Buying a used car + insurance

dovahkiin11

This might be an obvious question but I've never bought a used car in Ireland before so here it goes...I'm planning on buying a used car in the next few weeks. I have no car at the moment so no insurance to transfer.

What's the process when buying used, specifically from a dealer? Does the dealer hold on to the car until you get insurance sorted? I need the car registration number before I can get an insurance policy, but I don't know if that can be done quickly enough and on-the-spot for me to drive away with the car once I purchase it.

Thanks!

Uncle Pierre

People normally do a deal to buy a car first, and then go back a few days later to actually pick it up. This could be to do with getting finance in place, or maybe the dealer agrees to change a tyre or two, or some other checks and changes, or just a general spruce-up. Either way, you'll know the reg number at that point, and will have plenty of time to get quotes for insurance before you go back to actually drive the car away.

If you've got money to pay for a car on the spot and are determined to drive it away immediately, probably no reason why an insurance company wouldn't cover you there and then either. Just be sure not to take the first quote you get - do the usual thing of contacting several companies anyway.

The dealer won't actually demand to see proof of insurance before you drive the car away, but obviously it would be very unwise to drive away without insurance.

Miscreant

In my experience, the car dealer won't care if you have insurance or not... You come to collect the car whenever they say it will be ready and when you are also ready. It would be very foolhardy to not have insurance in place before collecting the car though.

The dealer will be able to tell you the registration number of the car and then it will be up to you to shop around for the best insurance quote you can get (don't accept the first one, shop around). Some insurance companies will insure you there and then on the proviso you send them documents within a certain amount of time (14 days to send in a copy of licence and anything else they ask for, as an example) but you can prepare in advance by getting some quotes now based on a certain model of car you are interested in.

Quote references from insurance companies are usually valid for a period of time (30 days or so) and you can quote a reference number to the relevant company when the time comes to take up insurance... Just be sure that none of the particulars of the quote have changed in the meantime (such as car model/type, engine size, value etc as these would have been factored in to your original quote in the first place).

Happy hunting.

dovahkiin11

Thanks for the responses! I definitely want insurance in place before I drive the car, just wasn't sure what the process/steps were. Thanks this helps a lot!

irishhombre

i just bought a VW polo from a dealer in Dublin, they delivered it to Donegal....they never asked for insurance, i suppose its your responsibility.

coylemj

When you pay the dealer, legal ownership (registration is a different matter altogether) of the vehicle transfers to you and it's no longer any responsibility of the dealer so it's literally none of their business if you drive it with no insurance. The same apples in a private sale, the previous owner bears no responsibility if you hand over the cash, he gives you the keys and you drive off with no insurance.

If you lend somone your car, that is a different matter but once a sale takes place, the previous owner or the dealer is 100% off the hook.