First Registration Date

[andyovlov]

Hi, I'm new to the forum. I have a car for which I have a first registration date in the UK (with a normal English plate). On the log book, it says its was first issued with a Northern Irish plate. I had assumed that it was put on as private plate when the car was new. However, the plate was removed (according to an HPI check) the day before the current (English) plate was put on, suggesting that the original date of registration was sometime before that. This change of date was within 5 months of the car's build date). Am I right in thinking that this means the car was probably bought new in NI and then imported with a NI plate. I understand that Swansea now deal with NI but at that time (1988) a local NI office would have dealt with it. Maybe Swansea was not in possession of the NI registration date and that although they recorded the plate when they removed it, they didn't now it's issue date. I was hoping someone could shed some light on the possibilities! Thanks in advance.

[sherman]

It could be as simple as it was registered by the dealer before the March of that year so they hit quota and then didnt get sold until 5 months later and sold to a UK resident so was reregistered.

[Earthdweller]

sherman said:

It could be as simple as it was registered by the dealer before the March of that year so they hit quota and then didnt get sold until 5 months later and sold to a UK resident so was reregistered.

NI was in the U.K. in 1988 and is still in the U.K. in 2022

Someone living in NI or England would be a U.K. resident in 1988 or indeed today

[sherman]

Earthdweller said:

sherman said:

It could be as simple as it was registered by the dealer before the March of that year so they hit quota and then didnt get sold until 5 months later and sold to a UK resident so was reregistered.

NI was in the U.K. in 1988 and is still in the U.K. in 2022

Someone living in NI or England would be a U.K. resident in 1988 or indeed today

Not in the eyes of the dvla. NI cars have a diferent registration system. This car has been altered after it has been bought and brought back over to the island of Great Britain from Northern Ireland. The only reason you would do this is if the car was to be registered in a house on GB and not NI.

[gotoPzero]

Correct the DVLA in Swansea only cover vehicles reg in England, Wales and Scotland.
Vehicles from NI are registered by the DVA (the NI version of the DVLA).

You cant reg a DVA vehicle with the DVLA. It has to be given a new plate.

[Panamax]

gotoPzero said:

You cant reg a DVA vehicle with the DVLA. It has to be given a new plate.

How is it there are so many NI number plates running about on mainland Britain these days? All the ones with "I" or "Z" in them.

"Northern Irish number plates which may be also transferred onto vehicles in England, Wales and Scotland, offer some great value options for hiding the age of your vehicles. These number plates are issued by DVLA. These registrations have different letter combinations (always including an I or a Z) and numbering sequences (from number 1 all the way up to number 9999) from those used on plates issued to vehicles in the rest of the UK. Because Northern Ireland format (commonly known as Irish number plates) registrations are dateless registrations, they can be assigned to vehicles of any age (unlike current-style, prefix numberplates or suffix plates)."

[andyovlov]

Thanks for the replies everyone. The idea of the pre registration to meet a quota seams possible, although I don't know how common that was then and surely that made it a 2nd hand car knocking down the value? By coincidence, I delivered to a house today which had a car with an NI plate. I asked how they got it. It was bought as a private plate a few years ago from an NI seller. It had been put on a UK bought car, previously on a moped in NI! It was just their initials so that's why they bought it. My car was built only 4 1/2 months before the NI plate was taken off it and an English one put on. It seams unlikely, given the trouble and transfer fee, that someone would buy a car in England, put a NI plate on and then 4 1/2 months (more likely less, maybe 1 or 2 months) take it off again. To me the only explanation is the one suggested (quotas and the sale to English customer) or someone bought in NI and then moved to England. The car in question is an Audi quattro. Maybe they were in short supply and someone had to go to NI to get it. Maybe if you bought a car from NI in 1988 you couldn't bring the plate in on it, (although you can buy a plate and use it for a fee today). I'm just trying to work out when the car was first registered, and if it actually originated in NI. Maybe lost in the mists of time! It now (since AUG88) has an F plate, if it was in NI more than 15 days before the plate change, that would make it an E plate had it been issued in England.

Edited by andyovlov on Wednesday 13th April 20:50

Edited by andyovlov on Wednesday 13th April 20:53