A little advice on cherished numbers
Discussion
Sold the wives Range Rover Sport 2 months ago. Don't like selling privately so sold it to a large corporate dealer network who buys cars with its full time buyer. He came and saw the car and we made clear the cherished number was NOT included in the sale. He agreed, but said he would like to remove the cherished number to save time. We paid him the £80 and the date was arranged for the cars collection.
He did ask us to replace the windscreen which we agreed to do. We also asked to keep the tax which the buyer agreed to.
To cut a long story short........
The car was sent within the dealer group to a Land Rover main dealer in Maidstone, sold immediately, and then bloody dispatched without removing the plate. The LR dealer claims that because we sent back the tax we made it impossible for them to transfer the plate so they made a commercial decision to sell it with the plate. The buyer knows its not his but wont send the plate back to the dealer. Both the dealer group buyer and the LR dealer accept its our plate but don't want to know about getting it back to me.
So....
I now need to put together a case against them in the county court - can any of you give any handy tips? I do have experience with the C courts but this one is a complicated case so advice would be good.
Thanx in advance........F'kin dealers!!
He did ask us to replace the windscreen which we agreed to do. We also asked to keep the tax which the buyer agreed to.
To cut a long story short........
The car was sent within the dealer group to a Land Rover main dealer in Maidstone, sold immediately, and then bloody dispatched without removing the plate. The LR dealer claims that because we sent back the tax we made it impossible for them to transfer the plate so they made a commercial decision to sell it with the plate. The buyer knows its not his but wont send the plate back to the dealer. Both the dealer group buyer and the LR dealer accept its our plate but don't want to know about getting it back to me.
So....
I now need to put together a case against them in the county court - can any of you give any handy tips? I do have experience with the C courts but this one is a complicated case so advice would be good.
Thanx in advance........F'kin dealers!!
Hi Neil,
Long time no speak. I had this with a C4S I sold sometime back. Basically if you let the car go with the plate on and havent started the transfer process the DVLA will state its the new owners property. I think in your case You've just got to pursue the dealer for the value of the plate. Then I suppose it will come down to what agreements (hopefully documented in writing) that you have.
Andy.
Long time no speak. I had this with a C4S I sold sometime back. Basically if you let the car go with the plate on and havent started the transfer process the DVLA will state its the new owners property. I think in your case You've just got to pursue the dealer for the value of the plate. Then I suppose it will come down to what agreements (hopefully documented in writing) that you have.
Andy.
LamboAndy said:
Basically if you let the car go with the plate on and havent started the transfer process the DVLA will state its the new owners property.
Andy is spot on, I'd be taking legal advice and getting an opinion on whether or not you'll get anywhere suing the dealer (which could motivate them a tad in getting the plate back to you)Plate transfer issues are such a nightmare that the first thing to happen when thinking of changing a car is to take the plate off and slap it on retention.
In 2002 I witnessed a Royce specialist promise to take a plate off a car he was buying for stock (oddly for a Royce specialist, it was an Elise) even taking the transfer fee from the amount he was paying for the car . . . . . . . . The plate was transferred and sold before the rightful owner knew what was happening and there was nothing he could do at that stage to stop it!
Edited by AndrewW-G on Thursday 23 December 10:24
It calls come down to retention of title - you may have a legal battle on your hands but the plate is not lost forever.
There may be one way - Nobody can pass a legal title better than the one they own - the dealer purchased one asset, the vehicle; the second asset, the plate, was not included as part of the sale as such the current owner is effectively holding an asset to which he has no legal title. Incidentally, any subsequent transfer makes no legal difference to the status of the number plate - it is still technically yours.
Personally, unless you were desperate for the number plate back - the commercial option would be to pursue the dealer for a financial settlement; failing which you would have to bring proceedings.
There may be one way - Nobody can pass a legal title better than the one they own - the dealer purchased one asset, the vehicle; the second asset, the plate, was not included as part of the sale as such the current owner is effectively holding an asset to which he has no legal title. Incidentally, any subsequent transfer makes no legal difference to the status of the number plate - it is still technically yours.
Personally, unless you were desperate for the number plate back - the commercial option would be to pursue the dealer for a financial settlement; failing which you would have to bring proceedings.
Mattt said:
Shmee said:
Mattt said:
pistolp said:
Which dealer is it, you can at least name and shame. Sorry to hear they have tried to shaft you. Not on....
Not on PH you can't.Sounds like the dealer has agreed that they've made an error. (comment about the tax thing). That being the case the second best alternative if you can't retrieve the plate is to reimburse you with its market value?
Doesn't help with the number, but maybe you could buy something else similar?
