Is this dodgy?

[Uberloitenment]

A guy selling a car but the reg. documents are not in his name.

He calls himself a trader and he has a lot of cars and he doesn't like to put the docs in his own name because it adds to the amount of owners the car has

Then when asking for payment he gives bank account details that are not in his name either

Do you think its reasonable to insist he gives bank account details in his own name before a deal is done?

[boxtops]

When I bought my car second hand, the dealer handed me the log book which was still in the name of the previous owner - it didn't seem odd to me at the time.
I gave him a cheque made out to the name of the company, as shown on his invoice. You need a proper invoice, nothing less will suffice, and that should show how payment is to be made.

[carmalee]

I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole -

[Postdog]

Can't answer re his business practices but if he cuts corners in that way, chances are he's not fussy about the cars either.

[ubasses]

few years ago had a customer who was a small local garage, he would sell cars on behalf of people and take a commission, totally respectable. but would advise caution if you know nothing about them.

[ABerrant]

The V5C (reg document) never includes the details of a motor trader, however the V5C/3 (yellow section) should be missing as the previous owner would need to complete it when notifying DVLA they had sold to a motor trader, leaving the blue and green sections V5C and V5C/2.

The payment issue raises concerns.

[tali1]

ABerrant is correct -and traders have no legal requirement to register cars in their name

[Uberloitenment]

Thank you all for your very helpful answers, much appreciated !