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OK... So I'm trying to understand the car owning business over here. The costs and paperwork around it. As I'm from Australia, its a loooot different over here  As I understand its all very dependent on the car you have. Lets say I buy a 1993 VW Golf, something small, lets say 1.6 petrol... First. MOT. As I understand its yearly for older cars. How anal are they with MOT-s? Is it possible to pass a 15year old average scratched car with couple of rust spots and maybe a little drop of oil coming somewhere? And whats the cost involved? Second. Tax. Just money that the queen collects? No other hassles involved? I suppose the sum depends on the car, but roughly? Then. Insurance I suppose? As I understand its mandatory? I did couple quick quotes on-line and got results like £2000+ per year for basics. Is it really that bad? I'm 26, Ive had a license for 8 years but have 0 UK history, so no claims benefits or anything. Any other things I should consider like unpaid fines or something from last owner? And... Parking in London? Is there ANY possibilities to park without paying someone? Somewhere? I mean my car doesn't have to stay close to me I can take the tube Well, thank you very much for reading my stupid questions ;D |
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MOT - basically this is just a road worthiness test. If it looks like it would be dangerous, it will fail, so things like major corrosion, things not working as they should (brakes, steering, lights), emissions too high, etc. Scratches and rust spots are okay, holes in sills etc are not. Tax - this is money that supposedly goes to pay road repairs. Pre March 2001 its based on engine size only. If its a 1549cc, you pay £135 a year, if its over 1549cc, you pay £220 a year. For insurance, i would suggest ringing a few of the specialist insurers and explaining your situation. If you can get a letter from you old insurer in Australia to say that you had 8 years no claims, that might help bring the price down. (try Adrian Flux, Peter James, Footman James) For unpaid fines, as long as you can show that you became the legal owner of the car AFTER the tickets were given, then you should be okay. Can't help with parking in London, but i suspect that its going to be very hard to do, and cost a fortune when you do eventually find a space  |
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1993 Fiat Panda Selecta
2003 Vauxhall Combo 1.7DI van
2006 Mercedes Kompressor Evolution-S AMG SportCoupé
"You think you hate it now, wait til you drive it"
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1 - Yes, MOT is annual & you can get just about anything through an MOT but it depends where you go
2 - Tax can only be bought when the car has MOT & insurance. Under 1.5 it's £125 per year over that it's £215 roughly for pre 2001 cars. So a 1.4 Golf would be cheaper to tax.
Road tax goes towards not maintaining the roads & I'm not sure what else it isnt used for...
3 - Insurance is a rip off over here, as unlike Oz you don't get any cover what so ever with your tax disk - so you need at least 3rd party cover, 3rd party fire and theft is the reconmended minimum as if your car gets stolen and your 3rd party only you have to pay recovery fees etc. Speak to an insurance company as if you have no claims bonus in Oz you can (or could) transfer them to the UK but thats up to the insurance company.
4 - No idea about London, going to take a guess at no lol.
*edit, beaten to it lol
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Last Edit: Feb 5, 2013 9:25:10 GMT by joem83
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3 - Insurance is a rip off over here, as unlike Oz you don't get any cover what so ever with your tax disk - so you need at least 3rd party cover, 3rd party fire and theft is the reconmended minimum as if your car gets stolen and your 3rd party only you have to pay recovery fees etc. Speak to an insurance company as if you have no claims bonus in Oz you can (or could) transfer them to the UK but thats up to the insurance company. There basically isn't any insurance in the land of OZ. We have a thing called Rego, basically your vehicle tax, that includes some sort of third party insurance and thats it. So I suppose I can't claim anything like that. |
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Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,524
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Panda, tax has officially not been for maintaining/building the road network since the 1930s.
The full price for an MOT test is around £55, though you will find garages that charge less. There are many stories of garages finding things wrong as they might then expect to make some money on the repairs so it helps to find somewhere you can trust, by recommendation. I seem to remember some of the guys on here using somewhere south of the river. DBizzle/PaulH might know? I go out of London for mine, further than is sensible really but its to a place I am happy with. If you buy a car with a decent length MOT then for a start it should be in reasonable condition anyway and then you'd have nearly a year to work out any niggles.
As you get further out of the suburbs areas with parking restrictions or resident permits tend to be smaller areas just around tube/rail stations. You'd probably have to walk 5-10 mins from the station. If you live somewhere with a 'CPZ' (Controlled parking zone) you may find it cheaper/easier in the long term to buy a permit than have to travel on public transport to get to your car though. That depends I suppose on whether you've got an annual pass or similar anyway perhaps for work travel I guess.
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Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable. |
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There basically isn't any insurance in the land of OZ. We have a thing called Rego, basically your vehicle tax, that includes some sort of third party insurance and thats it. So I suppose I can't claim anything like that. Sorry thats what I was meaning, Insurance is optional over there as there is 3rd party cover built in to the rego. Over here it's compulsary to have at least 3rd party insurance. Last time I was over, I was talking to a guy who was 21 with a twin turbo supra & was paying $1200 fully comp. Apart from buying the car - it's so much cheaper to run a car in Oz. |
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VIP
South East
Posts: 8,293
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in regard to the MOT, another difference living over here to Aus will be how corroded a 15 year old car over here can be!!!
