Buying a car with a private plate on it
Discussion
Hi im sure this question has been asked many times before but im having trouble finding the answer. I am looking at purchasing a 3 year old car from an auction that has a private plate on it and would like to know if its possible and how costly it would be to put the original plates back on and are they still available to use since the previous owner changed them.
beerboy01 said:
Hi im sure this question has been asked many times before but im having trouble finding the answer. I am looking at purchasing a 3 year old car from an auction that has a private plate on it and would like to know if its possible and how costly it would be to put the original plates back on and are they still available to use since the previous owner changed them.
A plate's a plate's a plate. All you need to do if you want to get shot of the one that's currently off, is to transfer it off, onto retention or another car. Assuming the plate that was originally assigned wasn't transferred elsewhere, it'll go back on. If it's not available, or the other plate's been on from new, then an age-related "normal" never-issued number will be allocated.https://www.gov.uk/keep-registration-number
You can then flog it for however much (a half-chewed Werther's Original upwards) you can get, or you can leave the retention festering in the bin if it's really cheesy. Stick it on eBay at the £80 it's cost you, and it might go. Stick it on at 99p, no reserve, and it'll almost certainly go.
It's just possible that being an auction the physical plate that's on it might not even (now) be it's registered number.
It's even possible that the car didn't have a number prior to the private one.
But, as said, in the event that the plate is the registered number just pop it on retention & you'll be issued an age related plate.
It's even possible that the car didn't have a number prior to the private one.
But, as said, in the event that the plate is the registered number just pop it on retention & you'll be issued an age related plate.
TooMany2cvs said:
A plate's a plate's a plate. All you need to do if you want to get shot of the one that's currently off, is to transfer it off, onto retention or another car. Assuming the plate that was originally assigned wasn't transferred elsewhere, it'll go back on.
This has been my experience. Private plate being removed resulted in the original number being reassigned.Edited by InitialDave on Monday 2nd April 17:19
thebigmacmoomin said:
What is wrong with just buying the car & leaving the personal plate on it?
Most (but not all) "personal/private" plates nowadays just look ridiculous with crap spacing, etc; presumably if it was a decent plate, it would have been sold separately or retained by the seller.Don't fanny about with thirdparty sites - go straight to the horse's mouth. https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/
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