Ok, this is a bit complicated.

We trade in wife’s car, which has a private plate.

Main dealer, big chain, and sales guy wants the sale to go through yesterday, for end of month, which is only 3 days after we do the deal – fair enough, and we get a cracking deal too

so the normal and easy process of getting the number transferred from one vehicle to the other by the dealer pre purchase and us then simply swopping cars over and paying the money can’t happen, therefore the plate needs put onto a retention certificate – still ok

then it goes wrong. Being no expert, and knowing it is a big chain reputable place I ask the sales guy what happens to the tax disc on the car we are trading, as it has 7 months left on it. He says ‘you take that and send it back to DVLA, with your V5 slip, for a refund’ – so that’s what I did, and posted it last night.

Sales guy phones today ‘err, we need your tax disc to send with the form to put the plate onto retention, can you phone DVLA and get it back, they can’t speak to us as you are still the registered keeper’

So I phone DVLA and they say :

‘we can’t send that tax disc back, as it is automatically destroyed on receipt’

‘you could get the rest of the V5 back from the dealer and go to local DVLA office, explain situation and they ‘may’ give you a replacement tax disc for £7…..however when they see that you have ‘sold’ the car they might not’ (they will know I have sold it as the yellow slip on the base of the V5 is missing as I have sent it back with the tax disc!

‘if you can’t get this replacement disc you will need to repossess the car, reregister it in your name, and restart the process of plate transfer’ WTF 👿

I am waiting for a call in the morning from the Sales Manager…

Only things I can think of are going to the local DVLA, with the dealer, who they will know, with as much info on both the cars to evidence what is and was mine, what has been bought and sold and hope they do issue a replacement disc, or, the old car has to actually become registered to the dealer as keeper, rather than going off to an auction with the wife’s plate as part of the sale, and then it gets transferred ‘normally’

experienced advice welcome please..

Serves you right for having a poncy personalised number plate.

why do you have a private plate – serious question ?

I kinda expected some of the ‘why have you a private plate ‘ etc stuff and and fair enough tbh. Like it, it fits well with wife’s name, it won’t lose value etc etc. Although I’m sure the cynic would say that if I didn’t have one then I wouldn’t have this hassle, which is also fair enough 🙂

so now that’s out of the way, I’d still really appreciate any input from maybe car sales folk/DVLA people or other private plate saddo’s who’ve been here before.

Thanks

“Most” local DVLA offices are much more helpful than the guys and gals in Swansea. I think if you go in with all the paperwork that you have and explain what the situation is they will sort it out for you easily enough. I had a bit of a similar mess up when I changed my car but the local office were fantastic…

Good luck 😉

Grab a rep from the dealership and get thee down to the LVLO armed with every receipt, document or other proof of what’s going on. They are pretty good once they see evidence of a genuine hiccough.

Any issues, get back to me.

it won’t lose value

I find my number plate doesn’t lose value either.

No help from me, sorry, never been there but can’t help lolling at the “oooh why’ve you got a fancy numberplate” comments 😀

Change your wife’s name by deed poll to “PN11 RJX”?

C

Hope you get it sorted – I like personalised plates too, they’re a bit harmless fun imo

Jealousy and bitterness are such terrible traits.

Ooo, don’t mention cherished plates on STW as the baying mob will be on you in a second.

£500 coffee makers? Acceptable
High end HiFi? Acceptable
£5k bicycles? Acceptable
High end bike porn? Acceptable
Number plates? Fail… Well derrr, go into the corner and just think about what you’ve done.

I *may* just have a couple and CGAF 🙂

BTW, go into the LVLO with your new best mate and all your stuff. They should sort it out….maybe.

Yeah but all the above serve a purpose apart from a number plate.

Only joking though really 🙂

No help from me, sorry, never been there but can’t help lolling at the “oooh why’ve you got a fancy numberplate” comments

STW. Pissing on other peoples’ chips since 1996.

cherished plates

Do people really cherish them?

Couldn’t care less one way or the other TBH, waste of money to me though
I do sometimes wonder what the point is when the letters and number are so obscure that they get their full name printed underneath so that you know is a personalised plate

They pay the additional costs uncured. If the Sales Manager refuses ask to speak to the Dealer Principle.

Don’t back down. I’ve had a few run in’s with dealers and everytime they’ve used the ‘we don’t have much money in the car sir can’t you understand’ to try and push back.

Got to say in i like your well reasoned response to the haters! It’s his money let him spend it on what he wants! Some of those fancy plates are worth ££££!

personalised plates are fine by me, though I wouldn’t have one

you do have to smile at the efforts people will go to to get “almost” recognisable names out of them sometimes

Any major problems, make sure the dealer gives you a courtesy car until it’s all sorted. That might just help speed things up

Who cares?! I’m neither for or against personal plates. I do err on the side that they are used to mask a cars age though. Mines semi-personal I guess.

T23 JBR. The previous owner had swapped this out and put ‘J17 CBU’ on as a personal plate. WHAT THE ****!

tails – i knew posting up the query i would get a fair few negative comments, but am not fussed, as there have been a good number of positive suggestions too, which will help in my discussion with the dealer this morning. Each to their own is my view of the whole number plate thing anyway, and I’ve been round here long enough to know not to take the bait !

scaredypants – we have the new car anyway, with a correct tax disc, insurance etc. The problem is that we can’t get the plate transferred off the old one right now, and the dealer can’t sell that car, as it’s got our plate on it (well actually there is a tiny bit of grey at the moment about that one, but as a national chain he isn’t going to do something daft..), so he is as keen as us to get a solution quick

Car dealer – sales manager here……

Unfortunately, it’s the registered keepers responsibility to inform the DVLA of any changes, and by you sending the yellow slip off, you have told them that you no longer own the vehicle.

