Process to sell / transfer a private plate
Discussion
Hey gang
I'm a little unclear on the whole private number plate thing and the process for selling / buying / switching.
Recently bought a car that has a private plate, and I'm not keen - it's a bit naff (it's an American car and the plate is 'letter' '2 digits' then 'USA').
It was £400 back in 2008 and by the looks of it is worth around £400-£1000 now (always dependant on there being a willing sucke... I mean... willing buyer, of course).
I believe once you sell/put on retention then the original registration (which looks ok to me, nothing offensive!) is automatically re-assigned?
Just wondering the best way to do it. Looking at some ads on eBay (not necessarily going to go down that route, was just getting 'inspiration') most seem to be 'on retention' already. From what I can tell, it costs £80 to put on retention.
It also seems (but this is what I want to double check) that you can sell it privately, then arrange for it to be transferred to someone else, and you pay the £80 for the transfer.
So if you put it on retention, and then sold/transferred it, would you pay the £80 twice?? If that's the case, what's the point of putting it on retention?
Suppose I found a private plate I liked that was less naff and more meaningful to me. Is there any way to 'switch' by selling the existing and buying the new, or do you have to go through the process of selling (or putting on retention) the existing plate, getting the original assigned temporarily, then transferring the new one? Seems a faff.
Final question: do you have to sell the plate 'physically' and hand over the plastic plate?!? Or is it just a virtual sale and you buy the replacement plates from anywhere you want?
Cheers
Mr Rossi
I'm a little unclear on the whole private number plate thing and the process for selling / buying / switching.
Recently bought a car that has a private plate, and I'm not keen - it's a bit naff (it's an American car and the plate is 'letter' '2 digits' then 'USA').
It was £400 back in 2008 and by the looks of it is worth around £400-£1000 now (always dependant on there being a willing sucke... I mean... willing buyer, of course).
I believe once you sell/put on retention then the original registration (which looks ok to me, nothing offensive!) is automatically re-assigned?
Just wondering the best way to do it. Looking at some ads on eBay (not necessarily going to go down that route, was just getting 'inspiration') most seem to be 'on retention' already. From what I can tell, it costs £80 to put on retention.
It also seems (but this is what I want to double check) that you can sell it privately, then arrange for it to be transferred to someone else, and you pay the £80 for the transfer.
So if you put it on retention, and then sold/transferred it, would you pay the £80 twice?? If that's the case, what's the point of putting it on retention?
Suppose I found a private plate I liked that was less naff and more meaningful to me. Is there any way to 'switch' by selling the existing and buying the new, or do you have to go through the process of selling (or putting on retention) the existing plate, getting the original assigned temporarily, then transferring the new one? Seems a faff.
Final question: do you have to sell the plate 'physically' and hand over the plastic plate?!? Or is it just a virtual sale and you buy the replacement plates from anywhere you want?
Cheers
Mr Rossi
Put it on retention. Costs you £80. The retention cert is valid for 10 years.
Your car will get a replacement reg number which is usually the original number.
Advertise your retained reg. when it is sold the new owner can put it on their car using the V750 cert you have . There is no cost for this (covered by the original £80].
Do Not share the V750 details (cert. number etc) with anyone before they have paid as all they need to assign the plate to their vehicle is the cert number(and I think the postcode).
See here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Your car will get a replacement reg number which is usually the original number.
Advertise your retained reg. when it is sold the new owner can put it on their car using the V750 cert you have . There is no cost for this (covered by the original £80].
Do Not share the V750 details (cert. number etc) with anyone before they have paid as all they need to assign the plate to their vehicle is the cert number(and I think the postcode).
See here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Yes do not share cert, warning: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
No need to hand over physical number plates. You could post them the retention cert but in reality all they need are details from it.
If you want to put another cherished number on the car the I would recommend doing it as separate transfers rather than trying to do them at the same time due to the likelihood of DVLA messing it up and you losing one of the plates.
If you want to put another cherished number on the car the I would recommend doing it as separate transfers rather than trying to do them at the same time due to the likelihood of DVLA messing it up and you losing one of the plates.
bennno said:
Dinoboy said:
And be aware that DVLA are taking an age to deal with these at the moment so you won't get the retention cert quickly.
Not correct, my feet came back faster than ever - all electronic now.I'm assuming you need to wait for the retention certificate to come through before you put the original plate back on? As that's when they'll confirm your original plate details I guess.
But then you've got to go and get a plate made... so is there a period you've got you private plate on the car physically still but it's actually transferred back to the original?
