What do YOU want to ask the DVLA?

[Philip Nothard 26]

The  question reading this and my apologies if this has been answered previously.......

 

If a dealer sells a demonstrator or a tactical registration previously, you would in most cases sell it will the remainder of the R.F.L, mainly to save losing a full month and it's built in to the costs of the sale.  This one gives good customer service, two save paperwork and administration and thirdly allows the buyer to drive away 24/7 - at the time of purchase?

 

Therefore, isn't this introducing unnecessary costs to bit the consumer and seller, and most of introducing additional administration and time to a sale? 

[Wheelerdealer1 91]

Deffo more admin time, you will now have to sit the customer down in front of a PC, fill out the online thingy, add card num etc etc, imagine doing all this with an elderly customer or someone not so confident, your in for a long process.

Add into that the customer will want us to pay !

[GreenGiant 287]

We can't help it if the guy is media trained and doesn't want to give straight answers... We tried and tried to get the answers we know everyone wanted but he was hard work, according to Batch.

 

I appreciate that, James.

It could also be that he didn;t actually know (or care) about how it is all going to work down here at the pointy end, it's just his job to make sure the 'digitals' are all 'delivered' into the 'multi-channel landscape' and to hell with the consequences. If the DVLA/HM Revenue can diddle the trade/public out of a few million quid in the process, then that's just collateral damage, so happy days!

As we have found with the NI switchover, it will simply be a case of shoot first and apologise later.

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

These people aren't stupid and I'm sure they realise that a profit can be made by refunding the present tax from the start of the next month and charging the new customer from the start of the present month, therefore getting paid twice. On a £20 tax disc this would earn them £1.66 but on a £480 tax disc in will earn them £40 !!  If you said on average £10 over a million cars its a nice £10 extra!!! 

 

As for the interview, as James says these guy's are media trained and DVLA may have even asked to see the questions beforehand. The 'Trade' is an hassle to DVLA I guess, I'm sure the next problem will be ANPR camera's picking up untax'ed car being driven on trade plates but not being able to show if trade plates were showing in the vehicle or not. Lets brace ourselves for the letters that drop through the door. 

[GreenGiant 287]

Can't wait.

Jeez, can you imagine the hoops we're going to have to jump through to appeal? As always, it will be guilty unless you can prove otherwise.

 

Still, I would like a bit more clarification on what Philip said earlier about all current valid tax discs on vehicles in the Trade being cancelled on 30 Sept with no refunds.

If that is the case, that is an outrage and it stinks.

 

I, like Jim, am concerned that no communication from the DVLA mentions the 'passed to Trade' status  - they just talk about 'registered' or SORNed. Will that staus even exist any more?

Or have I missed something 'cos of the red mist...?

[Wheelerdealer1 91]

I'm sure the yellow slip will still exist, how else will they know where to send the fines !

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

Stupid thing is that the one thing that should be updated is the yellow strip and how the vehicle is passed to trade. It must be a nightmare for DVLA to track a trade car because it could pass though many traders/forecourts/auctions before it is next registered but DVLA only have the original garage that took it in p/x. 

 

The trade is trusted enough to use the MID insurance database, the trade carries out MOT's so therefore uses the MOT database so why not allow us to use a DVLA version? 

[GreenGiant 287]

Bloody 'ell Gavin!

That's joined up thinking, that is!

Hang your head in shame, young man.

[countryman 13]

The issue of whether a vehicle that is taxed and 'in trade' on October 1st remains taxed is, to me, one of the most important and remains as yet unanswered.

 

It seems quite extraordinary that, with a little over a month to go before sweeping changes to the way vehicles are taxed is introduced, that we are so much in the dark. The 'Motor Trade' must be without doubt the DVLA's biggest customer, generating a huge amount of revenue on ther behalf.

 

I also was privileged to have one of my questions from the forum posed to the DVLA Chief Executive. His answer seemed to be that it is up to the Dealers to help customers arrange their road tax prior to taking delivery. This is all very well but will undoubtedly make the payment of this tax another 'bargaining' point for the customer; no doubt they will expect us to pay for it. To rub salt into the wound, they will be sitting at the computer that I have paid for, using my internet connection in my office. Furthermore, this is a service that we carry out for the DVLA completely free of charge. Even the Post Office receives a payment for every tax disc they issue. I am strugglng to think of anyother area of my business where I provide a product or service for no reward - whether it be parts, warranties, MOTs they all have a 'trade discount' or a 'commission' to make it worth my while.

