OK, myself and blueshift have won a Sierra 2.8 4x4 Estate on eBay for £6.50 
We haven't seen it yet but apparently it runs so may be drivable but the body and sills are rotten.
What would you peeps say was the safest, most legal and cheapest way to get it the 30 miles home. Recovery truck is gonna be like £150 which is waaaay
too much for a £6.50 car!
Someone close to my family actually owns a recovery company but it's based in Northumberland 
Any help appreciated.
-Mackie
i borrowed a car trailer from my local garage for £10 to get my sierra home...
mine drove, but didn't want to risk it, i had quite a long way to go...
Ned.
If it is driveable - get it insured, book an MOT at a station local to you who is friendly. Then drive the car to the test. This is legal - apparently
all the police may do if you are stopped is to phone the test station to check you are pre-booked.
Of course if it is a friendly MOT station they will understand if you never turn up....
You used to be allowed to tow or drive a car to a scrap yard as its final journey. Don't know if this still applies and what the ruling is about
your own home being a scrap yard.
Insurance is required, although it will almost certainly be invalid as you have no MOT, howeverprovided you have the certificate and don't crash
this should be OK.
Good luck
Mackie,
Your safest (and possibly cheapest option) is carry it home (trailer/transporter).
I'm guessing you know nothing about the car other than what you've read in the ebay post.
IIRC it's illegal to tow an unMOT'd car (incl susp tow) on HM's roads.
It's probably got no RFL and a fine from that could well outstrip cost of transporter (I was fined £150 16 years ago).
Also important things like brakes may not be in too good a nick.
I don't know how far you've got to go, but a tow off a motorway would cost a tidy packet - and that'll just get you off motorway - if
you did conk out on a m/way mr plod would no doubt turn up within a couple of mins - which would make for some interesting explaining.
I'd play safe.
ATB
Simon
If it will NOT run -
as long as you aren't going on any major roads - just tow it. chances are if the police did see you they wouldn't stop you
just make sure that brakes work and that your feeling up to heaving the steering wheel without the power assistance...
(only towed mine 10 miles but it took forever though!)
quote:
Originally posted by Simon
--snip--
I don't know how far you've got to go, but a tow off a motorway would cost a tidy packet - and that'll just get you off motorway - if you did conk out on a m/way mr plod would no doubt turn up within a couple of mins - which would make for some interesting explaining.
I'd play safe.
ATB
Simon
I think we should just drive it. I'm game.
if you have insurance cover you can go the ball!
you are allowed to drive an un mot'd & untaxed car to the test station as long as you have adequate insurance cover and the car is not in a
dangerous condition (this is a must, remember ignorance is no excuse especially if something serious was to happen and the Vehicle Inspectorate were
called in to investigate, which almost always happens when they really want to throw the book at you!) alternatively if you know someone in the
recovery trade can't you borrow their trade plates for a couple of hours again as long as it ain't buggered.
Hope i've helped
Regards
Ewan
P.S. you could always wait till it's dark ( with all the lights working ) then drive it with someone following behind, if the local plod come
along get the person behind to do something really stupid as so to get pulled and off you go leaving the legal car and person with the coppers.
Honest i would never do that it just seems a little dishonest ( ha ha )
I asked the bloke I bought mine from to drive it to my place and gave him a lift back home, 20 miles each way. If he wants to get rid he might go for
that, worth a try.
yours, Pete.
Now, don't quote me on this, but I think I read somewhere that you were allowed to drive an un MOT'ed un Taxed car to the nearest place of
repair. Now, if you were to pick it up on a Sunday, the nearest place of repair to you is going to be your house, where you deem it beyond economic
repair, and tear it to pieces. 
Kingr
I drove my DONOR from Kent to Bradford, don't tell the plod but it was neither MOT'd Insured or Taxed. All I could think about on the way back was 'I hope nothing happens', it wasn't the best drive.
I had my mate tow me back 10-15 miles
with a tow bar not rope
all was fine untill the ignition key fell out of the lock as somone had tried to break the lock off (not me), on the next bend I overtook the transit
tow vehicle and broke the tow bar
after that i had to drive the thing home
no brakes, handbrake was ok ish, one hand holding the steering lock etc in place
batterie flat, engine only just running
i could only brake on straight roads. as my left hand was on the handbrake, right hand on the ignition and knees on the steering wheel
next time i will get the car delivered, it was not worth the hassle
if the car is road worthy i would drive it
mine was not!!!
Yeah, just drive it with a pal following. Always works.... do check brakes etc, cant be in good nick for 6.50...