If the DVLA office can’t sort things out, which they may or may not do in my experience, then the quickest way to sort things out would be to get the remainder of the V5 back form the dealer, complete it as though you are the new owner and send it to the DVLA and you will get a new V5 back with you as the new (and previous) keeper. This will add another keeper to it, but that’s the dealers concern. You’re then the legal keeper of the plate again. The car will then need to be taxed again and then you can start the process correctly. Once the transfer is done, and only then, cash the tax disc in with the normal plate on it.

TBH cherished transfers are a pain for dealers as they can take 10 days to process which has impacts on deal deadlines, month ends, time spent at DVLA offices and even part exchange values. A lot of dealers, myself included insist that customers take their new cars on a normal plate, unless the retention certificate is present prior to delivery.

We even take £250 deposit which isn’t refunded until we get the V5 for the part exchange.

We’ve never had any issues with customers but my sales team are fully aware of what’s needed and do a good job of explaining things clearly.

Sounds like your sales guy was a bit naive, hope you get things sorted.

el diablo – many thanks for that, just the info I need.

Even the most random of letters/numbers can mean something to people.

S928 SJP = September / 9th month / 28th (my mates birthday)

SJP = Stephen James Paul.

I think it only cost him something like £200 when he got it?

J17 CBU = January/June/July 17th Chris Barrington Uxley?

Even the most random of letters/numbers can mean something to people.

S928 SJP = September / 9th month / 28th (my mates birthday)

SJP = Stephen James Paul.

I think it only cost him something like £200 when he got it?

J17 CBU = January/June/July 17th Chris Barrington Uxley?

😯

Really, what IS the point?

It is *almost* worth it if you are Paul Daniels and you have MAG1C as your plate but S928 SJP is just a waste of time, effort and money – especially as the only person who would ever want it has just spunked the £200+ on it and won’t be able to sell it on.

(IMO)

On the flip-side, how many people think we’re wasting money on expensive alloy tubing?

I am not convinced that the car has to be taxed to put the number on retention. Registering the car as SORN may suffice. Best bet, phone the DVLA at Swansea they are usually very helpful.

I doubt it’s too complicated to resolve !

On the flip-side, how many people think we’re wasting money on expensive alloy tubing?

That has already been discussed – yes you can spend £89 on a mountain bike or you can spend £5,000> but you will get better performance out of a £5k bike – diminishing returns yes, but there IS a benefit to spending more on a bike. Or a coffee machine or a stereo.

There is absolutely no benefit whatsoever in a personalised plate *unless* you buy a really desirable one (such as MAG1C or ELV1S that you buy to purely speculate on.

from the dvla page

However, if the vehicle that currently has the registration number is not taxed, you can still apply to transfer provided:

there is no break between the date the tax disc runs out and the start of the SORN
the tax disc run out no more than 12 months before the date you apply

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/PersonalisedRegAndNumberPlates/DG_4022576

Cheaper to change your name. T23 JBR – I’ll just change my name to Mr Tubar.

Most private plates are naff- especially as folk use the number to mean a letter.

Something like P*ssy 1 would be immense.

There is absolutely no benefit whatsoever in a personalised plate

to you that is.

To some there is a benefit. It’s just that you can’t see the benefit.

landcruiser and slab – yes, I have just found that on the DVLA website too. Now waiting for a call back from Dealer – hopefully a positive update later 😕

It’s just that you can’t see the benefit.

That is very true.

To be honest, when I see a car with a private plate I assume they have put it on to hide the fact it isn’t a new car.

Sorry – I am going on now, I will shut up.

That has already been discussed – yes you can spend £89 on a mountain bike or you can spend £5,000> but you will get better performance out of a £5k bike – diminishing returns yes, but there IS a benefit to spending more on a bike. Or a coffee machine or a stereo.
There is absolutely no benefit whatsoever in a personalised plate *unless* you buy a really desirable one (such as MAG1C or ELV1S that you buy to purely speculate on.

So replace “expensive alloy tubing” with “a fancy paint job” – I even considered splurging several hundred pounds on one of those back in the days I had more disposable income.

I don’t personally see the point in personalized plates, but given I have bought stuff (or paid more) purely for aesthetic reasons I’m not really in a position to carp.

I think all people with personalised number plates should be taken outside and shot. In front of their children.

😉

My silly wife bought me a private plate for christmas couple of years ago. I cetainly didn’t want one, cost £200! Been offered £800 for it, she’s forgiven.

I was offered £800 for my wife once….nearly took it too 🙂

My Dad bought a car which had someone elses plate on: H4 CHM, he didn’t really like having someone elses initials on, so bought H4 MCE (his initials) for sod all, seemed reasonable to me. When he sold the car the plate went as well. Not sure I’d bother. Remember friends at school putting really cheap ones on their crap cars to look cool, I’d far rather put the £200 towards a better car.

It amuses me when someone’s bought one that’s fairly specific to a car, then changed. There was a Range Rover round our way with a plate starting ‘X5’, not sure why you’d bother to keep it!

I once took delivery of a nice brand new spangly Ford Puma (my first ever new car). I pulled up at the lights near my house and a guy pulled up next to me, a big smile on his face. I thought he was simply smiling at the great new car and I felt really smug.

I got home, parked up and walked around to the shops. On the way back I looked admiringly at my new car, resplendent with its (very realistic-looking) number plate on the back saying GAY 80Y

Thank you Badger (he once was/is a forum dweller) et al at work for that .

Badger of exploding tubeless fame!? I think the world got him back for that 🙂

Nooo idea – real name Neil, lives in Leeds, Ginga, Chris Evans glasses.