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mot should be easy to pass with a half tidy car , its just a basic roadworthyness check tyres , brakes , rust holes etc
BUT , ask around for a trusty place to take it as lots like to invent faults to scam the customer for more money
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91 golf g60, 89 golf 16v , 88 polo breadvan
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Ryannn
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,421
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A 1.6 golf is generally not considered as a "small engined car" especially not in London! lol
Get something like a Polo, it'll be cheaper to tax and insure!
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Last Edit: Feb 5, 2013 10:24:45 GMT by Ryannn
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it helps to find somewhere you can trust, by recommendation. I seem to remember some of the guys on here using somewhere south of the river. DBizzle/PaulH might know? I'd heartily recommend this place: www.earlsfield-servicestation.co.uk/Honest, good value, won't rip you off, very friendly. (There's a huge Australian community in Earlsfield too; across the road from the garage is The Wandle, a renowned watering hole for Antipodes!) If you live somewhere with a 'CPZ' (Controlled parking zone) you may find it cheaper/easier in the long term to buy a permit than have to travel on public transport to get to your car though. Ask your local council about your CPZ charges - in my zone in Wandsworth, a parking permit is £170/year, which is pretty good value given that the meters are over £3/hour... |
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Del
South East
Posts: 1,448
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I'm in East London and my insurance on a 1998 1.3 Fiesta is just under £700 a year, for fully comprehensive cover.
I park on the road, as I'm lucky to be in an area with no yellow lines or parking permits, as it's away from major commercial areas.
I'm also very lucky to have a garage right next door, so he does a decent job, after all he'd be daft to rip off someone right on his doorstep!
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Oh, great answers, thanks guys! Ill defenetely do my bedtime reading on MOT. Another weird question arose tho. If I buy a car now. How do I get it home before I get my insurance sorted out? As I see its illegal to drive without insurance, so I have to buy a car, do insurance and drive it home after that? And what about transfer papers? Should I prepare somehow, or you can get the papers just from a post office or something? |
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Yes, you have to insure it before you can drive it away - one way to do it would be to put down a deposit on the car, sort the insurance, and then pay the balance when you take it away.
As for transfer - what you have to do is change the "keeper"* of the car with the DVLA. The vendor should have a V5C with the car, and all you have to do is fill in your details when you buy it. You should also get a "new keeper supplement" - a peice of green paper about 5cmx20cm - with space to write your details on it. The vendor should then post the V5C to the DVLA - you'll receive a new, updated V5 in the post within a few weeks.
If you need to tax the car before the V5 arrives, you'll need the new keeper supplement along with the MOT certificate and insurance certificate.
*The keeper is the person that 'keeps' the vehicle on the road, and is normally the main driver and the policyholder of the insurance on the car. Being the keeper of the car is not the same as having legal ownership of the car - the V5 doesn't prove ownership. Be sure to get a written receipt with the car.
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Del
South East
Posts: 1,448
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I should add that my £700 insurance is AFTER eight years No Claims Bonus is applied, and an alarm fitted to the car.
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Another thing to be aware of is the Congestion Charge zone. www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/roadusers/congestioncharge/whereandwhen/I live outside the zone so I never pay the C-Charge (I get the bus to work Mon-Fri, and you don't have to pay the charge on weekends), but be aware that if you drive into the zone between 7am and 6pm on a weekday, you have to pay £10 for the privilege. |
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Oh yeah, and there are cameras everywhere. Speed cameras, bus lane cameras, traffic light cameras... you're always under surveillance. A few years ago I stopped in a bus stop outside Clapham Junction for about thirty seconds to drop a mate off at the station. £60 fine. I said 'come on, I only stopped for a moment', they responded with not one but three photos of me misbehaving!    Fair play, bang to rights. Just remember, they're always watching... |
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Em
Part of things
Fuel Injected? Carb Infested!
Posts: 601 
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Yet another is the Low Emission Zone, or LEZ (snigger!) www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/lez/default.aspxThis is a little like the Congestion Charge, only the chargeable area is essentially everywhere inside the M25. This was created to clean up London’s air quality (or create a new stream of revenue, depending on your political leanings! ) by ridding the roads of polluting diesel vehicles. It’s more aimed at old trucks and vans than cars, but smaller, older pick up trucks (Utes, to you!) can also fall foul. Ask me how I know this… Charges range from £250 to £1000 a DAY! PS – Dbizz – is that a PRIVATE PLATE on your car…?! PPS - for MOT's I've used these guys for a few years without compalint: www.wimbledontowngarage.co.uk/ |
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PS – Dbizz – is that a PRIVATE PLATE on your car…?! Hells yeah. My folks bought it for me for my 21st, I've been moving it from car to car ever since! |
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Just remember, they're always watching No wonder they're watching. Moody men in moody motors doing deals in bus stops... I don't drive in LDN very often and never in my own car but I'm always amazed at how busy it is, at all times, given how expensive it is to own and drive a car there. Muchos respectos to the guys who manage to run interesting motors there. |
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