V5/dealer address anomaly - put my mind at rest?
Discussion
I think I've got this straight in my head, but if seasoned car buyers/sellers/dealers could reassure me it'd be great.
Bought a car off a well known and I believe reputable specialist at the end of last month, p/x'ed my old car, no probs. My old car had a personal plate and the dealer said they'd handle the paperwork to transfer the plate in the process of registering the new car to me.
So they kept both V5's, gave me a receipt for new car and off I went.
About two weeks later I receive a replacement tax disc and MOT for the new car with my personal plate on it, which came from the dealer not the DVLA. Go to get plates made up, told I need a permission letter which should have been sent out with the tax disc and MOT. So today I phone the dealer who tells me that the DVLA "don't bother sending us a permission letter as we're an authorised number plate maker so we can make our own. Don't worry, I'll get you a set made up and post them out". Which they did.
Another couple of weeks pass, still no V5 and I'm getting slightly twitchy since it was a heck of a lot of money for me, way way more than I've ever spent on a car before. So I call the DVLA. They tell me that the car has been registered in my name, but at the dealers address! And that the V5 was sent out two full weeks ago! So best I speak to the dealer.
So I call the dealer who says it's quite normal, they do it that way so the paperwork comes back to them first. They then send it back to the DVLA advising of a change of address for me to my actual address and all is well, V5 in my name and address and my possession as it should be. That's now been done and was sent off last Thursday and so I should expect it within the next week or so.
I queried why it needs to be to their address, and they said it was so they could ensure that the V5 for the old car comes back to them. Apparently if they do the plate change in the owners name and address he ends up with both V5's and it has been known for owners to just ditch the V5 for the old car leaving them stuck, hence doing it in their dealer address to make sure they get V5 for the old car.
It sounds plausible, and as I say it's a reputable dealer that have been great in all other respects. I just feel slightly twitchy at the fact that I've had this car since the end of April, it cost what is to me a heck of a lot of money, and I've still got no V5 for it and the last contact the DVLA had was sending it to the dealer registered in my name but their address a fortnight ago.
I'm sure it's all fine, but if anyone is able to re-assure me that this is completely normal practice it would be much appreciated and help put my mind at rest.
Bought a car off a well known and I believe reputable specialist at the end of last month, p/x'ed my old car, no probs. My old car had a personal plate and the dealer said they'd handle the paperwork to transfer the plate in the process of registering the new car to me.
So they kept both V5's, gave me a receipt for new car and off I went.
About two weeks later I receive a replacement tax disc and MOT for the new car with my personal plate on it, which came from the dealer not the DVLA. Go to get plates made up, told I need a permission letter which should have been sent out with the tax disc and MOT. So today I phone the dealer who tells me that the DVLA "don't bother sending us a permission letter as we're an authorised number plate maker so we can make our own. Don't worry, I'll get you a set made up and post them out". Which they did.
Another couple of weeks pass, still no V5 and I'm getting slightly twitchy since it was a heck of a lot of money for me, way way more than I've ever spent on a car before. So I call the DVLA. They tell me that the car has been registered in my name, but at the dealers address! And that the V5 was sent out two full weeks ago! So best I speak to the dealer.
So I call the dealer who says it's quite normal, they do it that way so the paperwork comes back to them first. They then send it back to the DVLA advising of a change of address for me to my actual address and all is well, V5 in my name and address and my possession as it should be. That's now been done and was sent off last Thursday and so I should expect it within the next week or so.
I queried why it needs to be to their address, and they said it was so they could ensure that the V5 for the old car comes back to them. Apparently if they do the plate change in the owners name and address he ends up with both V5's and it has been known for owners to just ditch the V5 for the old car leaving them stuck, hence doing it in their dealer address to make sure they get V5 for the old car.
It sounds plausible, and as I say it's a reputable dealer that have been great in all other respects. I just feel slightly twitchy at the fact that I've had this car since the end of April, it cost what is to me a heck of a lot of money, and I've still got no V5 for it and the last contact the DVLA had was sending it to the dealer registered in my name but their address a fortnight ago.
I'm sure it's all fine, but if anyone is able to re-assure me that this is completely normal practice it would be much appreciated and help put my mind at rest.
I did a similar purchase / reg transfer a month or so ago and had the new V5 and docs etc directly from the DVLA within about 10 days. Can see that your situation ends up with the same result but with the Dealer doing a little bit more work to make sure they don't end up chasing you for paperwork.
