I am assuming the the owner of a car that is up for a private sale does not have insurance to cover A. N. Other or me to drive it.
Is there a simple way round this situation. ( apart from ignoring insurance or buying from a dealer) ?
I would obviously need to test drive such a car rather than just be a passenger.
I could probably get a test drive from a dealer to get a general feel of the cars bits & pieces but the private sale car may be significantly different.
Is there some sort of short term policy available to cover my needs at if so at what cost ?
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Don't you have cover 'to drive cars not belonging to you and not hired to you under a hire purchase agreement'?
It's no unknown for a car buyer to ask for the receipt to be dated the day after purchase to allow the car to be driven home.
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Thanks for such prompt replies.
I have had two cars from good friends ( distress purchases ) without test drives but the other few cars have been bought from dealers so I have not encountered a private sale.
I will look into my existing policy and if not covered then I will explore the Dayinsure option.
I do not want to travel to view and then not be clearly legal to test drive.
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That's only third party cover though so if anything untoward happens like the car is hit by an uninsured driver you'll end up with the bill or an argument or a dented car or all of the above!
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>> That's only third party cover though so if anything untoward happens like the car is
>> hit by an uninsured driver you'll end up with the bill or an argument or
>> a dented car or all of the above!
>>
Yes, and if the seller says he/she has cover for "any driver", make sure you don't take their word for it. It is your responsibility as the driver to make sure you are covered.
I have only once ever taken a test drive, and that was in a car sold by a dealer. I just let the owner drive; but do ask questions, and form an opinion as to whether the seller is trustworthy. If I get the slightest gut feeling that something is not right, I walk away.
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Interesting, if nothing else, to ponder how risk averse we seem to have relatively quickly become. Taking a test drive was something we just did, we probably knew at the back of our minds that we were either not insured or had only the most basic of cover but we just kind of got on with it and took a bit of extra care.
I wouldn't presume to propose that was a good attitude or a bad one but it certainly was the reality and felt pretty normal at the time.
Applies to a lot of things of course. Some of which are not missed, like drink driving etc but we do seem to like our rules these days. One could be forgiven for not remembering quite all of them simultaneously.
I'm rather glad I spent most of my youth in somewhat more relaxed times to be frank.
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>> but we just kind of got on with it and took a bit of extra care.
I wouldn't presume to propose that was a good attitude or a bad one but it certainly was the reality and felt pretty normal at the time. >>
A few years ago, friend bought a new car and said to me "fancy a drive"? I did, but asked about insurance. He said "covered for any driver".
So off we went, and about a mile down the road, turning right at traffic lights, I stalled it. car wouldn't restart. Waiting to cross on the other side was Plod Traffic car. So they gave a hand to push it to one side, asked for my details, insurance, etc. Turned out that friend was covered for self and spouse only. Given a producer, and as I had DOC cover, so everything was fine in the end, but the hassle of it all has taught me never to take these things for granted.
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Ah well y'see, where you went wrong was the stalling of it. Would've been fine if you'd been driving it properly ! ( taking a little bit of extra care )
:-)
I'll um, go and put the mince on the stove now I think. Carry on, as you were...Don't mind me !
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As teabelly says, the "any other vehicle not owned by the policyholder" cover on most people's insurance is only third party. I wouldn't let someone with this cover take my car for a test drive, because if they did stuff it I would have to pay for the damage to my car myself.
If you know what sort of car you want, and just want to listen to this particular example to make sure there aren't any untoward clonks or bangs, then going for a passenger ride is good enough. That's what we did with my Mondeo - I looked up the common faults and checked it over for them, then the owner drove us half a dozen miles on country lanes and a couple of 60/70 limit A-roads. We also got him to do a couple of full-lock turns each way in a car park to listen for any CV joint wear or suspension bush noises.
One model of car feels so different to another in the way they drive, that unless you've driven half a dozen of the same model you won't know if "yours" is a good one or a bad one anyway :)
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi on Mon 7 May 12 at 15:58
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If the car itself is insured you can drive it with your own Drive Other Car cover. However, you might find that the car does not have any insurance of its own. In that case if you test drive it, technically you are driving without insurance. Most bangers, which are not used by owner daily, fall under this category. No tax or insurance.
Last edited by: movilogo on Mon 7 May 12 at 16:11
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It is not a banger that I am interested in so I think I will take insurance out for my own piece of mind.
I wonder how this affects my standing as a buyer re "He is pretty kean on this vehicle " so haggling becomes more difficult.
I also note re the insurance path
"be aged 21 years or over (note: minimum age may vary depending on vehicle) and under 75."
I thought ageism was banned ( al least for us retired folk )
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www.tempcover.com
I found this company would cover a people carrier, some over short term insurance providers wouldn't.
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I agree one get's a much better impression of a car sitting in the passenger seat than actually driving it. Driving a strange car one's main concern is driving it carefully, and being aware of the owner sitting next to you wondering anxiously if you are going to crash it or turn out to be a nutter does not aid in the fine detection of odd noises.
Much better in my view to sit unoccupied in the passenger seat and get the driver to perform the manoeuvres.
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I actually cowered at the the thought of a proffered test drive of the 3 Series last week.....for the very reasons given here - I have "any car" insurance...
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>>Driving a strange car one's main concern is driving it carefully, and being aware of the owner sitting next to you
Whenever I've bought a car, I've always made it clear I intend to check it at low and high revs, once it's reached normal working temperature (I've no complaint if prospective purchasers do the same to mine). I'll floor it in top at sub 1K revs and take it to the limiter.
One seller did confess to nearly 'cacking' it when I dropped his MX5 into second and floored it. He'd never taken it above 3K!
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I don't think you will be interested in buying my car, but I have put you on my blacklist anyway. :)
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My insurer would cover me for comprehensive for a fee but only for a minumum of 2 weeks, and that at high cost.
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>> I actually cowered at the the thought of a proffered test drive of the 3
>> Series last week.....for the very reasons given here - I have "any car" insurance...
You should change your handle on here,
Ibuyanycar.com
At the moment its averaging less than a year per car.
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One solution is don't test drive the car yourself, but bring a trusted mechanic along to do it for you. I've only ever sold one car privately, and this is what the buyer (who was on a provisional licence) did.
- The mechanic is covered to drive the car through his business insurance, and the owner is covered to have a member of the motor trade drive their car.
- If you get a mechanic that's familiar with the model you're buying, he's more likely to spot faults, or potential faults, than you or I are.
- If the seller is less than perfectly honest, he may be less inclined to bend the truth as he'll be more wary of being caught out.
My own thoughts on buying are that, unless its cheap, I'd sooner buy from a reputable dealer as I have no comeback from a private sale. At least the reputable dealer has a reputation to protect!
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>>My own thoughts on buying are that, unless its cheap, I'd sooner buy from a reputable dealer as I have no comeback from a private sale.
>> At least the reputable dealer has a reputation to protect!
>>
I would normally take this approach and I suspect many others do.
The private car I went to look at is not cheap but I believe the seller is genuine.
The seller drove me on a mixture of roads etc and I am still interested in the car.
I asked for a quote from one of the above insurance companies and it was £21 for the day.l
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>>I asked for a quote from one of the above insurance companies and it was £21 for the day.l
>>
I paid my £21 and just a nominal CC charge.
The site was a bit iffy re input format errors at the payment stage but so many sites have not been properly tested in the real world.
It implied a suspect card rather than un unrequired data field
.
I went for a test drive and have decided to buy the car.
So I look forward to RTF(big)M
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Bit harsh Zero ! I love me motors !
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Insurance cover when testing a private sale car - CGNorwich
