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Number of surviving classic cars - can statistics be gotten from the VRU?

  • 09-01-2007 4:51pm
    #1
    BrianD3
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,549 ✭✭✭


    I wonder would the Vehicle Registration Unit in Shannon which looks after the national vehicle database be willing to release data on numbers of classic cars in this country. I often see these figures in UK classic magazines with the stats coming from the DVLA. Apparently it requires a bit of effort to get the data out of the DVLA but it is possible. The data allows the magazines to say something like "2 million 1975-1980 Ford Cortinas are in the database of which 1500 have a current tax disc".

    Anyone think there is a chance of getting the VRU to do something similar? Maybe it would come under the Freedom of Information Act. Remember that I'm talking about getting statistics, there would not be any private information such names of owners or even number plates of vehicles so there shouldn't be any data privacy issues.

    Basing survival rates on current tax is not a 100% accurate way as some untaxed cars may be be in storage or being restored, still it is a pretty good indication. It is much more reliable than looking at number of vehicles offically declared as scrapped as IME most vehicles that are scrapped do not get declared as such. With the VRU database it should also be easy to filter results based on various fields in the database. Fo instance you should be able to estimate how many original Irish Cortinas are left by filtering out cars that are listed as having been imported.

    It's possible to search for individual car regs in the www.cartell.ie database but this is obviously different to searching for all occurences of a particular make or model. Also the cartell reports cost 25 quid (or 15 this month, special offer) each. In the UK reports similar to these are free and can be found on the following page at the Vehicle Enquiry link
    http://www.vehiclelicence.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/?SKIN=directgov

    Admittedly these reports have a lot less detail than the cartell reports but they do tell you whether a car is currently taxed, SORN etc.


Comments

  • #2
    corktina
    Closed Accounts Posts: 17,733 ✭✭✭✭corktina


    would be interesting to have info like this.

    Incicentally , the bulk of the remainder of the untaxed Cortinas are at my place but dont tell my Missus:)


  • #3
    G Luxel
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,407 ✭✭✭G Luxel


    I typed in some old car regs on cartell.ie and they was no record of them so I presume they are now scrapped. Im also beginning to think that imported ZV plates are now outnumbering original Irish reg cars as nearly every second classic on the road is a ZV plate.


  • #4
    Silvera
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,033 ✭✭✭Silvera


    The Dept Of Transport publishes an annual report called 'Vehicle And Driver Statistics' which may answer most of such questions.

    I recall hearing a piece about this report on the radio a few months ago and the reporter mentioned how many Ladas were currently registered/taxed in Ireland.....I think it was 2 !:D

    I've being meaning to get a copy of this report for a while now....

    Govt Publications Office (Molesworth Street?) should be the place to get it.


  • #5
    BrianD3
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,549 ✭✭✭BrianD3


    G Luxel wrote:
    I typed in some old car regs on cartell.ie and they was no record of them so I presume they are now scrapped. Im also beginning to think that imported ZV plates are now outnumbering original Irish reg cars as nearly every second classic on the road is a ZV plate.
    Yes, I have also typed in several known registrations on cartell which came up as not found. I doubt they are missing because the cars were scrapped - scrapping a car would not be a valid reason for wiping the reg from the database. Also I know of a few regs that are in the database but have status "scrapped/destroyed" when you do a 2 star report so I doubt there is any policy for removing scrapped registrations.

    I reckon the missing data is a data management/loss problem. This could be the fault of cartell, the VRU, county councils etc. The whole area of data management is a can of worms and generally a shambles in this country. Example: the Electoral Register.

    @ Silvera - that report may be interesting if the statistic about the Ladas was sourced from that report. I'd imagine the report is very general though - probably doesn't mention models or years. OK if you're talking about Ladas of which there are only 2 in the entire country. But if you are trying to find out say how many Ford Cortinas are on the road it may just give a figure for Fords generally which would be a useless stat.


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