Car bought on finance with private plate - can I sell the plate?

vxross

Hi Guys,

I bought a car aprox 2 years and 2 months ago on a 5 year finance deal. Anyway I plan to volutary terminate the contract in aprox 4-5 months.

The question is the car came with a private plate already on it which is worth £700+. Can I sell the plate i.e does it belong to me, or will it in any way be part of the finanace?

Just obviously before I hand the car back I wouldn't mind cashing in on it but at the same time I don't want the finance company chasing me for £££ should I sell it.

I'm pretty certain the plate is mine to do with as I please but any opinions or advice from anyone in the know would be appreciated.

Thanks

Ross

paddyrg

If you don't own the car, why would the number be yours to do with as you please? Did you pay to transfer the plate onto the car, or did it come like that? If so, I'd suggest it belongs to the finance company!

Muscle750

Whilst the car is owned by the financce company the plate is theirs. You could contact them prior and ask if the original plate can be transfered back onto vehicle before you return the car and you would cover all costs etc Plus i would ask how can you voluntary terminate the contract as i see it if you hand the keys back the car has depreciated in value more than i dare say you have paid off the intial finaince amount therefore you would possibly still owe money plus any charges etc.

vxross

The plate was on the car already.

However I would have thought the finance is for a car , NOT for the registration plate...? The value of the car wasn't inflated due to the plate... hmmm tricky!

I have been told from other people that the plate is mine and I would be able to sell them just inform the finance company of the change in reg and they would update the credit agreement to state the correct reg.

As for the termination - it's in the contract once you have paid half the value of the finance you can hand back with no further charges aslong as the goods have been looked after etc.

zppp

To sell the plate, you would have to register it under a new registration number, and this would not tally up with the documentation you signed to agree the finance. I think you should contact your finance company and ask them, they may agree, but it is likely to be subject to a hefty administration charge.

vxross

I can imagine there will be a charge to change the details on the finance agreement - but this would be small compared to the £700+ I can get for the plate....?

Like you say it's probs best that I ring them tomorrow and check!

dtsazza

vxross wrote: »

The value of the car wasn't inflated due to the plate...

What gives you this idea?

If the car is worth say £4,000 "naked", and comes with a plate that can be detached and sold for £700, then clearly the price of the car + plate combo is £4,700 (less any admin-type charges for removing the plate and replacing it with a normal one). It's not much different to saying that the value of the car isn't increased if there's £700 in the boot - of course it is.

If your argument is that you paid £4,000 for this hypothetical car, that doesn't hold water either. It means you got a good deal, but the car is still worth £4,700; and more importantly, your contract is still an agreement on the entire car as it was supplied to you.

You might be able to amend this as others have suggested, but you can't hand back a different car to the one you took the contract on without going through this procedure.