detract from the fact the OP ignored the sign, the road markings and who knows, maybe a policeman handing out an audible recording of the instructions AHEAD ONLY. Guilty. lock him up and crush his car.

I agree Crem, but how about a yellow box junction then? Only paint on the road.

Plus, if you look in your little pic I can see the littel white box on the traffic signal to the left. That is the sign that tells you that there is a camera watching the junction. You ignored the traffic signals, the road markings and turned anyway. Take it on the chin and behave yourself next time. Loophole there isn't.

The wording AHEAD ONLY is clear. That will do as you are clearly turning right, which is a contravention in itself. The traffic signals also have ahead arrows, which is confirmation for you the driver. I say you have zero defence.

As opposed to the desk jockey!

Forget chargeback, no crime has been comitted until a court says so. Sue the clamping company and landowner for the full ammount plus any additional charges you have incurred. The sign is very clear. but is only tells you that you must be taxed and have a valid permit. You have both thus they have no right to tow you. The bay says nothing. Even if it was as clear as day they cannot tow you for parking in a disabled bay as there is no signage to that effect. What is the actual reason they say they towed you? I suspect they will claim you did not have a valid permit on display. Sue the ****.

Go back with the photocopy as it has details of the insurance. If they wish to they can contact the insurers who will confirm if it is genuine. Desk jocky is a wannabe police person who wouldn't make the grade for flipping burgers at McDonalds if they were twinned with Steven Hawkin!

maybe. But the owner isn't sitting in the road, the car is!

Yes, the car is parked on the road. As I say it is taxed but it has literally been there 6 months. Last year the same people parked another car there from January to August. The day after the tax ran out it was moved by them and hasn't been seen since. I am not sure why they would do this but it is annoying as parking is difficult and needlesly taking up[ space seems a little selfish.

This will seem an odd question, but i have a problem with parking in my street and one of my neighbours has had a car parked outside their house for about 6 months. It is taxed, however it is not insured - i know because someone checked the MID database. Is it legal to keep an uninsured car on the highway? They are NOT driving it, it is just parked there taking up valuable parking space.

I know what you are saying, but my obligation is to reply within the timeframe. I have done that and sent it by a trackable method in theory, although you are quiet correct. It may not be signed for even though that is what I paid for. And whilst you are technically correct that it could prove it wasn't delivered, it would prove that it was sent by royal Mail within the required timeframe and I cannot imagine any magistrate would accept that you didn't under those circumstances. As luck would have it, they did sign for it the day after it was sent.

Thanks again. Oh, I have been around long enough to know the old 'lost in the post' stunt. So, yes it was sent recorded delivery.