DVLA Car Registration Mess

[makum101]

I wonder if anyone can help point me in the right direction.

Bought a car from a main dealer recently. It had a private reg on that the previous owner was keeping. Dealer told me the reg will be changed to its original plates within a week (which he has given me to put on when the time comes). Until I hear from them I am to drive it round on its private plates. (car tax was still on with window - £0.00 per year).

A full month and a week later and still no log book or call to say swap the plates. Rang the dealer today, who rang the previous owner, and then rang me back to say hang on its all been submitted to DVLA, wont be long now.

 

Me question is; If nowt happens  - ever (well before the end of Feb when the tax is due) - how the hell do I obtain the log book and get the plates changed (if I have to)?

The car isnt quite autoshite (only 1 year old in Feb) , its me work car but I do own a bit of chod on the side.



 

[Micrashed]

Fucked if I know, but if you get the log book in your name with the private plates on it then sell them. Bollocks to the other bloke he should have sorted that out before selling the car on.

 

I have private plates and its not that bloody difficult to shove them on retention if you havent got anything to transfer them over to straight away. Costs another £25 to do that and saves shit loads of DooVLAy grief. And grief with the garage. Only thing the last dealer fooked up was the owner of the car, put me down instead of the wife, visited mt local DooVLAy centre and they swapped it over without incurring another change of owner without any issue.

[Christine]

Yep , what he said /\ ... keep the number and flog it . It's yours.. 

[EssDeeWon]

Dealer should not of sold that car until the registration bollox was sorted. My dad recently sold his Jag which had a private, he could not sell it until the plate was switched back and the original plate back on with the relevant paperwork, so why do main dealers think they can?

[EssDeeWon]

Bollocks to the other bloke he should have sorted that out before selling the car on.

 

 

 

And This ^^^

[srad34]

This ^^^^. We bought our old Jag on a private plate in a private sale and they wanted to keep it so all of the retention paperwork was submitted first to the DVLA as they get awfully confused if you ask them to transfer the ownership at the same time!

 

Plate transfer took 6 weeks as he filled it out wrong and when the new V5 was received, it took another 4 to get it back in our name ffs..... 

 

We had the car as soon as the paperwork was sent off but needed to tell my insurers so I did not get stung with admin fees when the plate changed (twice as we put out plate on it after too!)

[Micrashed]

^^^ and then of course when you tell your insurance the number has changed they spunk you with a £25* admin fee - who will pay that then?

[srad34]

^^^ and then of course when you tell your insurance the number has changed they spunk you with a £25* admin fee - who will pay that then?

If you tell them first they can put a note on the account an change FOC, especially if you say pretty please!

[lisbon_road]

Those comments show just how useful those regional offices were!

[EssDeeWon]

Yeah that sounds familiar srad. My dad viewed the Jag, liked it and offered X amount, then the seller says 'oh by the way I need to get the plate off first' so I think my dad eventually bought the car 2 weeks later IIRC.

 

Even so, the main dealer should not of flogged this car if it still held a plate belonging to the previous owner, but I guess they cant resist a sale regardless of all the follow up work involved.

[Matt]

I'd quite like a cheapo NI plate (because they are less offensive looking than UK ones) but all this doovla nonsense puts me right off. As for selling it, I wouldn't risk it, the PO hasn't strictly said that the plate is yours so legally it will still belong to him.

[Dave_Q]

But the plate doesn't belong to the previous owner.

 

Unless you have put it on retention before selling it then it stays with the car.

 

If you don't get a logbook soon I'd fill in a form V62 to apply for your logbook putting the current (private) reg on.

 

If you get one back, bonus, plate is yours to sell.

[alf892]

Just be patient! DVLA aren't quick

 

I can't see why a cock up by the dealer makes it OK to assume ownership of the plate either.......

 

Although I would make sure the dealer picks up any extra charges you incur.

[chaseracer]

...I would make sure the dealer picks up any extra charges you incur...

 

...and invoice them for your time and trouble in sorting out what should be part of their job...

[jonny69]

Sounds like someone is dragging their heels. I think either the previous owner or the dealer is causing the delay here, not the DVLA.

[Micrashed]

 

I can't see why a cock up by the dealer makes it OK to assume ownership of the plate either.......

 

 

The number goes with the vehicle, at no point do you "own" the number - the DooVLAy small print makes that very clear, the number belongs to the DVLA, you pay for the privilege of having that plate on the vehicle you own.