Doesn't help with the number, but maybe you could buy something else similar?
Shmee said:
Mattt said:
Shmee said:
Mattt said:
pistolp said:
Which dealer is it, you can at least name and shame. Sorry to hear they have tried to shaft you. Not on....
Not on PH you can't.
ks, even if a complaint didnt go as far as legal action, there is still a large overhead in dealing with it. . . . . . .And lets face it, you can always PM somebody or put enough hints in a response, even if just as simply as stating that PH name and shame rules prevent you from offering your opinion
Edited by AndrewW-G on Thursday 23 December 21:04
Pretty much the same thing happened to me when I sold my last Alpina and I have to say that Sytner’s were very good at sorting it out but there was a chain of email correspondence that stated clearly my plate wasn’t included in the sale.
That said the new owner probably didn’t want my name daubed on his new motor anyway.
Good luck and hope it gets sorted
That said the new owner probably didn’t want my name daubed on his new motor anyway.
Good luck and hope it gets sorted
Sorry to hear this. Same thing happened to a friend. It's about time DVLA brought their transfer system up to date and consider them as entities in their own right without causing the hold up with log books during car sales.
Seems they can be very inventful when it comes to creating new numbers to sell. The bureaucracy is middle aged.
Just make the dealers life hell and call him a thief.
Seems they can be very inventful when it comes to creating new numbers to sell. The bureaucracy is middle aged.
Just make the dealers life hell and call him a thief.
Edited by diablo_pete on Friday 24th December 18:32
If I was you and you want the plate back then the first thing to do would be to contact the new owner, the dealer should be able to arrange this and buy it back.
Then county court the dealer for the full amount plus the £80. And make it as public as possible. What they have done appears to be theft.
If you let them get away with this then you have effectively told them that it's ok for them to steal whats yours. Now i don't know what the plate is or what it cost you bit i'm guessing it'll be at least a couple of hundred. if they stole £200 from your wallet whilst they were picking up the car and another £80 from your wife's on the way out then would you be cool with that?
If someone nicked my plate i think i'd go mental. I remember when the car it was on got stolen, there was no discussion about money until i had a letter from them saying they had no interest in my plate in my hands, and even then i checked with the local DVLA office that the letter meant that I could have the plate back.
It's a shame anyone has to do stuff like that, but the DVLA really does not have a 'common sense' approach to anything.
Good luck player I hope you persue this till the end.
Then county court the dealer for the full amount plus the £80. And make it as public as possible. What they have done appears to be theft.
If you let them get away with this then you have effectively told them that it's ok for them to steal whats yours. Now i don't know what the plate is or what it cost you bit i'm guessing it'll be at least a couple of hundred. if they stole £200 from your wallet whilst they were picking up the car and another £80 from your wife's on the way out then would you be cool with that?
If someone nicked my plate i think i'd go mental. I remember when the car it was on got stolen, there was no discussion about money until i had a letter from them saying they had no interest in my plate in my hands, and even then i checked with the local DVLA office that the letter meant that I could have the plate back.
It's a shame anyone has to do stuff like that, but the DVLA really does not have a 'common sense' approach to anything.
Good luck player I hope you persue this till the end.
amirzed said:
If you let them get away with this then you have effectively told them that it's ok for them to steal whats yours. Now i don't know what the plate is or what it cost you bit i'm guessing it'll be at least a couple of hundred.
I agree. I don't think it matters if the plate cost £1 or £10,000, its not the point. Can you imagine what would have happedned if you'd done a deal and on the day of handing over your car you swapped out the stereo for a crappy old tape player or swapped the alloys for steel rims? The dealer wouldn't have let that slip.Mate,
This exact situation has happened to me too.
Trouble is, by law, as soon as you sell the car - any plate that is on the car - you lose all rights to. A lot of it is down to a gentlemans agreement, but I guess because you sold to a large dealer network, it probably went through loads of peoples hands until the guy who actually sold the car, probably didn't have a clue about you or the plate or anything.
Personally, I think you'll struggle to get it back, unless you can get the details of the new owner and see if they are willing to do something about it.
Hope you can get it sorted mate, as I still really miss my old plate...
This exact situation has happened to me too.
Trouble is, by law, as soon as you sell the car - any plate that is on the car - you lose all rights to. A lot of it is down to a gentlemans agreement, but I guess because you sold to a large dealer network, it probably went through loads of peoples hands until the guy who actually sold the car, probably didn't have a clue about you or the plate or anything.
Personally, I think you'll struggle to get it back, unless you can get the details of the new owner and see if they are willing to do something about it.
Hope you can get it sorted mate, as I still really miss my old plate...
Gassing Station | Supercar General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff