How to Sell a Car With a Private Plate

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Personalisation is important to some people when it comes to their cars. There are so many identical motors on the road, particularly in the modern day with everyone favouring white or black paint jobs, that it can be impossible to stand out. If that’s what you want to achieve with your car, a private number plate could be the answer, but what do you do when it’s time to sell the vehicle? Let us explain.

If you’re ready to sell regardless of the plate that’s attached to your motor, but fear that your car isn’t worth much to a private buyer, then sell it with National Scrap Car! We can get you a top price for it from local, professional scrap and salvage buyers. Our service will put you in touch with Authorised Treatment Facilities (ATFs) from around the UK who will even collect your car for free once you accept their offer! Give us a call on 0800 86 20 958 or enter your details into our online form to get your motor priced up today.

Your Options

You have a choice to make when you’re offloading your car that’s currently outfitted with a private number plate:

Pay To Keep Your Private Plate

Paying to keep your personalised plate isn’t as simply as handing over some cash to the DVLA, unfortunately. No, instead you have to pay to process a retention document which will allow you to retain the rights to the alphanumeric sequence that’s adorned the car you’re getting rid of. Once you have this document in place (and it’ll cost you £80 to get it done) you’ll be able to have that plate added to your motor.

This document in question is the V778, however you will also need the motor’s V5C, also known as the logbook. If you don’t have this, you’ll have to pay a further £25 to get that paperwork replaced too!

Sell Your Car With The Private Plate Attached

The alternative to skip the rigmarole of having to retain your plate is to simply sell it with the car. This is a good option if you want to eke out as much money as possible for your motor, because to the right buyer, your private plate could seem more desirable and increase the value.

However, you must remember that private plates are also known as personalised plates, so there’s a very good chance that your treasure is another man’s trash. If your number plate is specifically customised to you and you alone, the idea of buying it could even drive potential car buyers away altogether.

How To Keep Your Private Plate

The only ways to keep hold of your private plate are to transfer it directly to another vehicle, if you already own it, or to put it on retention. This is how you can do both:

Complete The Paperwork

Obtain A V778 Form To Retain Registration

Retaining it puts the number into a kind of limbo where it’s not on any car, but still exists and still belongs to you – since you’re only, technically, owning the rights to the sequence of letters and numbers anyway.

That retention document, known as the V778, can be obtained through the DVLA and once completed will ensure that even if the physical number plate is scrapped, you’re still legally allowed to reproduce it and attach it to your next motor. Your right to the private plate will last for 10 years on retention, so you’ve got plenty of time to get hold of your dream car to stick it onto. Or, you might even want to pass it down to the next generation as a gift for when they pass their driving test!

Obtain A V317 Form To Transfer Registration

The V317 form is useful for those who have possession of both cars – the one they’re selling and the one they’re replacing it with – at the same time. It allows you to cut out the hassle that comes with putting a plate on retention via the V778 application and instead directly transfers the personalisation from old car to new.

Pay The Fee

Unfortunately, neither the retention route or the transfer option will allow you to bypass the fees and you will still have to pay £80. You’ll need to remember that a V5C is also required, so budget for a replacement log book too if you’ve lost your original. Those will set you back £25.

Remove It From Your Car

There’s no point transferring or retaining the plate if you’re going to leave it physically attached to the old car anyway. Don’t forget to actually remove it from your motor once the paperwork has been completed, otherwise you’ll end up having to pay for a replacement plate too after it’s scrapped!

How To Change The Number Plate Back To The Original

Luckily, once you’ve gone through all of the above, the original plate for the car will automatically be reassigned to it. It can, however, take several weeks for the paperwork involved to be processed. This makes life a little bit easier, as long as you still have the original plates to hand that is. They will need to be reattached to the car again before it can be driven. You should also notify your insurance company of any changes, including the scrapping of your old car.

What To Do If You Didn’t Keep The Original Number Plate

If you’ve lost or disposed of your original plates, you’ll need to get them replaced. We’re talking in plurals here because even if you’ve only lost one from the pair, the DVLA will only issue a new, complete set of plates.

You should report the lost plates to the police so that they can ensure nobody is driving around pretending to be you. Then, you’ll have to pay for the replacements. A ‘vehicle set’, which doesn’t include motorcycles, will cost £13.50 while a set for bikes will cost £7.

Get The Best Price For Your Car

Sell your motor with National Scrap Car and we’ll get you the best price possible offered by professional scrap dealers in your local area. Our buyers are stationed all over the UK, so no matter where you are, we can quote you a price and will even sort out the collection of your car for free – having it removed won’t cost you a single penny! So, give us a call now on 0800 86 20 958 or enter your postcode and vehicle reg on our website to get offers for your motor now!