Selling a car with a private plate

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

SimonsMerc

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 3, 2004
Messages
1,147
Location
Sudbury, West London
Car
Merc S212 E350 CDI BlueEfficiency Sport 256bhp, Suzuki GSX-650F, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Dynamic
How do I sell a car which has a private plate on it? Say I want to part-exchange the car for another - I don't need to put the plate on retention, I can just transfer it, right? Do I need to do anything special?

-simon
 
Simon you need one of these to transfer from car to car. Was quite an easy process when I last did it but I owned both cars which I guess makes it a little easier :)
 
it would be worth while phoning Swansea i know they can help or check the government vehicle website i have found the website can be very helpful most of the time
 
yes just transfer to the new car if you are doing p/x - same thing if you buy a new car privately - buy the car first then transfer your reg to the new car, replacement number for your old car then sell it - no need for retention that will just cost more
 
Depends on the willingness of the dealer to a certain extent. When I p/xed my Integra against my new Civic the dealer sorted all the paperwork for me.

Dropped off Integra wearing my plates, removed them from the car, and climbed into Civic which was already wearing same reg.
 
Simon you need one of these to transfer from car to car. Was quite an easy process when I last did it but I owned both cars which I guess makes it a little easier :)

Hrm, from this document it seems that I cannot sell the car until the transfer is complete? What madness is this?

that_document said:
I understand that if I dispose of the vehicle before I receive a replacement V5C Registration Certificate from DVLA, the new keeper may claim entitlement to the number and the transfer may be refused or cancelled.
 
Depends if you are p/xing the vehicle - if this is the case then you should try and get the p/xing dealer to do the paper work for you as covered above.

If you are not pxing then you will need to put the private reg on retention.

We sold our last car with a private plate on, I had the buyer sign a document we typed up to say that he was buying the car but not the plate whilst we waited for the DVLA to sort out the retention.
 
Depends on the willingness of the dealer to a certain extent. When I p/xed my Integra against my new Civic the dealer sorted all the paperwork for me.

Dropped off Integra wearing my plates, removed them from the car, and climbed into Civic which was already wearing same reg.
yes dealer can do ii
 
Been covered a few times on here, if you're part exing with a dealer then the process is very simple, as is if you already own both cars.

If you're buying & selling privately then it's easier to place the plate on retention, get the new V5, sell the car and then apply to transfer the plate onto the new car. You do not need to wait for a full V5 for your new car, you can just use the V5C with the retention document.

Remember the plate stays with the vehicle and 'ownership' or rather the rights to the registration pass with a change of vehicle owner unless the plate is transferred or retained in advance.
 
I always arraneg this for my customer, just be prepared to wait at least a couple of weeks for it to go through..
 
I asked the dealer to transfer mine, but I did not px. I drove from Bristol to Salisbury, I drove the new car home with the same registration as my old car:eek: Looked good, E Class Estate and S Class with same reg number. I had the replacement number plates for the estate, but in all the exitement of the new car forgot to change them;)
 
I have done this a number of times now and there are a couple of things to note.
If you get the dealer and DVLA to transfer the reg then expect to pay less (£65?) and it to take some time. Six weeks is not untypical.
If you put the reg on retention then put it on to your new car then the proccess can be normally done in less than 3 weeks but cost a little more at £105.
I have done it both ways and putting it on retention is often simpler and quicker, but at a premium. Depends on what is important to you.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom