How collection and payment work

You keep driving your vehicle until collection. Nothing changes the moment you accept, and there is no need to stop using the car while the day is arranged. Collection is free anywhere in the UK, or you can drop the car at our Bethnal Green office if that suits you better.

We call ahead before we collect, to confirm the time and the address and to answer any last questions. If plans change, tell us and we will move the day.

Having these together makes the visit quick.

• The V5C logbook, or a note that it is lost.
• Original photo ID for the person selling.
• Both keys, and the locking wheel nut key.
• The service book or invoices, and any finance settlement figure.
• On a plug-in hybrid, the charging cable.

When the car is collected it is looked over and, where it is safe and legal, driven a short distance. You can join the test drive. It is a chance to point out anything you mentioned when you asked for an offer, and to see the car checked in front of you.

The price holds if the vehicle is as described. Any change is explained first, and you can say no. If something turns up that was not mentioned, you will hear what it is and why it matters before anything else happens, and you are free to keep the car.

Paid in full by bank transfer before your vehicle leaves. The keys and the car stay with you until the money has been sent. If there is finance, the lender is settled first and the balance is paid to you.

Payment goes to a UK bank account in the seller's name, or, for an estate, to the account the executor names. There are no buyer fees and no admin fees taken from the price.

We handle the DVLA paperwork. The V5C is used to report the change of keeper, so you are no longer responsible for the car from the time of the sale. DVLA then refunds any full months of vehicle tax left on the car to the keeper.

If you have a private number plate you want to keep, tell us early. It needs to be taken off the car before the sale, and that takes time to arrange.

Every dealer who buys through us agrees to our dealer code of conduct. It covers how the car is checked and how the seller is paid, so the steps above hold whoever collects. You can read it at /dealers/code-of-conduct.

The whole day comes down to a few lines.

• You keep driving your vehicle until collection.
• We call ahead before we collect.
• You can join the test drive.
• We handle the DVLA paperwork.
• Paid in full by bank transfer before your vehicle leaves.
• The price holds if the vehicle is as described. Any change is explained first, and you can say no.