Dvl & personalised number plates

smithc

Has anyone had any experience when selling a car of removing their personalised plate and having then to get a new plate for the new owner. My main question is whilst the DVLA site tells you what to do, it doesn't say anywhere if you could do the process face to face if you go to a DVLA centre. From various forums it seems to say it can take 4-6 weeks. Can anyone help?:)

Iceweasel

Everything is in a muddle at the DVLA (and the DVLNI) these days.

AFAIK if you can find a local DVLA office still open to the public, they will say "Thank you very much." and send all the docs off to Swansea.

The 4 to 6 weeks is a max for transfers over busy periods like Jan, March and September.

Are you looking swap car to car or are you getting a retention certificate?

I don't think it will make any difference to the time-scale though.

My last transfer was pretty slow (5 weeks) as it was in August and it had to involve Coleraine as well as Swansea.

AdrianC

Iceweasel wrote: »

AFAIK if you can find a local DVLA office still open to the public

The last ones closed towards the tail end of last year

force_ten

since all the DVLA local offices have now closed it has become a lot more long winded to retain your private plate

what i would do now is prior to selling the car fill in the retention document V778 send it off to swansea and await all the paperwork to come back change the plates and then go ahead and sell the car

last year I did it the old school way leaving it up to the dealer to sort the transfer and it delayed delivery of the new car for four weeks and the dealer was starting to loose patience with all the delays

smithc

Many thanks for your help. We have sold our car yet it still has the private reg on it. We will have to either see if the buyer will hold on or draw up a contract whereby he agrees to take the car with the plate on and then hand it back with us bearing all costs involved. Our fault should have done it earlier before advertising the car! I think DVLA make it difficult so you don't put a private reg on cars!

Iceweasel wrote: »

Everything is in a muddle at the DVLA (and the DVLNI) these days.

AFAIK if you can find a local DVLA office still open to the public, they will say "Thank you very much." and send all the docs off to Swansea.

The 4 to 6 weeks is a max for transfers over busy periods like Jan, March and September.

Are you looking swap car to car or are you getting a retention certificate?

I don't think it will make any difference to the time-scale though.

My last transfer was pretty slow (5 weeks) as it was in August and it had to involve Coleraine as well as Swansea.

AdrianC

smithc wrote: »

I think DVLA make it difficult so you don't put a private reg on cars!

Given the amount of money DVLA make through private plates, I don't think that's it.

If it was too easy to transfer plates off, there would be a lot more people being scammed out of them.

Iceweasel

smithc wrote: »

Many thanks for your help. We have sold our car yet it still has the private reg on it. We will have to either see if the buyer will hold on or draw up a contract whereby he agrees to take the car with the plate on and then hand it back with us bearing all costs involved. Our fault should have done it earlier before advertising the car! I think DVLA make it difficult so you don't put a private reg on cars!

Be very very careful as people have lost their cherished plate relying on a 'gentleman's agreement' doing it that way.

Legally the plate will belong to the new owner - get something drawn up before any cash changes hands.