Advice on a private plate

[mk2 mike]

Any of you chaps able to answer me a question on buying a car with a private plate?

 

 

I'm off to look at a new daily tomorrow, and it currently has a private plate on it. (no interest to me, but the bloke wants to sell it with the car).

 

 

My question is, if i buy the car, do i aoutomatically get the rights to the private plate as well or do i need to notify someone or fill out forms etc? Also with the insurance do i give the private plate, the original plate, or both?

 

Any advice would be much appreciated

[Vista]

If he sells you the car with the private plate on it still then you get the rights to it and you insure it under that registration number. If you don't want the number then he has to got through DVLA, transfer it off and reinstate the original number etc. You then insure it under the original number. If he does take the number off and the plate has value then you need to renegotiate the price of the car accordingly.

[mk2 mike]

That's great vista, thanks. He reckons the plate is worth a grand but I can't see it myself. I enquiries about negotiating without the plate but he doesn't want it either. I might just keep it for the time being and offload it at a later date. I just wasn't sure if there was any additional paperwork required to take possession of it, but as its already on the car it's straightforward.

 

 

Thanks again!

[Vista]

I'd buy something else personally. What he thinks it's worth and what it actually is worth will be two different matters. How does his asking price compare to other similar age & spec models? What does Parkers value the car at?

[mk2 mike]

Not sure havent checked that yet. It's a 1990 BMW E30 325i cabriolet. 75k, recent service inc cam belt, new tyres, 12 months mot etc. up for £2500. On my way to view it, but Another thing has cropped, I used one of those text check things and it says the reg (of the private plate) was a cat c write off in 2007. The bloke is claiming to know nothing of this and says he dad a full RAC inspection done when He bought it. (he still has the paperwork).

 

 

Could it be that the previous car that plate was on could have been written off? If I do a check on the age related plate will that clear things up? I don't know if the info they have is just relating to that plate, or the actual vehicle it's on currently???

[Vista]

It is possible that a previous vehicle with that plate was written off and not this one but to be honest, given what you've already said, I think I'd walk away from this one. Though £2.5k for a 22 year old E30 cabriolet does look to be what people are asking for them. I guess it all depends how much you like the car and how good it is. Check the VIN number of the car your looking at against the VIN number of the HPI check you did and see if it is indeed the Cat C.

 

I don't think an RAC inspection includes an HPI check. See if you can get the MOT certificate number off him for an MOT history check, they usually record private reg transfers in there. If the reg no was transfered onto the car after 2007 then it won't have been this one that was written off.

 

http://motinfo.direct.gov.uk/internet/jsp/ECHID-Internet-History-Request.jsp

 

P.S. If you really want a classic 3 series convertible, you can get a nice E36 for quite a bit less than an E30

[mk2 mike]

my last 5 cars have been an e21 323, an e30 325i, an e36 318is, an e46 330ci sport and an e90 325. The e30 was my favorite by far, hence why i'm looking at getting another. I've actually been looking at 325i sports, but the last 4 have been rotten as pears. I saw this cab and thought it looked worth a try, although tonight I walked away from that one. I spoke to HPI who confirmed it WAS that car that was written off in 2007. He said the insurance claim stated there was 'sufficiant damage to the structure of the vehicle to render it beyond economic repair'. Also it showed the current owner has only had it 2 months, where he said he'd owned it over a year. He did say that a VIC check had been done in 2011 though, although i beleive this only confirms the identity of the vehicle to ensure it wasn't 'rung' after the accident, and not the quality of the repairs.

 

Thanks for your help Vista, much appreciated. Shame though as it looked nice.