Details of previous owners

[James_G]

Back in February, shortly after buying my S2 I sent the DVLA a cheque for £5 with a request for the details of all the previous owners of my car, all 8 of them in fact. It's just arrived back and makes for some interesting reading.

Firstly my car was a Porsche UK demonstrator for the first few months of its life, it did 75k miles in the first four years (!) and it's had 6 different registrations. Contrary to popular belief however none of the those registrations has shown up as a change of owner, meaning there have been a genuine 8 owners before me and not as some people would have you belive of "only four owners and the rest are due to plate changes" etc, etc.

Anyway, it's been useful to find it all out and I thoroughly recommend anyone here in a similar position to send off their £5 for the same. Just be prepared to wait a while. More details here:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/AdviceOnKeepingYourVehicle/DG_4022067

 

[Fen]

It used to be the case that a plate change created a new owner. The system was changed I want to say around 1994 so that didn't happen any more, but it is true that it used to.

 

[zcacogp]

No need - My S2 had two owners before me, and I have all of the old owners' addresses!

It has had a number of plate changes as well - it was sold with one (age-related) plate, which was changed to TEL321 for the first owner, then back to a (different) age-related one for the sale to the second owner, then changed to JLZ8831 by the second owner, and now back to a (third) age-related one for my ownership (yes, I am the first owner to run the car on an age-related plate.)

None of these changes showed up as a change of owner, and the first change was done pre-1994. So Fen, there must have been more than one way of doing the change (unless it was down to the administrator who processed it.)


Oli.

 

[Fen]

More likely I got the date wrong when they started doing it as they do now I suspect.

 

[zcacogp]

Actually, you could well have the date correct - this debate sounds familiar to me, and I think there was a significantly more spirited ding-dong on Pistonheads about it.

If I remember correctly, the consensus was that the DVLA were a real mess, and sometimes associated a change of owner with a change of plate, and sometimes didn't. At some stage they got their act together a bit more and could reliably do changes of plate without a change of owner.

So the date you quote could well be the date that things improved (slightly).


Oli.

 

[Fen]

Maybe. I had a 911 that had suffered the problem. I thought it was my 1985 one, but it could with hindsight have been the 1976 one so have happened altogether earlier. What I can say for sure is that in 1994 you did not get your original age related plate back if you took a cherished one off. Technically you don't have to now (because, I believe, of the debacle of the famous MAG1C plate Paul Daniels has/had), but back then you just didn't. I guess I thought they sorted both out at the same time.

 

[zcacogp]

Hmmm, what was the 'Mag1c' debacle? That one's new to me.


Oli.

 

[Fen]

Basically a Ferrari was presented to DVLA etched on the windows with MAG1C and they were led to believe that that was its original age related plate so they would "re-issue" it, the reasoning being it would damage the value of the valuable classic to have to over-etch the glass and it would be difficult/expensive to replace it.

The registration was then sold for a huge sum as a cherished plate having been obtained for no cost from DVLA. That led to 2 rule changes - the age related plate you get may not be the one the car used to have (though you can ask for it if for any reason you don't get it, which is basically what happened anyway) and any registration mark reissued after a cherished transfer is not transferrable so you can't sell it on for use on another vehicle.

The above was told to me by someone in the trade.

 

[appletonn]

James, printed the form off last night and it and my £5 is now winging its way to the DVLA.

Curious to see what comes back, eventually[]

 

[zcacogp]

Fen,

Interesting, thanks.

I know that PD has 'MAG1C', and have seen him driving around in various cars with it on (he has a liking for black mercs, I seem to recall), but didn't know that was how the plate was acquired.

Why would a Ferrari of that age have had etched windows tho'? Etching of windows came in as a security measure in the late '80's, a long time after a 'C'-reg numberplate would have been issued.


Oli.

 

[944Turbo]

And I have seen PD in a red ferrari with MAG1C on the plateback around the mid 80's 328 IIRC

 

[James_G]

ORIGINAL: appletonn

James, printed the form off last night and it and my £5 is now winging its way to the DVLA.

Curious to see what comes back, eventually[]

Good to hear Nick. When I rang up a 6 weeks ago or so having not received it they did say getting copies of the old forms was proving challenging. The joys of microfiche I suspect!