I've heard that sometimes cars are "flagged" by the police if they have been connected with criminal activity aledgedly. My son is thinking of buying a car which may or may not be. The present keeper may well be "away" at the moment, hence the reason for the sale. Apart from the basics, i.e. is it legally his to sell can i pre empt any trouble that might arise? I realise i'm not going to walk in to my local police station and ask. It will be his first car so looking to prevent hassle. No names or places obviously except that it's the u.k.
Apart from the ways you have mentioned, you other way to find out if the car is flagged is when/if he is stopped by the police.
Usually the police will remove the flag if you or your son can prove that they are the new owner/keeper of the vehicle
contact the dvla in swansea with the reg and vin number, they'll tell you if it's got any outstanding hp or flags against it.
I know you can find out about HPI, whether its stolen, history etc but I doubt very much the DVLA would have access to police "markers" logged against the vehicle
Get another car from somewhere else then there will be no worries. It does not sound as if its worth taking the risk.
sorry forgot to say, wouldn't worry about the marker on the car, as long as your son is ligit and doesn't get gobby when he's stopped by plod he will be fine.
I wouldnt say its a risk at all as long as it has tax mot and insurance there will be no problems. If you son is stopped cause of the marker he just needs to explain hes the new keeper, not a big issue and it will be removed
Get another car from somewhere else then there will be no worries. It does not sound as if its worth taking the risk.
Thanks for all your replies, yes it may seem a load of faffing around but it's a cheap car for the reason that the keeper is on an extended break (2 years)so has no use for it.