What do I need to bring to collect a used car?
Published 24 October 2026 · reviewed 24 October 2026
In one paragraph
Bring your driving licence, proof of insurance for the car you are collecting, the payment you have arranged, and the paperwork for any car you are part-exchanging. The car must be taxed and insured before it is driven away, and both can be sorted on the day before you set off.
What has to be in place before I can drive the car home?
Two things: insurance and tax. A car must be insured before it is driven on a public road, and that includes the drive home on the day you buy it. Vehicle tax does not transfer with a car either, so the new keeper has to tax it before it goes on the road.
Neither takes long to sort, but both have to be done before the wheels turn, not afterwards. Most people do the insurance the evening before and the tax standing in the office.
What should I bring with me?
Here is the short list.
- Your driving licence. The plastic photocard. It proves who you are and lets us put the right name on the paperwork.
- Proof of insurance for the car you are collecting. A policy number, a certificate on your phone, or the cover note your insurer emailed.
- The payment you have arranged. Whatever method you have already agreed with us, set up and ready to go.
- Your phone. You will want it for the insurance app and for taxing the car.
- A second driver, if you have one handy. Useful if you are bringing another car to leave behind.
- The paperwork for any car you are part-exchanging, which gets its own list below.
Our guide on insuring a car you have just bought covers how people usually handle the insurance side.
What do I need in order to tax the car?
The V5C reference number for the car. Vehicle tax can be done straight away online with it, which is why it is normally the last job before you leave.
You do not need the physical log book in your hand to do it. The reference is enough. If you would rather read it through first, our guide on taxing a car before you drive it home sets it out.
When does the log book arrive?
In the post, afterwards. When a car changes hands the seller tells the DVLA, and the new keeper is sent a new V5C log book. It does not come with the car on the day.
That catches people out, so it is worth knowing in advance. Our guide on getting the V5C when you buy a used car explains what to expect, and what paperwork should come with a used car covers the rest of the folder.
What should I bring if I am part-exchanging?
Everything that belongs to the car you are leaving with us.
- Its V5C log book.
- Both keys, if there are two.
- The service book and any receipts you have kept.
- The locking wheel nut key, which lives in the boot or the glovebox and is the thing people forget.
- Any settlement details for money still owed on it.
On a part-exchange our order form states three figures before anything is signed: the allowance for your car, the settlement still owed on it, and the difference. You see all three together, written down, before you put a pen anywhere near it. There is more in part-exchange explained.
Will there be extra charges on the day?
No. ONECARS charges no admin fee, so the price shown is the price paid. Nothing appears at the bottom of the form that was not on the car's page when you were reading it at home.
What if the car is being delivered instead?
Then you need the same insurance and tax in place, but you stay where you are. We deliver free within 20 miles of Plas Acton in Wrexham, on weekdays in hourly slots, and the car is checked, valeted and fuelled before it leaves us. See delivery for how that works.
What should I look at before I sign?
The car, the paperwork and the car's own page, side by side.
- Walk round the car in daylight and check it matches the photographs.
- Check the registration on the V5C matches the one on the car.
- Check the mileage against the MOT history shown on the car's page.
- Try both keys in the door and the ignition.
- Read the order form from top to bottom before you sign it.
Every ONECARS car page carries the photographs, the full spec and the MOT history, so you can have all of that open on your phone while you look. The 2010 Volkswagen Polo at £2,995 is a fair example of the sort of page to have open while you are stood next to the car.
Has the car been looked at before I collect it?
Yes. Every ONECARS car is checked on 34 points by ONEFIX, our own workshop on the same site, and the list is published at how we check our cars. Where that check leaves work outstanding, the car is not handed over until ONEFIX has put it right.
Every car also comes with a free three-month warranty on the engine and gearbox, up to 2,500 miles, with repairs done by ONEFIX on the same site, and longer paid cover is available. After the sale the same workshop services, repairs and MOTs the car.
Where do I collect from?
Plas Acton Garage, 282 Chester Road, Wrexham LL12 8DU, open Monday to Friday 9 to 5 and Saturday 10 to 4 for viewings by appointment, with a second forecourt at Ruyton near Shrewsbury. Have a look at our used cars or get in touch to arrange a time.