If you have a car with a towbar you could hire an A-Frame from your nearest HSS hire shop for £15 and tow it back on your own. I'm speaking from personal experience here, I drove from Bristol to Brighton to pick up a Corolla GTi on friday, 370 mile round trip and 9 hours but it towed like a dream.
I had to get my donor from watford, which is about 10 miles from me. It had a hole in the engine so wasnt driveable! It took ages to oragnise a
trailer and a car with a towbar for the same day.
Get a solid towbar, about £10 - £15, and u can tow it with any car with a tow hook. Im sure the plod wont bother pulling u over to ask for tax/mot.
Im near you but dont have a trailer or towbar. Otherwise i would pick it up for u, sorry!
Thanks all for your advice. It'll be this weekend at the earliest when we go and get it. I'll let you all know how it went.
We *think* it may be driveable, it does run but brakes will most certainly have to be checked.
On another note, I just saved myself nearly £700 on my car insurance by switching to elephant!
well i just got lashed on mine, 840 3rd party on a seicento...
oh for a clean licence...
quote:
Originally posted by JoelP
well i just got lashed on mine, 840 3rd party on a seicento...
oh for a clean licence...
mackie, i went to tesco's from coop and saved £650!
that was a year and a bit ago, i now pay £850 with my girlfriend as named driver fully comp on r plate 306 turbo diesel. I'm 22 with 2 claims 2
and a bit years ago...
Ned.
While you can legally drive it as mentioned above, you need to be sure it's not a death trap. I bought my sierra donor from a backstreet garage.
It had steel bracing showing through the treads but the engine ran - he said he could get it MOT'd for me. I decided to collect it on a
trailer. Subsequently, it ran out of petrol between the trailer and my driveway, one of the inner end TCA bolts was sheared with only half a bolt in
the hole and when I dismantled the dashboard I found a big weld - it was a mostly blue car with the front right quarter of a brown car welded in.
I made the right choice to trailer it.
Trailers seem to be hard to find in some areas but I would have thought you could get one for about £30 for the day - it might save you a lot of
regets later.
I don't know if there's a UK equivalent to AAA, or what the rules are there, but I know of a bunch of ways, most from experience...
Go and pick it up with your buddy, and drive/push/tow it out to the first somewhat main road. Then, call AAA or roadside service and tell them that
you've broken down and need to be towed. AAA members pay to have what is essentially break-down-insurance, at little or no cost to you
regardless of what vehicle you're driving. Most likely, the tow driver will not care where he taking you as long as he is getting paid
(especially if it's Sunday). So, just have him take you to your house and you'll be all set. A friend of mine is a tow truck driver and
has run into this twice, so he says.
Also, if the car is not driveable, you may be able to rent a flatbed pickup from the local hardware store (Home Depot in the US has ones with winches
for $19/hour and free gas) and you could use the winch and some heavy chain to tie the car to the rear end of the truck to tow it home. Take caution
with police, and have your buddy be the lookout - if a police car comes on to the road, quickly pull off and lose him
Find an ad for a tow truck that is for sale, contact the owner and tell him that you want to try the truck out before you buy it. Go to the
guy's house and be really nice to him and then go to the site of the donor car (if he will let you go with your car as colateral, all the
better). Use the truck to tow the car to your house and fill up his fuel tank and maybe even give him a bit of money on the side for his generosity,
but make sure to seem really interested in the truck. (my friend's dad did this to tow home a Dodge Diesel)
If all else fails, tow the donor with your own car, some heavy chain, and layers of moving pads duct-tapped to the front of the donor car. Have your
buddy (or the braver one) ride in the donor and steer it so that turns are posssible, and brake or E-brake it when coming to stops. This is one where
back roads should be used exclusively. (I did this with my brother during his moving day when his Buick died)
If you stop by a breaker's yard, you can cut a piece of truck frame or driveshaft (hopefully with universal joints) out of a junker for next to
nothing, and make your own tow bar.
All in all, if you are honest and respectful to the police (and don't drive like an A-hole) they will be lenient.
Keep in mind that where there's a will, there's a way: One of my best friends towed a 5000lb (2300KG) vintage 1960's pickup truck from
Connecticut to Florida - 2000 Miles - with his MOTORCYCLE without ever getting pulled over...
Be sure to bring a camera for the memories, and to plan your return trip to be more downhill than up!
Good luck
-MR
[Edited on 28/7/03 by mranlet]
Only in America.
Rolling on the floor laughing
...it's so true!!!!
Getting back to the insurance again, im 23 with a years no claims but before that 4 convictions, 6 points a ban and a retest. Plus getting sued by a
gloit on a bike.
I got quoted 3500 to renew a trade policy...
Getting back to trailers.... 