But then you've got to go and get a plate made... so is there a period you've got you private plate on the car physically still but it's actually transferred back to the original?
Scrump said:
No need to hand over physical number plates. You could post them the retention cert but in reality all they need are details from it.
If you want to put another cherished number on the car the I would recommend doing it as separate transfers rather than trying to do them at the same time due to the likelihood of DVLA messing it up and you losing one of the plates.
They do have some archaic practices. They require a cheque for some transactions and for some reason I had two at once. I sent off the forms and the cheque and then had two letters saying i hadn't enclosed payment. I rang them up and eventually spoke to someone. They want a cheque for each form. They were unable to process one cheque for two payments. It couldn't be done. But they didn't have a form letter to say that, just a Payment Not Received letter. If you want to put another cherished number on the car the I would recommend doing it as separate transfers rather than trying to do them at the same time due to the likelihood of DVLA messing it up and you losing one of the plates.
DVLA - baby steps.
Thanks... I've just dug through the docs and found my original plate number now too.
Yeah they are archaic... just been sent a cheque for the remaining road tax on my previous car by the DVLA. Who uses cheques these days?! I can pay in at the bank with a card, except the banks are closed at times I can get to them... pff. Post office allows cheque pay in, but I don't have a paying in book either any more ... grr.
Anyway. Will try the online process now and see how it goes
Yeah they are archaic... just been sent a cheque for the remaining road tax on my previous car by the DVLA. Who uses cheques these days?! I can pay in at the bank with a card, except the banks are closed at times I can get to them... pff. Post office allows cheque pay in, but I don't have a paying in book either any more ... grr.
Anyway. Will try the online process now and see how it goes
DickyC said:
I used to think the original plate was reassigned. But one of my cars had an original number of a type that DVLA sell - TJT 700L - so when I took my cherished plate off the car it was issued with a nondescript L reg.
Putting the original plate on retention is the safest way.
A mate bought a car with a vanity plate - the owner was removing it and when it was removed it was assigned a generic X123 ABC platePutting the original plate on retention is the safest way.
Wouldn't have been a problem but all the glass on the car was etched with the original plate that the car was registered with (it wasn't anything special just a std age related plate
DVLA refused to remove the generic one and assign the original plate even though they admitted it wasn't in use on any other car and was the plate that the car was registered on.
Common sense it appears it absent with DVLA if I was worried about losing the original plate I'd do as you suggested but as my plate(s) get transferred from car to car just before I scrap the old one it doesn't bother me.
Hi all
So, I did the online retention thing on Monday and it was instant - and my 'old' reg was confirmed.The DVLA site provided links to registered number plate sellers in my area; one of them was a local garage I use.
Rang them up and gave them the details and started to give them the measurements of the plates, as it's a US car and the front one is more of a square shape. He said he wasn't sure if the guys that made the plates for them could do that but would check and get back to me. Got a call in the afternoon saying 'no' and him recommending another local place which I called, and they couldn't do it either.
So went online and found a few sites; most 'next day' services were before 2pm and that time had passed, but found one that had 'next day' orders for another couple of hours so ordered to my measurements - only to realise later that it was 'next day dispatch', not delivery!
With Covid-19 deliveries are delayed and it's Friday and... they're still not here yet.
What's my legal position with driving the car now with it still having the private plates (now on retention) on it?? Can I drive it - maybe if I take all the accompanying documents / transfer details? I've got the new V5C too (and the old one) now...
Cheers
Ross
So, I did the online retention thing on Monday and it was instant - and my 'old' reg was confirmed.The DVLA site provided links to registered number plate sellers in my area; one of them was a local garage I use.
Rang them up and gave them the details and started to give them the measurements of the plates, as it's a US car and the front one is more of a square shape. He said he wasn't sure if the guys that made the plates for them could do that but would check and get back to me. Got a call in the afternoon saying 'no' and him recommending another local place which I called, and they couldn't do it either.
So went online and found a few sites; most 'next day' services were before 2pm and that time had passed, but found one that had 'next day' orders for another couple of hours so ordered to my measurements - only to realise later that it was 'next day dispatch', not delivery!
With Covid-19 deliveries are delayed and it's Friday and... they're still not here yet.
What's my legal position with driving the car now with it still having the private plates (now on retention) on it?? Can I drive it - maybe if I take all the accompanying documents / transfer details? I've got the new V5C too (and the old one) now...
Cheers
Ross
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