[c_cars 56]

Deffo more admin time, you will now have to sit the customer down in front of a PC, fill out the online thingy, add card num etc etc, imagine doing all this with an elderly customer or someone not so confident, your in for a long process.

Add into that the customer will want us to pay !

 

A long process thats not very practical if you're on your own and have to be sat with a customer while there are customers on your pitch and phones ringing!

 

Is there an online version of this article somewhere?

[James Baggott 227]

There will be in the not too distant future... I'll share the link when it goes live

[James Baggott 227]

Here it is:

 

http://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/interview-put-questions-dvla-chief-executive-oliver-morley/84065

[Wheelerdealer1 91]

My point exactly Chris, we are a small operation and when I'm alone no doubt I WILL lose customers due to the longer time spent taxing the car with the customer

[c_cars 56]

Just read through the article and, not meaning to put anyone down over this, it tells us nothing about how things are going to change, just reads to me like a standard press release type interview with lots of 'need to' and 'would's.

 

With just over a month to go surely the DVLA should be publishing a definitive set of rules/guidelines on how this whole tax disc thing will work and not telling us how to run our sales processes!

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

Let not be dramatic about this please. You or the customer will be able to tax the car online using the V5C/2 (Green Slip), I'm guess by using a reference number on it,  it may take all of 3 minutes if that. Quicker then driving to the Post Office I'm sure. 

 

www.gov.uk/government/news/vehicle-tax-changes

 

Also if cars are still passed to trade in the same manner via posting out a V5C/3 (Yellow Slip) it could take a week or so to for DVLA to process it meaning the P/X is still taxed for a short period, not idea be long enough to use the fuel that's left in it!! A simple online check will tell you if its still tax'ed.

 

www.gov.uk/get-vehicle-information-from-dvla

 

Customers will be confused about the changes, if  as sales people we explain and guide them through the process its a chance to build trust, explain the bonus that they will be getting refunded their old tax disc and how the refund may even cover the cost of the new tax!!

 

Or do we prefer to just moan and tell them what a stupid system it is, how we don't understand it and leave them to work it out for themselves. Our issue is with the DVLA not our customers. 

[Wheelerdealer1 91]

Just to put things in perspective I spent over an hour the other day with a lovely old couple who were buying a car for their grandson.

However they wanted to do an online payment, never done it before ! And not great on the PC either, we got through it, put it's a painful process with a certain type if customer.

Yes of course I'm happy to help, they are buying a car from me, but it's another hurdle to work into the sale process, and makes it time consuming.

So I'm doing more work, but then I'm losing the benefit of taking a taxed car in, and that's money out my pocket.

So the dvla take but so far do not give us anything back in return

[Guest]

Apologies Chris if the interview wasn't to your liking. We worked very hard on it. 

 

Since I did the interview, there has been more info published and those two links Gavin posted should answer most questions. 

 

As we get nearer to October 1, the DVLA will publish more info to help the public. This is something we will keep an eye on and we will publish anything newsworthy to help you and others.

 

Batch

[jimreidvehicle 255]

Let not be dramatic about this please. You or the customer will be able to tax the car online using the V5C/2 (Green Slip), I'm guess by using a reference number on it,  it may take all of 3 minutes if that. Quicker then driving to the Post Office I'm sure. 

 

www.gov.uk/government/news/vehicle-tax-changes

 

Also if cars are still passed to trade in the same manner via posting out a V5C/3 (Yellow Slip) it could take a week or so to for DVLA to process it meaning the P/X is still taxed for a short period, not idea be long enough to use the fuel that's left in it!! A simple online check will tell you if its still tax'ed.

 

www.gov.uk/get-vehicle-information-from-dvla

 

Customers will be confused about the changes, if  as sales people we explain and guide them through the process its a chance to build trust, explain the bonus that they will be getting refunded their old tax disc and how the refund may even cover the cost of the new tax!!

