Original number plate

[Chinski]

Looked at a car today with a view of buying. In the history file there was some kind of certificate which confirmed the date of registration along with the registration number which isn't the same as current.

Could anyone enlighten me why this would be and could I ask for the original number from the DVLA?

The only thing that I can think of is that in the past the car carried a private plate albeit I've always got the original number back when selling the car when swapping the private plate.

[SGN]

Mine has had four numbers, the original, two "private" and it's present reg which is correct for year but not first reg, I can't answer you question about why it doesn't get the original reg back though.

Cheers
Steve

[Kingswood90]

Perhaps a PO sold the original number that the car had.

[DJT]

Could be, like mine, that the first number was a private plate that the original owner kept and transferred to their next car and the Stag was given an age-related one......

[Always wanted a Stag]

You could check to see if the original number is in current use with an iPhone app like My Car Check.

I asked DVLA about a specific 1996 plate but they said it was not available. About six months later they sent me an email sying that the plate would be auctioned in a few weeks. I put a bid in and won but I have an idea that unlike ebay where you can put in your maximum bid and their system automatically increases your bid up to the maximum amount that you set which means that you can win with a lower final bid if there's not too much competition, DVLA simply take your maximum bid (well that's what I suspect anyway).

Good luck, anyway

[Stagsongas]

Looked at a car today with a view of buying. In the history file there was some kind of certificate which confirmed the date of registration along with the registration number which isn't the same as current.

Could anyone enlighten me why this would be and could I ask for the original number from the DVLA?

The only thing that I can think of is that in the past the car carried a private plate albeit I've always got the original number back when selling the car when swapping the private plate.

Chinski,

A possible explanation is covered by something I wrote about some time back. Up until some major changes (1990's I think), a car that had a 'cherished' number assigned to it lost its original reg. number. If that cherished number plate were later removed by transfer, the car would receive an age -related reg. number to replace it, but it would never get the original reg. number back.

This was changed to the current system where the original reg. number follows a car all the way through its life, whether it has any amount of cherished transfers or not.

The history of registration is available from DVLA (if they have it) for a fee.

Regards

Steve