Did the garage put tax on it for you?

If they did then they have to register as a keeper in order to tax it, so when you enquired about the car it may have had one previous owner (whoever traded it in) and you agred to buy it, but if you needed tax the garage would register ownership, tax it then complete the sale to you meaning 3 owners in total (you, the garage and the original owner).

This happened to me, and I know I was the second registered keeper to use the car in question because I took the V5 and trade insurance to the PO to get the tax myself.

This happened to me, and I know I was the second registered keeper to use the car in question because I took the V5 and trade insurance to the PO to get the tax myself.

I knew the salesman who sold my car and i went with the dealership docs and a cheque from them to tax the car myself as the salesman said it would have to be registered by them if it was 'an ordinary' customer.

After checking the V5 now i can see i'm the second owner even though the dealership payed for the tax, so i guess it pays to know the salesman?!

I think the question here is... does it really matter? lol

Does it matter - in all reality - no! Can anything be done - you'd have to show a loss and sue to recover it. You'd need proof in writing/a recording to do that, but the law is not interested in trivial matters 'de minimus', so forget it and enjoy the car.

the way i see it, at the time you asked the car had 1 previous registered owner along with what would have been the current keeper. when the log book is put in your name making it have 2 previous keepers.

but like a few others have said, who cares as long as the car is what you wanted then there is no issue.

Guys,

.....do I have a leg to stand on?

It depends whether you are Heather Mills or not

em, how is it a "old trick" ?? our v5's are locked away as i guess all v5's are. if someone gets it they could use it for forgery, or even to try and reg the car to themselves for some dodgy reason or another. plus if you sell a car and the v5 has gone walkies it can take weeks for a replacement. makes sense to lock them away and only allow them out under strict supervision.

my god does anyone actually have a sensible head on their shoulders to think that the old "arthur daily" days are well and truely gone???

if all dealers are crooks then does that make all buyers liers?

woodenspatulas, firstly I did say the v5s were locked away for safe keeping - but that does not mean that they can't be viewed by a serious buyer at the point of signing a "contract to buy" - doing that would provide the required degree of transparency to most people - beyond that the dealer probably knows very little more about that car.

As for the sweeping statement (lack of transparency) mainly the motor trade don't think the purchaser needs to know - that is just arrogance on the sales person's part.

True all buyers are not saints - but the sales person will feel it their right to be able to check out if what is said is mainly true - the buyer is just meant to trust its okay - and fight the case later down the line if need be and if he has the time and/or money to do so (big man versus small man)

When I was in getting an MOT for my wife's Polo the week before last, I was placed in a customer holding area (coffee + mags etc), unfortunately this is in the sales area - with only one of these stupid room dividers and the sales team were talking about things that should only be discussed away from the buying public - I was not evesdropping - they were almost shouting so it was sort of forced on me while I re-read my newspaper - and that was a very reputable main dealer.

The main issue about buying second hand items that hold considerable residual value - to most people that is houses and cars, is that both sides need to assume a degree of trust and give an accurate description of the article being bought or traded-in. Would you expect to be at the point of buying a secondhand house without having to hand a completion certificate of any post build work that had been obviously carried out? Its just a case of by showing or revealing all (the relevant facts) a potential buyer needs to know - then the buyer is left to proceed or walk away after having been given these facts - it can mean less grief for both parties down the line - but might stop a sale!

I knew the salesman who sold my car and i went with the dealership docs and a cheque from them to tax the car myself as the salesman said it would have to be registered by them if it was 'an ordinary' customer.

After checking the V5 now i can see i'm the second owner even though the dealership payed for the tax, so i guess it pays to know the salesman?!

In my case it was an issue with the insurance company insisting on sending the insurance certificate for the new car to my home, even though I explicitly asked them to send it to my mum's place so I would have it to get the car taxed.

I bought my vrs used from a skoda dealer and had exactly the same issue. :thumbdwn:

I was told it was a 1 owner vehicle - V5 arrived showing 2 previous keepers

I was not best pleased. :(

The dealer and Skoda UK were totally unhelpful -

Claimed they hadn't told me 1 owner - lie.

Claimed i had seen the V5 - lie (they had already detached the details when i completed the transfer part)

Claimed it would not affect trade in value - so why do they always ask number of previous owners....

I was eventually offered a discount off my next service...... Unsurprisingly after they fitted a pair of tyres the wrong way round and bodged a rear parking sensor fit i didn't take them up on it.

I don't intend to go back

I have bought second hand cars and the garage has never appeared on the V5, so I'd personally be not best pleased.

Wouldn't bother trying to sue as by the time it got to court the dealer will probably have gone bust anyway.