 

Or do we prefer to just moan and tell them what a stupid system it is, how we don't understand it and leave them to work it out for themselves. Our issue is with the DVLA not our customers. 

Hi Gavin

yes well said, however there are loads of outstanding questions still to answer, I drafted an e-mail on Monday yet no reply with a number of questions that I feel have not been covered elsewhere, well done to the guys and girls at Car Dealer Magazine for sharing their interview, there are so many questions unanswered though and this will affect us in the Trade, confusion is NOT good and with just over a month to go  I personally feel that things should be crystal clear by now and they are not 

[GreenGiant 287]

Absolutely Jim.

But this thread started a month ago. Questions, doubts and possible problems have been raised and discussed. But here we are, a month later and no wiser. Another month's time and it's almost on us.

So, whilst suggesting we don't get dramatic about it is nice and diplomatic, fact is, we're pretty clueless and nobody is listening or offering any actual advice.

 

BTW, the Post Office online link with the DVLA crashed this afternoon - while I was half way through getting a car taxed for delivery today, naturally. As of 5pm, still not working.

Car not taxed. Customer not happy. Bank Holiday weekend upon us. What would yer man from the DVLA's advice be?  Oh, I know,,, do it online!

It's like having a window to the future, and the view ain't pretty.

Solution?

 

G&T and try again tomorrow, I suppose.

[metcars 395]

Also if cars are still passed to trade in the same manner via posting out a V5C/3 (Yellow Slip) it could take a week or so to for DVLA to process it meaning the P/X is still taxed for a short period, not idea be long enough to use the fuel that's left in it!! A simple online check will tell you if its still tax'ed.

 

 

I certainly wouldnt trust the DVLA for this sort of info. And I wouldnt want to be explaining it to a copper at the side of the road. Unfortunately the police have the ability to check MOT/TAX/Insurance 24/7 with the ANPR built into most traffic cars, but as motorists we dont have the same power to update our information, or to be sure its done correctly!

[metcars 395]

I, like Jim, am concerned that no communication from the DVLA mentions the 'passed to Trade' status  - they just talk about 'registered' or SORNed. Will that staus even exist any more?

Or have I missed something 'cos of the red mist...?

 This! I'm pretty sure that ' in the trade' will soon disappear. I dont think they want to admit 'trade' even exists

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

Maybe we could send an open letter via Car Dealer Magazine to the chief ex at DVLA expressing our concerns or maybe James & James could request an other interview (sorry to put on the CD people but your our link to the DVLA!!!) with a simple question.

 

'Car dealer sells car to customer, customer wants to drive away that day, salesperson and customer are sat in the office in front of a PC/iPad with V5C and V5C/2 etc(remembering the V5 will still be in the prevoius owners name)....how does the dealer tax the car so the buyer can drive away in the next 5 minutes????'

 

A straight question that can't be bluffed. 

 

I agree the DVLA's communication with the trade has been awful. The lack of a cross over period is risky but did we really expect anymore from the DVLA?

[GreenGiant 287]

Maybe we could send an open letter via Car Dealer Magazine to the chief ex at DVLA expressing our concerns or maybe James & James could request an other interview (sorry to put on the CD people but your our link to the DVLA!!!) with a simple question.

 

'Car dealer sells car to customer, customer wants to drive away that day, salesperson and customer are sat in the office in front of a PC/iPad with V5C and V5C/2 etc(remembering the V5 will still be in the prevoius owners name)....how does the dealer tax the car so the buyer can drive away in the next 5 minutes????'

 

A straight question that can't be bluffed. 

Do it Online!!

 

Supplementary question:

Same scenario, but the car has a tax disc on it valid to 31 December. Do we just send off the V5, as now, and the car gets taxed in December? Or are the goalposts being moved?

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

GG, from if that happens before the 1st October the tax is still valid, if it happens on or after the 1st October the tax until December becomes invalid. Fire up the PC, get online and get it taxed!!!!!  All whilst smiling sweetly to your customer!!

[c_cars 56]

Edit, read the thread and answered my own question!