[dave550i]

Buying a car tomorrow with a private plate on it and the owner wants to keep the plate but as decided to sell with the plate on to enable me to drive legally back from London to York without waiting for the plate transfer to come through, Question is when i get home how do i go about taking the plate off the car and giving it back to him? any help appreciated cheers Dave

[Rukka]

You will need to have the new logbook in your name in hand to remove the plate. And then the private plate will be in your name also.

You'd be better him removing the plate before you take it and fitting new plates with the new number. Although in this scenario, the logbook with the new ref on will go to him and he will then have to send it on to you.

All of this can be done in seconds online.

Ideally he should have done all this before selling the car.

[Eddamoo]

I would be careful with this - changing the plate involves swapping out the V5 of the car. I've not done it for a few years, but I think the order would be:

1. You buy the car, get the V5C and Invoice/Proof & Drive home.
2. Get the V5 in your name including the private plate
3. Place the private plate on retention (about 80 quid)
4. Provide the previous keeper with the retention certificate.

The problem lies if the current owner decides to do Step 3 before you have the V5. This would mean they get a new V5 and your V5C would probably become void.

Either way you do it would require a high degree of trust. I personally would tell the current owner to SORN and wait for the new V5 to arrive.

[t5pilot]

Originally Posted by dave550i

Buying a car tomorrow with a private plate on it and the owner wants to keep the plate but as decided to sell with the plate on to enable me to drive legally back from London to York without waiting for the plate transfer to come through, Question is when i get home how do i go about taking the plate off the car and giving it back to him? any help appreciated cheers Dave

Yes, so this is arse about face, and will cause you grief.
Seller needs to go online TODAY & put his plate on retention, while it's still in his name. It's instant. The previous registration number will be allocated straight away. So you'll have a VRM you can use for insurance purposes.
You're then reliant on the seller transferring the car into your name when he receives the new V5. Again, this can be done online. Better done by you, so you know everything's as you want it. Just get the seller to send you a photo of the front of the new V5.
This is pretty dependent on how the seller comes across to you... ie trustworthy/reliable. For a decent car on a private plate, I suspect you won't have anything to worry about.
The tax will be ok until the change of ownership's done.
The only way to avoid potential grief with this is wait. But I believe delivery of physical V5 documents has been delayed in recent months due to C19.
Of course, if he knocks off the £80 transfer fee you can do it all, but it's all extra work for you & you still have to wait for a V5. Your insurance may also charge you an admin fee for changing the plate. Best getting the seller to initiate it today, as above really.

[AlwynMike]

I did a change of address on line a couple of weeks ago.
Surprisingly, the new V5's turned up 3 days later.
Took about 10 days for the driving licence though.....which reminds me, I must send the old one back!

[Harryg]

Just done mine in 3 days I would ask him to put the retention on as if you do it you will be charged £80 it is done immediately and he will receive the registration to put on he may have the old plates then he can fit them and you insure the vehicle on the new registration this takes minutes to do online he can then transfer ownership of vehicle to you but and I stress but make sure the ownership is transferred to you before any cash is handed over unless you trust and know the person you are buying it from.

[t5pilot]

Originally Posted by Harryg

Just done mine in 3 days I would ask him to put the retention on as if you do it you will be charged £80 it is done immediately and he will receive the registration to put on he may have the old plates then he can fit them and you insure the vehicle on the new registration this takes minutes to do online he can then transfer ownership of vehicle to you but and I stress but make sure the ownership is transferred to you before any cash is handed over unless you trust and know the person you are buying it from.

If the seller puts it on retention & the old number goes back on, he can't transfer v5 to the op until the revised one comes, with the new vrm on it. As soon as retention is done it triggers a new v5... which will be a different document number. So change of keeper can't be done straight away. Like I said above.

[335dX]

Originally Posted by t5pilot

If the seller puts it on retention & the old number goes back on, he can't transfer v5 to the op until the revised one comes, with the new vrm on it. As soon as retention is done it triggers a new v5... which will be a different document number. So change of keeper can't be done straight away. Like I said above.

This.

OR:

Leave the plate on the car, transfer ownership to you and await V5.

Once you receive V5, retain cherished plate and put old owner as signee and he can then take ownership of the plate again so long as you give permission. He then has to trust you.

[dave550i]

Thanks all for the advice, bought the car with the plate on and the seller deducted £80 transfer fee from the asking price so that when i get the new logbook i can transfer the plate to him hopefully, cheers Dave

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by dave550i

Thanks all for the advice, bought the car with the plate on and the seller deducted £80 transfer fee from the asking price so that when i get the new logbook i can transfer the plate to him hopefully, cheers Dave

forget about the plate, whats the car and where are the pics!!

[dave550i]

Here is the auto-trader add really well specked car! loved driving it back from London to York makes a nice change to have a manual gearbox, hope you like it https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-det...cation=at_cars

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by dave550i

Here is the auto-trader add really well specked car! loved driving it back from London to York makes a nice change to have a manual gearbox, hope you like it https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-det...cation=at_cars

Very smart, looks a good car. I have a manual Mini and an Auto Audi - I like driving the manual in the mini but never feel inclined to use the paddles in the Audi.....

There is definitely more enjoyment in driving a manual and it coming together, that is definitely not the feeling in a 30 min queue!