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Buying a car on a private plate - help!


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Hi, query...

 

trying to buy a new car, but for some reason the seller hasn't yet taken his private plate off, which he wants to keep. Haven't a clue why the seller hasn't taken the plate off a month ago before he advertised it for sale, but hey, im trying to buy the car, not the seller.

 

there is an online service for taking the private plate off which then generates a replacement age-related reg number, but if I do this i'd then have to immediately get new plates made up, which I wouldn't be able to do without the correct documentation. The car has been on private plate since new, so there are no old plates already (don't even know what the new number would be yet)

 

Anyone had any experience with this? from what I read, you can't (shouldn't?) transfer registration of a car and transfer a private plate at the same time very easily, you should do one first and then the other.

 

Ideally, I guess it should have been the seller takes off the private plate, and then transfers sale of car with new plate on, but the seller has had a month to do it that way round, so now im thinking it will be seller sells car AND private plate to me, then when I receive my new V5c, I then use the online service to take the private plate off and send it back to him.

 

Clearly the plate isn't that important or urgent to the seller otherwise he'd have done this already, but I obviously want to make sure I have the right documentation to take ownership, tax and insure a car when I hand over a large wad of cash!

Edited by brillomaster
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I would have thought normally they put the original back on - I would give DVLA a call - then you know for sure - may save you some serious hassle

 

What car is it ?

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that's the thing, im not sure it does have original plates, the seller says the car was first registered on a private plate. but even so, no physical plates exist, so would need to go to Halfords or somewhere to get some plates made up, but they wouldn't do that without the correct documentation, which I wouldn't have. Don't really want to drive home with a registration number hastily scribbled on a piece of paper in the back window!

 

I've dropped the dvla an email, but might well give them a call tomorrow. apparently the seller says its simple, but with the requirements to tax and insure a car immediately after buying it, im not so sure getting the plates changed at the same time is a brilliant idea!

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yeah that's ok, im just wondering if it will work ok if he puts the plate on retention on the same day I want to drive the car home? for some reason the seller is clearly waiting until he has a sale agreed before putting the plate on retention, but I don't have the inclination to make two 5hr round trips (one to pay a deposit, one to pick up the car and pay the balance once the plate transfer has gone through!) if I go view the car, I need to drive it back the same day.

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I don't think you can 'instantly' put a plate on retention - It's all done via the DVLA which means sending the V5 off. This process takes about 2 weeks (from recent experience).

 

You used to be able to do it at a local DVLA office, but these have all closed now.

 

Buy the car and agree to a gentleman's agreement that you'll put the plate on retention when you get the paperwork and put him as the 'owner' of the plate when doing so. Make sure he pays the fees though, or takes them off the price of the car.

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That's what im hoping he agrees to! would just take the cost of the fees off the price of the car. I have no interest in keeping his private plate, it means nothing to me and would prefer an age related one to show I can afford a 56 plate BMW :lol:

Edited by brillomaster
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What Ian said. Do the deal with the plate on. Once you get the logbook through do the transfer in his name at his cost

 

Once you buy the car the plate becomes yours. As mentioned have a gentlemans agreement .......if he trusts you :lol:

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You can put a plate on retention instantly, via the DVLA website. Tell him to stop being a lazy ass and go do that NOW (actually, during office hours only for some bizarre reason), and the you can buy the car. He'll tell you what plates it has on, then you tax and insure on those.

 

Don't try and do it yourself, it's going to end up being a PITA if you do. Make him do the leg work if he wants to keep the plate :)

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When I sold the BMW, it went quicker than I thought, so still had private plate on the car. I had sent off the retention certificate, so had no V5, and it was coming up to 2 weeks so due letter back any a day, but hadn't arrived when the buyer turned up to buy/collect the car.

 

Buyer was in the police, he told the V5 is not proof of ownership, we did a quick letter documenting the situation - IE: I will retain the plate, and send the V5 off once I got it back from the DVLA. In the mean time he paid me ££££ for the the car, and took up any responsibility regarding speeding tickets, insurance on my private plate etc.

 

I was a bit apprehensive at first, but after he showed me his police ID thingy and explained it to me for the 5th time I was happy, so we he transferred the ££££ into my account and drove off in the car with no V5/MOT documents :lol: .

