buying a car with vanity plates

the boy's looking to buy a new van.  good deal.  the current owner has vanity plates (personlized).  if/when he buys it... how does he get new plates?  is that an easy process?

Hi Meggles,

Depends on the Seller, if he's happy to sell the car with the plates then great, you'll then have the car registered in your name with the personalised number plate on it, i.e you will have the right to display that particular mark on the vehicle.

If the seller says he wants to 'retain' the plate, then depending on how the deal goes through, eventually he will 'retain' the right to that particular mark.

Best give him a call and ask if it's included or not!

I like the US system where plates are done state by state, so you actually do stand a chance of having a particular mark or plate you want. Here, number plate dealing is and can be big business and particular marks are worth lots and LOTS of money!

Back to the van in question, if part of the deal, then when you get the vehicle the paperwork will probably include the documents which show the plate was transferred to it previously. You'll then register the vehicle in your name using that mark. I think then you get the form to 'assign' that mark to your name as well. At that point, you could then sell it on if you wanted to.

if the plate isn't part of the deal, then the seller may sell you the van as is, but a clause will say for you to transfer the plate back to them at a later date. (I've done this with one of my personal plates on a car I sold - got the plate back about 2-3 months later) or they may start the registration transfer process now, wait till a 'normal' mark or plate is assigned to it, and then hand it over to you. You'll then register it with the new 'normal' plates.

Sorry if i sound a bit vague, but thats the general gist ! I'm going through moving some of our personal plates between various cars at the moment, and a good mate of ours is doing the honours by doing it for us at the local DVLA office! - should raise a bit of a smile - the plate I'll be having on my car spells out a swear/slang word !

Cheers! DtM West London & Slough UK!

got it... no the vanity plates will stay with the owner.

so... let me see if i have the process correct:

option1
andy would buy the van with the personal plates
in the sales contract it would state that andy will be applying for new plates and when they come in, he will return the vanity plates to the orginal owner
andy applied for normal plates to be assigned- HOW IS THIS DONE?

option2
owner applied for normal plates to be assigned
owner waits those 2-3 months while he gets new plates
once he gets new plates, he sells andy the car with these new plates.
andy registers the car with these new plates- job done.

Hi meggles,

If the seller allows the van to goto you with the plates on condition he gets the plate back later, then you'll do all the paperwork now to so and you can tell your insurance company all the details and drive the van legally. Once all settled, you'll then request the number plate to be transferred to the seller (in effect he'll then become the nominee for the plate) and you'll begin the transfer process to him. You'll be issued with a 'normal' plate which you then display and continue to drive on. Tell your insurance company of the plate change of course!

If the seller doesn't want to let the van go with his plate on it, he'll start the 'retention' process of the plate. As soon as he gets notification of what the new 'normal' plate will be, he can then tell you and you can continue getting your insurance etc with details of that new plate.

More than likely he'll go for the 2nd option as it doesn't take as long as 2-3 months as I mentioned, more like 10-14 days or so really (it was only 2-3 months for me as I knew the guy I sold the car to and we had an arrangement)

if you want to get more info have a look at the DVLA cherished plate website where it'll also give you these details in governmentese aas well as the forms needed!

Cheers! DtM ! West London & Slough UK!