Transferable number plates

[oldisbetter]

Is there a way to check if a number plate on an old car is transferable, I see older cars that are way beyond repair for sale and often wonder if they are worth getting just for spares and the number.

[fr€$h&m1nt¥]

Not sure if it was always the case but for cars that had been assigned an age related plate that were not transferrable it said on the v5 - but not sure you can assume it is transferrable if it doesn’t say it.

I always thought they need to be motd / taxed currently or recently too but there was another thread recently that went against that.

[hkr91]

I've recently removed a Numberplate from a vehicle that hadn't been on the road between 12-18 months. As long as the sorn was created when the tax ran out you are ok.

It should still state registration number is not transferable but if you phone dvla I'm sure they could tell you if it was - no personal information will be given out however.

[glenanderson]

It used to be that a vehicle needed to have been taxed within 12 months of applying for a transfer. This obviously meant that it had to have passed an MoT within two years. With the recent changes to MoT exemptions etc. the waters have been muddied a bit, because it’s possible to tax anything that has a current V5C and insurance. The DVLA cottoned on to the value of cherished plates a long time ago, and have wanted to inspect pretty much any dateless plate still on the original vehicle to combat fraud. I understand that, if the donor vehicle is complete, capable of moving under its own steam, and all the relevant identifying numbers are present and correct, then the inspection is pretty painless. However, if the vehicle has dropped off the computer system, then getting it back on usually results in the number being reallocated on a “non transferable” basis. Likewise, numbers issued as “age related” are usually non transferable.

If you buy a vehicle and manage to get the number off it then I’d look at it as a bonus, not something I’d factor in as a definite.

[iain1970]

www.gov.uk/personalised-vehicle-registration-numbers/take-private-number-off

[swampy442]

I recently raised a thread about this. The DVLA say "needs to be taxed if SORN'd for longer than 5 years" So you need to MOT it, tax it, then transfer. And the car has to be available for inspection.

There is apparently a work around if you scrap the car but you need the V5