Very re-assuring, thank you gentlemen. 
It did make sense when he explained it, was just a bit of a shock when I spoke to the DVLA first and they told me it had been registered at the dealers address...!
Guess I'll just have to sit tight a bit longer and wait for it to arrive.
Feel a bit happier now I know the process and that it's fairly normal though.
It did make sense when he explained it, was just a bit of a shock when I spoke to the DVLA first and they told me it had been registered at the dealers address...!
Guess I'll just have to sit tight a bit longer and wait for it to arrive.
Feel a bit happier now I know the process and that it's fairly normal though.
Yep, it's all pretty normal - where the customer hasn't retained the number they want to keep beforehand. The alternative from the trader/dealer's PoV is that the V5C for a car in their possession goes to the last registered keeper, who now being in possession of their new car doesn't make much effort to return it to them - which is quite common. This obviously poses a problem in terms of reselling/registering that customer's old car to the next owner and may block a sale with the attendant negative effect upon their cashflow.
That's why most dealer groups prefer that where a Cherished Number is to be transferred from the car being PX'd to the car being bought, that the present keeper put it on a Retention Certificate themselves (£105, whereas a Cherished Transfer is £80 - many dealers will pay the additional £25 as it saves them a lot of potential grief), which means that come the time of handover of the new car, the dealer can have the number on retention allocated to the car being bought along with the change of keeper details that would be happening anyway (the new owner receiving their V5C in the Cherished Number) as part of normal sales admin. They'll also be taking in the old car with a V5C in a normal age-related plate that can be resold immediately without having to either wait for a new V5C or being dependent upon the person who PX'd it getting their arse into gear about forwarding the V5C for their old car.
I've worked with dealers that have charged either £100 for the additional administration involved in such a deal as most individuals f
k it up one way or another whereas most sales administrators have dealt with hundreds of them and others that take a £500 deposit which is retained until the V5C for their PX is returned. Nobody seems to "forget" to forward it back to them nor "lose" it when there's money involved.
That's why most dealer groups prefer that where a Cherished Number is to be transferred from the car being PX'd to the car being bought, that the present keeper put it on a Retention Certificate themselves (£105, whereas a Cherished Transfer is £80 - many dealers will pay the additional £25 as it saves them a lot of potential grief), which means that come the time of handover of the new car, the dealer can have the number on retention allocated to the car being bought along with the change of keeper details that would be happening anyway (the new owner receiving their V5C in the Cherished Number) as part of normal sales admin. They'll also be taking in the old car with a V5C in a normal age-related plate that can be resold immediately without having to either wait for a new V5C or being dependent upon the person who PX'd it getting their arse into gear about forwarding the V5C for their old car.
I've worked with dealers that have charged either £100 for the additional administration involved in such a deal as most individuals f
k it up one way or another whereas most sales administrators have dealt with hundreds of them and others that take a £500 deposit which is retained until the V5C for their PX is returned. Nobody seems to "forget" to forward it back to them nor "lose" it when there's money involved. Edited by Zwolf on Monday 28th May 21:06
Many thanks for that Zwolf, much appreciated.
My buying situation was slightly unusual in that I agreed the deal over the phone, subject to seeing the car. But since the car was so far away we set the deal up so that if all good when I saw it, I paid the balance and drove it away (if not they were to return my deposit). So the final decision to purchase and the completion of the deal happened on the same day, hence the paperwork having to be done retrospectively.
However it was all a bit of a rush, and it was only after that I realised I hadn't got the green slip new keepers generally get, nor the slip to tell the DVLA that I was no longer the keeper of the old car.
Follow that with no registration permission letter, tax disc being sent out by the dealer not the DVLA, and then finding the car wasn't registered at my address and I started getting a bit twitchy..!
My buying situation was slightly unusual in that I agreed the deal over the phone, subject to seeing the car. But since the car was so far away we set the deal up so that if all good when I saw it, I paid the balance and drove it away (if not they were to return my deposit). So the final decision to purchase and the completion of the deal happened on the same day, hence the paperwork having to be done retrospectively.
However it was all a bit of a rush, and it was only after that I realised I hadn't got the green slip new keepers generally get, nor the slip to tell the DVLA that I was no longer the keeper of the old car.
Follow that with no registration permission letter, tax disc being sent out by the dealer not the DVLA, and then finding the car wasn't registered at my address and I started getting a bit twitchy..!
Edited by Ari on Monday 28th May 21:17
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