Edited by gangzoom
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You can put a plate on retention instantly, via the DVLA website. I didn't know this, so apologies Brillo.

 

Tell him to stop being a lazy ass and go do that NOW (actually, during office hours only for some bizarre reason), and the you can buy the car. He'll tell you what plates it has on, then you tax and insure on those.

 

Don't try and do it yourself, it's going to end up being a PITA if you do. Make him do the leg work if he wants to keep the plate :)

 

The current owner sounds like a typical BMW driver if you ask me :stir:

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hmmm found the dvla advice, it seems like i will have to buy the car with his plate on and then transfer it back to him at his cost, as its too late even to do it online and get the new V5c sent out before saturday.

 

really dont know why the seller didnt pull his finger out and do it earlier!

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It's not that hard. I bought my zed and was trading in my juke with my private plate on it. All I did was send away the documentation for the car aswell as the documentation for swapping reg over. Then when I received my new v5 through it was my plate that was on it.

 

It's just this form here you have to fill out and send with the v5 - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/409911/V317_211114.pdf

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Just do this, sold a bike with my private number plate. As we have had issues before since the local DVLA offices were closed,

I gave the buyer a receipt, 'copy' of the V5 and sent the full V5 and my car V5 to transfer the plate over (£80).

 

Received both updated V5's in 10 days and filled in straight away into the new owners name, posted him the new v5c slip so he could get a new plate made. Job jobbed.

No hassle, and now a lot easier that you don't have to send tax discs and mot's with the v317 form anymore

 

He was local but, I confirmed his id and kept the buyers driving licence number in case he got caught speeding etc

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Get him to knock £130 off, £80 for the above and £50 for your time.

 

Remember that a pair of plates will also cost you circa £20-£30 as well.

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but that means the buyer went away with a car but no matching V5c document, and it would have been a good month or so before he got the V5c through with his name, and the right registration! Plus i'd have to trust the seller to do all of that, when he'd already have all of my money.

 

Its basically either i'd have to trust the seller to sort the documents for my £9,000 car, or the seller would have to trust me to sort the documents for his £250 private plate.

 

And yeah, i'm already budgeting the cost of buying new plates when I get the reg transferred, since the seller has been to stingy to buy new plates themselves - that's the only reason i can think of why he hasn't transferred the reg already.

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when i view the car im going to mention the dvla advice and get his wife involved - in my experience most women are sticklers for doing things by the book, if the dvla says not to sell or transfer a vehicle without the correct documentation, she'll talk him round!

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As I said just send all the documents away at the same time for reg retention and new ownership of vehicle. It's no hastle at all.

He will get his reg letter through and you get ur new v5 with new plate through. Just get him to the reg retention documentation ready along with postal order.

Think all in all it takes 2 weeks which is normal.

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Thats handy to know, i didnt realise you could do it online, i usually send the forms off & have to wait a couple of weeks.

 

Get him to knock £130 off, £80 for the above and £50 for your time.

 

Remember that a pair of plates will also cost you circa £20-£30 as well.

 

I get mine from ebay for £10 a pair delivered. Much easier than messing about with passports/v5`s etc down halfrauds.

 

Still, all a bit of a pain that the seller didnt sort it all out well in advance. As soon as I know im going to be selling any of my vehicles, the first thing I do is to get the private plate switched off & onto retention as you never know when the vehicles going to sell and any buyers may be put off by just this sort of hassle.

 

Only time I didnt was when I sold my zed and bought my beemer, but that was a bit of an impulse buy and didnt have the time to transfer the plate off in advance, and my god, what a nightmare that turned out to be. The BMW dealer wanted to handle the whole process, which meant me missing out on a months road tax refund and it took weeks for them to sort everything out. Never again!

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I get mine from ebay for £10 a pair delivered. Much easier than messing about with passports/v5`s etc down halfrauds.

 

I'm sure you're aware, but for the benefit of the original poster make sure any plates you buy are legal and not show plates, which I'd guess the majority of those ebay plates are. To be legal number plates should have the BS number (BS AU 145d) and the name of the company who produced them stamped on and to produce them they need the V5 document.

 

You'd be unlucky to ever get pulled up on it, but all it would take would be for a busy body during MOT time. It'd be a pain to fall foul for the sake of an extra £10 for legal plates.

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