Selling number plates

[nickacb]

Hello, I've seen in some UK ebay classic car auctions that the number plates of those cars have some market value. I assume is totally legal to sell old number plates in UK. Now I bought a 1960 mini and brought here to Mexico, so the number plate here is worthless, so probably I can make some maney back with the number plate and buy some few parts for it, once I register the car here and get my mexican plates in duly order.

The only concern is if I sell the plates, in the future will be hard to prove the background of the car and lose some of its "originality" papers. The thing is I really don't know how the selling of plates really works and its consequences.

Thanx

[Simon776]

It is legal to sell number plates in the UK but you should have done it before you took the car to Mexico.

[Frogeye61]

I was wondering that too.
What is wrong about taking the plate out of the country?
Is it a question of rules or is it just that the plates are too far away?

If I were to buy a Mini in GB and take it home to Denmark, couldn't I still sell the plates to somebody in GB? If not, why?

[contour51]

There is a section on the UK V5 registration document ,declaring that the vehicle has been permanently exported.
I believe the previous keeper is legally bound ,to have returned the completed declaration to the DVLA.
There upon the registration number would be retained by them(DVLA).Where they would either sell it or re issue it, as an "age related" plate.
Cheers Gareth
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[mk1coopers]

If you want to sell the plate off a UK car then it has to be done before the DVLA have been notified it's been exported, all UK number plates belong to the DVLA, what you buy in effect is the right to display the number plate on your vehicle, some plates are non-transferable, (which will be noted on the log book) . So if you wanted to sell a plate you would need to have a car that's MOT'd and taxed (or has been within 6 months), then you could transfer the plate to another car or have it put on a retention certificate for a minimum of a year (though you would need a UK address for this) then export it on the new age related plate that the DVLA would issue (and then promptly cancel as soon a you told them it was out of the country)

[guru_1071]

Where they would either sell it or re issue it]

the plates are never sold or re-issued, they are retained should the car be reimported into the uk, same as plates on cars in the uk that have private plates fitted.

this is why so many valuable plates have just vanished with no hope of ever re-appearing again.


if the dvla altered the rules so that 'dead' plates could be re-issued, it would wreck the market as there would be thousands of nice plates suddenly on the market

[Tim]

If the DVLA (and as a result -UK car enthusiasts) weren't so weirdly precious about registration numbers this problem wouldn't exist. I don't understand why the UK authorities don't allow 'vanity' plates, haven't they realised how much revenue could be raised? All the problems of valuable and historic numbers would just disappear.

Tim

[Pandora]

this is why so many valuable plates have just vanished with no hope of ever re-appearing again.


if the dvla altered the rules so that 'dead' plates could be re-issued, it would wreck the market as there would be thousands of nice plates suddenly on the market

Not strictly true Rich, as if you can demonstrate a genuine claim to a registration number no longer on their system they will re-issue it. You need photos, old buff log book or other documents as well as a letter from the relevant experts to suport it.

I had this with the Coldwell Mink, and others, and it is actually possible to get the number in this way without an MOT, and it's cheaper than a cherished transfer! It is re-issued on a non transferable basis.

It's one of the few parts of the whole DVLA system which actually seems to work well for old cars! (unless t's being used to clone red minis from the Abingdon area...........)

[contour51]

Where they would either sell it or re issue it]

the plates are never sold or re-issued, they are retained should the car be reimported into the uk, same as plates on cars in the uk that have private plates fitted.

this is why so many valuable plates have just vanished with no hope of ever re-appearing again.


if the dvla altered the rules so that 'dead' plates could be re-issued, it would wreck the market as there would be thousands of nice plates suddenly on the market

Sorry,
I was always led to believe that Scrapped and Permanent Export fell into the same category .As the vehicle no longer existed(UK wise)thus allowing the DVLA to either auction off the valuable "plates" or as I said re issue as age related .
Gareth

[1071 S]

What's with the pages of plates advertised in any of the UK classic cars mags???

Cheers, Ian

[guru_1071]

this is why so many valuable plates have just vanished with no hope of ever re-appearing again.


if the dvla altered the rules so that 'dead' plates could be re-issued, it would wreck the market as there would be thousands of nice plates suddenly on the market

Not strictly true Rich, as if you can demonstrate a genuine claim to a registration number no longer on their system they will re-issue it. You need photos, old buff log book or other documents as well as a letter from the relevant experts to suport it.

I had this with the Coldwell Mink, and others, and it is actually possible to get the number in this way without an MOT, and it's cheaper than a cherished transfer! It is re-issued on a non transferable basis.

It's one of the few parts of the whole DVLA system which actually seems to work well for old cars! (unless t's being used to clone red minis from the Abingdon area...........)

al


sorry, i wasnt very clear

when i said 'dead plates' i should have said 'dead plates, unless the car is found, reimported and can be proved to have had that plate fitted'

[guru_1071]

If the DVLA (and as a result -UK car enthusiasts) weren't so weirdly precious about registration numbers this problem wouldn't exist. I don't understand why the UK authorities don't allow 'vanity' plates, haven't they realised how much revenue could be raised? All the problems of valuable and historic numbers would just disappear.

Tim

tim, vanity plates can be bought on a sliding scale of values easily from the dvla (or via an agent), the dvla also release unused 'old' plates that have serious value all the time. the el-cheapo plates can be got for about 200 odd quid, but can be quite crap.

obviously they dont just let them all go at once as the whole market would collapse.

if the plate has ever been issued before though, its a no-no, this protects the owner of a car that may be found that had a valuable plate fitted in the past (other wise every tom, dick and harry would claim to have just bought a car with 'a1' as its plate!)

the system we have, although not perfect, is pretty good - its only in the last 15 years or so that the dvla realised that serious money could be made flogging plates, and they have geared up quite well for it, i quite like how people try and make legal issue vanity plates spell various things within what the law will allow, though it is a massive sign of 'the council'!!!

all the best 'private plates' are either single digit / single number or plates with a serious value (even better if the cost of the plate is more than the vehicle its fitted to!!!)

[mk1coopers]

all the best 'private plates' are either single digit / single number or plates with a serious value (even better if the cost of the plate is more than the vehicle its fitted to!!!)

I'm with Rich on this one, 14 year old Peugeot, 3 number one letter plate, maybe one day it will go on something nice, until then I'll enjoy the comedy value of it,

[Tim]

Interesting Rich, I didn't realise that. Its still not quite the system I had in mind, like here or the US where you can get pretty much any combination of characters you like (within certain rules of decency and short enough to fit on a plate and still be legible).

The other thing that happens here is that plates aren't regarded as a fixed identification of a car, the states can do things like call them all back in and issue new ones. Likewise if a car moves interstate its rego changesas each state issues its own plates. As a result you never hear of an Australian car known by its rego number - there are no KEG77s or 33EJBs here and I know of about five mokes with the registration 'MOKE' and I suspect there are two more.

Tim

[Pete]

I know of about five mokes with the registration 'MOKE' and I suspect there are two more.

Mmm...different cars with the same number, we have the same problem with works competitiom cars !

It's not unusual (good title for a song ) to see early Mk1's advertised here with registrations "valued at £2K" but in reality even three number and three letter reg's are not as easy to shift as Registration Transfers and the like would have you believe ! It is such a shame though when a nice number is lifted from a car (though admittedly I have done it once ) but it's innevitable that numbers like 1 ELY get parted from the car. I remember the seller of that car wanted £22k for it when I first found it !