The way to preserve the number if you dont own a vehicle to transfer it onto is to place it on retention. 

[alf892]

Bit of selective reasoning there Micrashed.....

 

So.......just imagine that by some admin cock up somebody was in the position to say to you 'sorry mate it is mine now' with 'your plate' you would just chalk it down to experience and be ok with it.

[makum101]

But the plate doesn't belong to the previous owner.

 

Unless you have put it on retention before selling it then it stays with the car.

 

If you don't get a logbook soon I'd fill in a form V62 to apply for your logbook putting the current (private) reg on.

 

If you get one back, bonus, plate is yours to sell.

Thanks for this.  The V62 form doesn't ask for proof of purchase anywhere. All it wants is a tick in the box against "The dealeer / previous owner didnt give me the V5". Surely they wont just take my word that I now own the car?

 

I will threaten the dealers with it though

[Micrashed]

Bit of selective reasoning there Micrashed.....

 

So.......just imagine that by some admin cock up somebody was in the position to say to you 'sorry mate it is mine now' with 'your plate' you would just chalk it down to experience and be ok with it.

Nope, I wouldnt be a tight wad for the sake of £25, I'd have put the plate on retention before selling the car (as I have done in the past on two occasions with mine & the wifes) to avoid the nightmare of an administrative cock up as has happened here in the first place.

 

As I say, when you purchase the rights to use a certain number on a car the number itself never truly belongs to you.

 

 

When you buy a personalised number, you’re buying the right to assign the number to a vehicle and display it on its number plates. The vehicle can be registered in your name, or in the name of someone else (‘the nominee’).

 

 

 

In the small print are several clauses regarding "ownership" of the number itself including the right by the DVLA to withdraw that number without financial recompense to you should it be misreprasented (so if you display 1 AN as IAN the DVLA can take that number off you and re-assign it without paying you a penny).

 

Someone here, either the previous owner or the dealer have been sloppy and careless - but its not the purchasers fault. Either the seller has been misinfomed by the dealer (and hasnt been arsed to do any simple homework on the internet) the seller is a tightwad thinking he can save £25 retention fee and just pay the £80 transfer fee, or the dealer has sold the car before getting the proper paperwork through for it and has been sloppy. The sellers beef if the latter, is with the dealer not the purchaser unless a prior agrement was entered into regarding the number plate and its transfer which I would find very odd.

 

As I mentioned, last time I traded a car in the dealer told me to put my number on retention rather than wait for the transfer to speed up the sale - I got my new car quicker, he got my old car quicker and could punt it on quicker too. No hassle, I let my insurance know what was happening before hand and within 3 weeks I had the plates on the new car qand I didnt have someone else driving round in a car with "my" number plates on it. Cost to me another £25 to save all the hassle.

 

I understand your feelings and thoughts here Alfa, but someone somewhere has royally mucked up and it isnt the purchasers fault. By the sounds of it its the original seller. The issue for Makum now is that he potentially in the situation where he will incur costs for someone elses ineptitude, laziness or just plain tight waddedness.

[makum101]

This is still not sorted.  AND...

Today I received a letter from my finance company saying that a check on the motor insurance database returned a report that my new car was not insured! On looking at my insurance certificate I noticed its got the new registration on and not the private one that's currently on my car. I now remember having a conversation with the insurer saying the reg was due to change and the dealer had given me the new plates to put on in a few days time when the documents come through, so the insurance bifffa said to put the new reg on the insurance.

 

So Im guessing that technically I've been driving around uninsured car?

A phone call to the finance company giving them the new reg seemed to satisfy them with regard to their panic about their asset not being insured.

[Alexg]

Right, the situation will be this. The previous owner or dealer on the customers behalf should have *should have* sent off the V5 to the DVLA with a retention form to remove private plate from vehicle. They will not be able to change ownership of the car at this time. Once the retention has been completed, usually about 2-3 weeks, a new V5 and tax disc will be sent to the previous owner (current keeper still in DVLA eyes) with the original plate of the car. It is then their responsibility to take this new V5 to the dealer where they sold the car so the yellow trader section can be completed and sent to the DVLA and the main front page filled in by the dealer on your behalf and also sent to the DVLA to tell them of your ownership. This in total will take about month give or take a week, any longer and something's amiss. I expect the previous keeper not returning their new V5. Remember you'll have to buy a new tax disc once this goes through as they can no longer be transferred.

 

PM me your private and original plate, I'll HPI the car at work tomorrow and I'll find out the situation.