Age of car and registration

A friend is looking to replace his BMW 750 V12 with a later 760. He's come across a car that the dealer says is '06, but my friend knows was built in late '03 and supplied to Jordan in '04. The private plate has been retained and the dealer doesn't know what registration the DVLA will allocate, but clearly thinks it'll be an '06 from when the car first came to the UK.

My friend has negotiated the asking price down from £30,000 to £15,000, which to my mind is still too much for a car with a dodgy background. I'm also very suspicious that such a car has only covered 14,000 miles.

What are the DVLA rules about allocating a registration number to such a vehicle - would it be given '03 or '06 and would you walk away whatever the situation?

Asked on 13 November 2012 by Steamdrivenandy

Answered by Honest John

It's quite common for this type of car sourced from this sort of area to have a very low mileage. Probably one of 10 cars owned by the same parson. But it will be allocated a registration number in accordance with its build date and emissions. Obviously he could later switch it to a 'cherished reg' to hide its age from onlookers.

Tags: buying personal plates used cars imports service history

Similar questions

Is this car too good to be true - it feels like a scam?

I have seen a Porsche 911 advertised online which is considerably cheaper than most others particularly for the age. Although advertised as being for sale in England on contacting the seller within a very...

Import warranty

Have just taken ownership of a new Honda CR-V 2.2 Dtec from Motorpoint. At purchase Motorpoint advised that this car was an import from Gibraltar, so had only a two year manufacturers warranty. However...

Matter of import

I'm looking at a 2007 Audi S3 with 14,000 miles and two owners. I've been informed the car was originally imported from Germany to Jersey by the first owner. The dealer has said that technically all Audis...

Related models