Donor Car Dilemma

[Tatey]

Im currently trying to source a Ford Sierra donor for my build but have so far ran across a few problems.

1 being that because im under the age of 21 i cant get short term car insurance, meaning it limits the distance i can travel to pick up a donor car, as i can get my dad or 1 of my friends parents to pick it up for me, but i cant see them wanting to travel for hours to go and get it. Although i seem to have found one near by me, for £300, it has 6 months tax left on it so i can claim back atleast £70 of that. Making the donor car cost £230, its only done 51,000 miles, its a 1.8 cvh and seems to be in alright nick, and being only a 40 minute drive away its not too far.

The next issue is the one that seems tricky to solve. My friend says i should be able to keep in his field while i strip all of the parts from it, meaning it wont be sat on my drive way, however, im quite stumped as to how id go about scraping the shell of it. I cant seem to find a company near by who will come and pick it up. I know i could cut it up into bits and take it to the scrapheap but that to be seems like a hell of a lot of work and a lot of trips to finally get rid of it, and i dont really know anyone with a large enough van or trailer to do the job. I really dont want to take my friend up on his offer, and to then have the shell of a sierra stuck there for months on end.

I've thought about just buying the individual parts needed but the costs just seem to mount up and up.

Anyone have any ideas?

[Rik178m]

Originally Posted by Tatey

Im currently trying to source a Ford Sierra donor for my build but have so far ran across a few problems.

1 being that because im under the age of 21 i cant get short term car insurance, meaning it limits the distance i can travel to pick up a donor car, as i can get my dad or 1 of my friends parents to pick it up for me, but i cant see them wanting to travel for hours to go and get it. Although i seem to have found one near by me, for £300, it has 6 months tax left on it so i can claim back atleast £70 of that. Making the donor car cost £230, its only done 51,000 miles, its a 1.8 cvh and seems to be in alright nick, and being only a 40 minute drive away its not too far.

The next issue is the one that seems tricky to solve. My friend says i should be able to keep in his field while i strip all of the parts from it, meaning it wont be sat on my drive way, however, im quite stumped as to how id go about scraping the shell of it. I cant seem to find a company near by who will come and pick it up. I know i could cut it up into bits and take it to the scrapheap but that to be seems like a hell of a lot of work and a lot of trips to finally get rid of it, and i dont really know anyone with a large enough van or trailer to do the job. I really dont want to take my friend up on his offer, and to then have the shell of a sierra stuck there for months on end.

I've thought about just buying the individual parts needed but the costs just seem to mount up and up.

Anyone have any ideas?

Buying individual parts would cost alot more. Trailer hire is fairly cheap. Look in the yellow pages for scrap car collection. My local council or breakers come with a hiab and its gone dead easy. You could try and ask the seller to drive the car for you for a fee?

[deezee]

If you have fully comp insurance you can drive the car. Just put it in someone elses name (family) when you fill in the registered keeper details. Then you can drive it on your fully comp cover. I got a 1.8cvh and it was the ideal donor. I stripped it in a weekend, on my own. Then a gypsy took the shell off me. Result

[Tatey]

Right i've had a look in my yellow pages and rang quite a few companys. Only one company was prepared to collect, but wanted £85 to do it. Any other ideas?

Also i do have fully comp insurance, but from what i've read you need to be over 25 to get the 3rd party cover.

[jabs]

Originally Posted by deezee

If you have fully comp insurance you can drive the car. Just put it in someone elses name (family) when you fill in the registered keeper details.

I think that it has to be insured for you to do that. Doing it the way above it won't be. If the guy your buying it off has it insured then just finalise the sale once you get it home.

[deezee]

Thats not true. If your insurance company cover you 3rd party on another car, not registered in your name, that is for your insurance company to decide. It is not based on whether or not the vehicle is insured in someone elses name. You may receive a notice from an ANPR or, like me, show the police a copy of your insurance cover document.

Obviously you'll have to check the fine print of your fully comp. But no insurance company I've ever dealt with covered me for driving another car, assuming that the registered keeper is fully insured. This is my experiance, and again recommend checking with your insurer, but it might make life a lot easier if you can drive it back yourself.

[Bonzo]

The best advice I can offer is to contact your insurance company.

They will normally be happy to tell you if you have cover to drive another vehicle.

My own fully comp policy allows the use of any car that is not owned or hired to me.
Stricltly on a third party only basis. ( Saga insurance )

My fully comp commercial policy, provides no cover to drive any other vehicles. ( Direct line )

My 20 year old sons fully comp policy, does not provide cover to drive other vehicles untill he reaches 25

It varies from company to company. If in doubt. Check with you insurer

[MightyMouth]

Have a look in your local free press, there are at least 3 in my area that will pay you to remove an MOT failure and I had my shell collected for free, Could have probably argued the fact and got a few quid out of them if I was of a mind to.

[flyerncle]

Check PM Simon and I have just thought of somone who will take it for you.

[Neil P]

I cut mine up with a big grinder into about eight pieces put it in the back of the landy and took it to the tip. I was sitting in the queue at the tip longer than it took to cut it up