There's a trailer hire place in Park Street (just south of St Albans) which I've used a few times. Look up Watling Engineers in the phone
book. They have a huge flat bed trailer for £50/day. You'll need a decent sized car to pull it tho.
Other option - I have a towing dolly you can use to pull it but, being 4WD, you'll have to disconnect the prop shaft first. I'm about 20
miles from St Albans.
Chris
Cheers ChrisW, we may just seek your help.
St Albans Car and Van hire do a car transporter trailer for £45 a day I think, but the problem is lack of beefy car with a towbar.
How does the towing dolly work just out of interest? Do you simply place the front wheels on it and then tow it like a mini trailer?
I'd shop around if they are charging that much for a car transporter trailer. My local trailer dealer charges £17 + VAT a day or £96 + VAT a week.
I dont want to discourage you from going to St Albans Van Hire (My godfather runs it), but GT towing on the way to brookmans park from hatfield do
them for about £30 - £35 a day. They have a site on the internet. Not sure of the URL though, sorry.
You need a pretty big car to tow it though, my uncle used his shogun to tow mine back on a trailer and it was still pulling the car around a bit.
got my sierra on the back of a 306 + trailer! a bit scary, just took it nice + steady...
Ned.
Went up to Silverstone circuit today to pick up a Granada 2 litre pinto donor that I had been offered for free, unseen. Took a rigid towbar with me, intending to tow it the 200 miles home. Turned out to be a G reg Ghia, with only 56000 miles on the clock and ,suprise, suprise, a current MOT and one month and one day of tax still on it. Started up instantly after sitting unmoved for two months, and drove all the way home without missing a beat.
Jammy get..!
Had to go up to Silverstone anyway on other business, so with the tax refund and the few quid you always find under seats, trim etc. when you strip a car, should just about pay for my petrol home!
Sounds like a bargain. Pity it's a granny tho - getting decent wheels might be difficult?
Chris
While trying to get insurance for my donor to drive it home, my broker unofficially suggested that if my wife and I went to pickup the donor (by the
way my insurance policy is in my name and my wife is a named driver) and then got my wife to sign the registration document in her name.
This then means that under my insurance policy I can drive another vehicle, third party only, that is not registered to me. So naturally I drove the
donor home while my wife drove our car home.
Problem solved!!! (Insurance wise anyway)
Dave
quote:
Originally posted by ChrisW
Sounds like a bargain. Pity it's a granny tho - getting decent wheels might be difficult?
I already have a rolling chassis with wheels, bought as an unfinished project. Just want the engine, box and steering column from the granny.
Just had the granny up on my ramp to have a look underneath. It's got a type 9 box with an electronic speedo sender fitted. I thought they only came with the MT75? Solves the speedo cable problem anyhow.
andyps - 4/8/03 at 04:27 PMMackie and Blueshift - did you get your donor home yet? If so which method did you use?
blueshift - 4/8/03 at 06:09 PMNot yet. we were moving house last week (to a new place with a garage..
In other news, we bought a cortina and got that home.. not too adventurous as it had tax and test and was pretty much fine to drive, just pulled right under braking.
ewanspence - 5/8/03 at 12:45 PMBigDave
You need to check the small print when driving someone esles car under the 3rd party cover clause. The other person car should have its own valid insurance to make this legal. That is what my document says as I thought about this option.
I ended up getting the the car by asking the owner to drive it round to my house and I drove him home. No risk to me.
blueshift - 5/8/03 at 02:32 PMI'm pretty sure my insurance policy doesn't say anything about anyone else having to have an insurance policy on the car. it just says I'm allowed to drive other cars with third-party cover so long as they don't belong to or are hired by me.
but I haven't got my documents here, and IANAL. I'm with NU direct btw.
andyps - 5/8/03 at 05:16 PMI think most insurers don't specify the car has to be independently insured - but if you hapen to stop and get out of the car the law does! When driving a car on this basis you have to stay in the car all the time it is on the public highway for the insurance to be valid and not face prosecution.
blueshift - 15/8/03 at 10:56 PMBy the way, we got the car home today. I booked it in for an MOT at the garage the opposite side of town from where we'd be coming in (cunning eh?) and went to get the car. was signing up and about to try and start the engine when the bloke says "oh, it's not driveable. I told you that." bugger. no battery and maybe no ECU in the thing.
so, he gave us an old tow rope and we towed it home with mackie's rover 400. took two hours. poor little 1.4 engine popped its expansion tank or something, was widdling coolant when it got home.
but, we lived to tell the tale, and plod didn't spot us towing an un-MOT'd, un-taxed un-roadworthy car on the A41.
pictures for the curious at http://www.leetfighter.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=sierra
eddie - 20/8/03 at 03:27 AMpushed mine 2 doors along to my house