Can I sleep in my car?

Genghis. quite a few service stations will now allow overnight parking but at a cost of approximately £7. Certainly the five or six I have stopped at recently have allowed this. 2 hours free then a charge of £7 after that....

Check out Auto Trader for a pretty cool selection of used vans, campervans and stuff

as #2 says... I did this for a couple of nights in a hire car, and damn it's cold... make sure you have a good sleeping bag!

Apparently the DVLA will NOT register a car without a proof of address in the UK (utility bill valid within the last three months, bank statement valid within the last three months, medical card, or council tax bill for current year). So any discussion as to whether or not you can sleep in a car that you can't legally own anyway, sounds like hot air to me....

#3 is wrong or joking. You can do anything inherently legal in your car as long as it is parked legally, and sleeping is legal. You could do handstands in your car for weeks if you could manage it and your car was parked legally.

Scarvant @#5
<blockquote>Quote
<hr>For 3 months with wicked campers (not inc. insurance waiver, assuming there is one) you can get a 2 berth van for £900.<hr></blockquote>

Acording to the link, the cheapest is £30 per day. That works out as £900 per month, not £900 for 3 months.
add VAT, Extra Insurance, £5 per day for additional driver....

Whoops! Maths was never my strong point ; )

At any rate that'd come to £3172 inc VAT, not including any insurance waiver - only £2272 difference! haha! Not quite as appealing as my original £900!! Haha! But at the very least, you don't have to worry about trying to sell it once you're done!

You could lose a lot of money on a vehicle if you tried to sell it in a hurry in London, especially if you're selling it at the wrong time of year when there's a lot of vans about. Which means the cost of the trip increases, possibly substantially so.

#13
That's only for brand-new car (fresh from factory) or a foreign-registered car that is to be registered in UK for the first time. If you are just changing ownership, the seller only needs to return the tear-off section of the registration certificate with your name, date of birth and an address at which you can be contacted - so it can be a friend's. You keep section 10 of the document until you receive your new registration certificate, usually in a couple of weeks. You can use section 10 plus insurance certificate to tax your car (vehicle excise licence). A vehicle 3 years or more old also needs a MOT certificate (about safety and roadworthiness). Make sure any car you buy comes with an MOT long enough for your needs.

There is an insurance intermediary who specialise in covering cars and vans of short-term visitors to UK: Downunder Insurance You can opt for cover from 15 days to 12 months.

You can sell your car/van at the end of your trip through small ads, auction or direct to the motor trade. Except rock-bottom price if you opt for the latter two.

If you did decide to stick with your buying a car plan really look into the insurance first as I think you will find the Norwich Union temporary insurance suggested above is only valid for UK/EU or EEA licences - don't think that would cover a US licence. Mind you not relevant as you won't have a UK address to register the vehicle to anyway, this in addition to all the other points raised above. Might be wise to start looking at other options.
Good luck

Thank you all very much for your comments, suggestions and advice. I will try to get solid information on the residency/registration/insurance issue for purchasing a vehicle. I spent 5 weeks traveling in the US and living in the back of my mini-pichup with a camper shell and it worked out very well. It did not take long to learn the ropes of where or where not to park and how to keep clean and warm. Hopefully I can do the same for a few months in the UK and Ireland. Any further info will be greatly appreciated.
Marshall