Buying a car with a private plate seller wants to keep

[*Al*]

T.K said:

I don't get it? Just two screws or carefully heating/ removing sticky pads (good quality new ones available from Halfords).

Lol, if only it was that easy!

[kayzee]

Owner I bought off wanted to keep his plate... it took little over a week for the details of my new plate to arrive. Took longer for the V5 to come through though.

[aeropilot]

madbadger said:

Hitch78 said:

I'd steer clear of any convoluted solutions. The main issue is the car - deal with that first and then deal with the plate.

It is the seller's issue - they should be the one expected to take the risk of the other party failing to come through, not you. If he is not prepared to take that risk then he needs to sort his plate first and readvertise.

The seller should have sorted it out long before putting the car up for sale. Just because he couldn't be arsed he now wants to mess you around. Is he concerned about the shame of driving around for a few weeks without his reg on?

Agreed, it's his issue, he should have put the plate on retention BEFORE he advertised car for sale.
That's what I did.
Also, if I had a valuable cherished plate, I'd not let it go with the car no matter what agreements have been written, as the cra could get written off, stolen or whatever the very next day...... and IIRC, there's no way then the plate could be transferred and would be lost etc.,.....???

[Gallen]

I wouldnt even entertain retaining my plate until the car has been viewed and sold.
You may decide not to sell or it could take a while.

As mentioned before, if you dont trust the seller then you shouldnt really be buying the car !

I'm sure youll arrange something.
Your quite right to be cautious in this day and age - and to me this suggests honesty and good intention.

If the cars being inspected then doubt youll get any unforseen probs.

Good luck with it - Try not to be put off regarding the plate
What if the both of you went along to your local vehicle reg office (VRO) to get things started?

Edited by Gallen on Wednesday 12th January 11:15

[adminH]

Martial Arts Man said:

I'm sure that my folks have done these transfers on the day at a DVLA office.

You used to be able to do this but they stopped it a couple of years ago. If it's taken to your local DVLA office, they will tell you 7-10 working days for processing. V5's are coming back from Swansea in about a week at present, so 8 weeks is way out!

HTH

H

[LuS1fer]

I gave up my Corvette wearing my private plate until it could be transferred and the buyer could get a new plate. The bill of sale said the contract was for the car with (the VIN number) and that the registration plate and all rights and grants in relation to it were not part of the contract and remained vested in the seller at all times.

Obviously, there wasn't a problem as the bloke who bought it was entirely trustworthy but just to protect your position.

[ritch]

andye30m3 said:

I think I'm going to have to speak to him and suggest we complete the sale and I transfer the plate over once the V5's back, quite happy to sign an agreement to that effect and have no real interest in private plate or messing him around.

The plate it's self is reasonably valuable, 2 letters & 3 numbers and I believe has some sentimental value as it's been in the family for a while, but I'm not happy to hand over £22k without getting the registration documents.

why should you transfer it? it will cost you another £80 IIRC, the seller should transfer it at his cost. Plenty of good advice so far on an agreements for getting the car and reciving paperwork after, I've never had any probs with such arrangements.

[gazchap]

infradig said:

If he's wary about letting you take the car it probably means he thinks some mechanical fault is likely to appear before transfer and piss you off so you have leverage over him to fix it!

Or, perhaps he's like me, and has been burned before. I've lost a plate because the buyer went back on his (written, albeit e-mail) word to transfer the plate back to me after the sale had taken place.

My own fault for not transferring it off before, but DVLA refused to help because once the V5 has changed names the plate is his.

[Bungleaio]

Don't forget that if you buy the car and insure it then the plate is transfered you will need to notify your insurance policy of the change. This will probably incur a charge, are you happy to swallow that? I would get the seller to knock the cost off the purchase price.

[was8v]

Bungleaio said:

Don't forget that if you buy the car and insure it then the plate is transfered you will need to notify your insurance policy of the change. This will probably incur a charge, are you happy to swallow that? I would get the seller to knock the cost off the purchase price.

I did this and almost got stung here.

Bought car with sellers plate plate, sent off V5
When it came back send off form with sellers cheque putting plate on retention in his name.
Couple of weeks later I get a new V5, MOT, tax disc etc.
Ring my insurance company and they wanted £25 to update the policy! Some smooth talking and they let me off.

[Gallen]

was8v said:

Bungleaio said:

Don't forget that if you buy the car and insure it then the plate is transfered you will need to notify your insurance policy of the change. This will probably incur a charge, are you happy to swallow that? I would get the seller to knock the cost off the purchase price.

I did this and almost got stung here.

Bought car with sellers plate plate, sent off V5
When it came back send off form with sellers cheque putting plate on retention in his name.
Couple of weeks later I get a new V5, MOT, tax disc etc.
Ring my insurance company and they wanted £25 to update the policy! Some smooth talking and they let me off.

Used to be able to insure on a chassis number in such instances of an imminent cherished transfer. Dont know if you still can?

[Searider]

Gallen said:

I wouldnt even entertain retaining my plate until the car has been viewed and sold.
You may decide not to sell or it could take a while.

Why would you decide not to sell your car - either it's for sale or it's not?

So what if it takes a while?

Sounds like the view of a timewasting seller to me?

[Uncle Gueber]

From previous experience, I wouldn’t buy a car until the owner has a V5 for the reg the vehicle is to be sold with. If the seller can’t be arsed with having the vehicle ready for sale, I’d keep looking.

Bought a car last year, seller only applied for the retention the day before the sale.
I had to insure the vehicle on the private reg, about 10 days later he sent the new reg advisory, tax disc, MoT. However as I didn’t have a V5 in my name I couldn’t get new plates, had to go back to the seller and get him to get plates made and sent to me(at my cost = £25).Then got stung by the insurance company for another £20 for the admin charge.

Main point to consider is how many months road tax the vehicle still has, mine only had a month so when the new V5 didn’t come through in time, I couldn’t tax the vehicle. Had to fill out several forms and apply at a DVLA office, you can’t apply online or at Post office. So 1/2 day of work to go to a DVLA office and then they take another £25 from you.

Overall took about 10 weeks to get the V5 back in my name, a real pain in the arse because of the seller’s laziness.

HTH

[stevieb]

It can all be compelted on the same day if you go into the local DVLA office and pay a nominal fee.

When i changed cars from my Volvo to the subaru. I provided the dealer all of the paperwork for my car for trade in the day before i picked up the new one. All documetns were ready in the car and both V5s were updated with MOT certificates and Tax discs.