Private plate

[swiftb]

Anyone know the correct procedure to follow when selling a bike/car with a private plate, but want to retain the plate? I assume I just sell the bike with the plate on, and give him the green new keepers slip, then get the plate transfer done?? Or do you have to transfer the plate before selling?

Cheers

[JP7]

You need to retain the plate before you sell the bike. If you transfer ownership before you remove the plate then legally the new owner owns the plate too.

Your life will be much easier if you get the plate off before selling the bike.

[swiftb]

Ye cheers for that, found out through the rather unhelpful DVLA this morning after 20mins on phone. Bit of a swine really, I have a guy interested in picking up at the weekend.

What would you do? The plate I own cost me £170 and only reason I bought it is because the original plate on the bike had been cloned.
If I lose the plate I wouldnt be overly concerned but would like to keep it.
I suppose I could sell the bike with plate on and give him green slip then immediately process the plate retention. The chances of the lad trrying to get in there with a logbook request to steal my plate are pretty slim,
The only snag is I read somewhere the local dval may need to inspect the bike prior to reassinging the old plate. This would be a problem as hes coming from a fair distance.

[JP7]

The thing you have to weigh up is that it will cost you £105 to retain the plate and the transfer can sometimes take up to a couple of weeks depending on your local DVLA office's turnaround time.

If the buyer is happy to change the plate when the transfer is complete, then fine. But you're asking him to mess about with replacement tax discs and numberplates when it might be easier for you to do it before he takes it. If you still have the old plate that's great, if not, he'll have to go to a garage with proof of ID to get a new one made. He'll also need either a V5 document (which he won't have for a few weeks) or a certificate from DVLA, which will be given to you, not him. And yes, sometimes the DVLA do inspect vehicles. I used to work in the motor trade and I spent a fair amount of time at my local office taking cars for inspections. At one time they were demanding to see 1 in 3. Your buyer can take it to his local office, but again it's grief for him.

If you're not that bothered about the plate, I'd suggest that it's cheaper and easier to let the bike go with it. Rather than suffering the complete misery involved with any dealings with the DVLA.

[swiftb]

Yep, its a whole pain in the arse, If id realised this at the time I would never have bothered buying one. Seems the quickest option is to just sell it then get him to swap the plate over once the logbook has come back etc - Maybe charge him a £100 or so extra which will refund him when its all gone through just to make sure he does actually go ahead and do it. Either way its a right cock on isnt it.