Great forum. I'm still searching some of the posts but thought I'd take the chance to say "hello".

I'm hoping to shortly become the owner of a brand new Superb. Carquake is looking the best deal by far but never having bought a car this way before I was wondering if anyone has any experience of them? All seems OK and vehicles are all sourced via UK dealer stock to full UK spec. They are not a "broker" as they put you in touch with the supplying dealer and that is where the deal is done. What worries me is that I hear they retain the V5 for 6 months (so I assume the cars are meant as dealer purchase as a way to get their discount from the manufacturer and pass some of it on to the customer in the form of a lower price). I know that V5 doesn't prove ownership.......merely who the "keeper" is but the DVLA site says I shouldn't buy a car without getting one.............result = confusion. I wouldn't be keen if the discount wasn't SO substantial. Anyone any experience? Am I worrying needlessly? All comments gratefully received and looking forward to being a forum member. Thank you.

Hello and welcome, have no experience of Carquake so cannot help, but I am sure there are others who have,

Hi and welcome aboard.

Hi Stevewheel

If you are buying the car & you are to be the normal user, then all the law states you need to register the car as you are responsible for it. New vehicles have a V5 issued when they are sold by dealers as first registered, the new owner would usually receive the V5 within 3 weeks showing them as the first keeper. I cannot see what they are retaining, dealerships are given batches of registration numbers which are then allocated to various cars as they are sold. If they were to sell a car & allocate a registered number that is as yet un-registered it would surely cause problems in taxing the car, getting stopped by the police, passing an ANPR etc. We all know dealers sell pre-registered cars but what you are asking does not sound like that. I would speak with someone from Carquake & ask them outright. Good hunting for the right bargain - quality, luxury motoring at a fraction of the cost.

Sounds like that would cause problems to me. As already mentioned in good detail above.

Personally id be avoiding it. Im sure this has been brought up in car magazines before saying its likely to have legal implications.

AIUI it's basically a way to buy cars in bulk to get a healthy discount, company A is named on the V5 as the first registered keeper (note the registered keeper is not necessarily the owner - it also states this on the front of the V5) after 6 months the car is then registered in your name, the difference to you is there will be an additional keeper on the V5 - not that this will make a huge financial difference, and you will have saved financially anyway.

One thing to bear in mind is your insurance, mine asked if I was the registered keeper or not (I did two quotes one with me as the keeper the other not, there was virtually nothing in it).

When my V5 turned up a few weeks later I was actually down as the first registered keeper, there is no incentive for the broker to be named (yes Carquake are still a broker - they take their cut for negotiating a better deal for you, by ordering more cars in one go) so you may be on the V5 from day one, but don't count on it.

FWIW I did not use Carquake.

Guys

The issue with this is as the keeper you are the one who is responsible for registering your yourself as being responsible for a car. If ever you buy a car & after a reasonable time (3 weeks max) you haven't received a new V5 I'd be ringing up the DVLA, it may be just something as simple as a incorrect spelling of an address, but it is not something to be ignored, especially as it is very easy to prosecute the little person with a simple fine.

Guys

The issue with this is as the keeper you are the one who is responsible for registering your yourself as being responsible for a car. If ever you buy a car & after a reasonable time (3 weeks max) you haven't received a new V5 I'd be ringing up the DVLA, it may be just something as simple as a incorrect spelling of an address, but it is not something to be ignored, especially as it is very easy to prosecute the little person with a simple fine.

Yes and you DO NOT WIN lol gits

I had this happen with me and I was fuming , i notified them of disposal via usual v5 being sent off, they claimed not to have received it. i sold the car without tax and because the new keeper used green supplement to tax along with the v62 they received the new v5 back. No problem youd think well no not usually . Only dvla stood their ground and claimed i had failed to notify of disposal. Long story short i contested this in court and lost only to receive a £250 fine. My word against theirs they claimed.

Yes ever since then everything is fully documented with full audit trail. Lol . This was a few years ago ! But id make sure you cover ur tracks no matter what.

Many thanks to all those that responded to my initial post. I am reminded of the old saying (or combination of sayings) that "If something doesn't feel/smell/look/sound right then it probably isn't". Whilst posting this thread my local dealer has come up with an offer on the vehicle I want that gets pretty close to what was being offered by Carquake............close enough in fact for me to have given them a deposit and ordered the car! Maybe I'm a mug I don't know, maybe I could have got a few more quid off by going to CarQuake.....what I do know is that I am now awaiting the car I really want that will be registered as with me as the first keeper and I don't have to wait 6 months for a V5............slept well last night! THanks again for all your help and I look forward to taking part in the forum as a Skoda owner from now on!

Congratulations on your purchase.

Glad you found one that your happy with.

I think you did right personally.

Plus it made the buying experience better for you.

Well done Stevewheel, sounds like it all turned out OK in the end, happy motoring!

As Mark mentioned above it is very easy to get caught out by the DVLA, the little guy is easy to prosecute (fine) & by all accounts they appear to be so inflexible when faced with 'common sense' reasons. That said after aquiring or disposing of a vehicle they should be able to confirm over the phone & if not a follow-up letter with the registration number, date of transfer & an explanation should do the trick. The other good thing they now do is send a confirmation letter of disposal.