English plates

Sids Not

With the Durrow show coming up i was reminded of the amount of cars exhibited or being driven around on english plates.I'd like others views on the subject as i think its wrong .My main concern is that its an abuse of the lax rules when it comes to classic cars.IMO its only a matter of time before someone decides that these cars should be made get NCT's ,pay the same vrt and road tax as modern cars .This is my worry..any thoughts people....

p.s. i'm not having a go at anyone , i'm just a bit curious as to why people just dont pay the 50 euro and get on with it....:rolleyes:

245

I've usually concluded that its because the owner is hedging his/her bets in terms of future resale. Its probably more important with the older (6 digit?) UK numbers. I'm not sure if a UK number can be reclaimed if a car is re-imported to the UK after registration in another country but the original registration docs would probably be lost in the administrative process - if the number can be reclaimed then my theory doesn't hold water.

unkel

I presume you are talking about cars driven by Irish residents as it is perfectly legal for a UK resident to drive his / her UK reg car in this country.

If the car is over 30 years old, it doesn't really matter all that much imho. No more NCTs, and the tax and VRT are peanuts (the former, what, €47 per year and the latter a one off €50?). It's not worth the authorities' while to pursue these drivers for non payment of taxes imho. The big question mark is over the insurance though. Is the car properly insured while driven by an Irish resident? Probaby not, which would be a serious issue if the driver causes damage.

If the car is not over 30 years, it means fairly serious taxes are being evaded, which of course is wrong.

Abelloid

A few companies will insure on the chassis number, I've done this a couple of times while waiting for registration.

Sids Not

Exactly my point unkle, the fee's are so small there really is no reason NOT to re-register the car..so if people still cant be bothered i'm afraid with the high numbers driving around ,the authorities might get a wee bit pi**ed off.....

bugsntinas

i don't think the insurance brokers help.a few years back we insured a cortina that was on uk plates and they said it didn't matter to them.if they didn't offer insurance people wouldn't be able to do it.

8~)

bugsntinas wrote: »

i don't think the insurance brokers help.a few years back we insured a cortina that was on uk plates and they said it didn't matter to them.if they didn't offer insurance people wouldn't be able to do it.

This attitude is so common... a total lack of personal responsibility and a mentality of it being fair play to get away with something. So the insurance company is to blame for classic motorists not having legal plates?

(Drivers on provisional licences never bothering to take a test blame the lack of policing not making them do it. Now there is an NCT clampdown I hear people blaming the fact they didn't get a reminder stopped them from taking in the car or the fact that they don't have to show documentation when getting insurance. We all blame the banks for giving us loans... the list goes on.)

Regarding the OP, generally I agree the car should be re-registered but I can see 245s point and also think that something is 'lost' when a car is separated from its original registration.

Dades

I'd say most of the UK platers are cars younger than 30 years, either awaiting that birthday, or a buyer to take the car. Or for the owner to cough up the funds.

Haven't seen many 30+ yr cars on UK plates myself.

Seanieke

First thing I did when I got my Escort in was get my plates, because it was 30+ I got the old numbers, ZV & get to use the lovely pressed black plates with no hassle from the law.. Though I was told by a young guard one day they were illegal but his older sidekick once finished looking at the car explained it all to him!

carchaeologist

8~) wrote: »

Regarding the OP, generally I agree the car should be re-registered but I can see 245s point and also think that something is 'lost' when a car is separated from its original registration.

I agree here too, if we had a decent re registration system in this country i wouldnt be too bad,but the ZV system at the moment is a joke.

Five digit plates..what the f**k?
Id prefer to see say,ELD450C than ZV 45673 on a car anyday.

They dont look good,five digit plates were never issued for normal use in this country,and they are usually on the car on cheap motor factors pressed metal plates that are the wrong font size,though if you were to make them up in the classic format i dont think the number would fit.

I know its only a small thing in most peoples eyes,but imo it takes fron the car completely.

Am i the only one that hates the current ZV system?? Anyone else have an opinion on this?Am i just being stupid?:p

As an aside,this was at the junction last sunday,what opinions are on there on doing this with the year-county type plates?

Sids Not

Thats all fine and dandy having the original english plates on your car ..IF you live in engerland..but as most are imports i think theres no real reason/excuse not to re reg a car...:rolleyes:...i'd be suprised too that if you have an accident your insurance company might not pay out...you know what they're like...;)

unkel

Sids Not wrote: »

if you have an accident your insurance company might not pay out...

Or they do pay out to the damaged party but they then draw every last cent out of the policy holder as long as he/she is still alive

L1011

Dades wrote: »

Haven't seen many 30+ yr cars on UK plates myself.

In my semi-serious search at the moment, most of the cars in Ireland I've found are still UK registered. The car I'm looking for went out of production in 1977!

Sids Not

I can imagine some minister in leinster house saying ..."is'nt there an awful lot of english tourists driving around in old cars these days."..........:p

corktina

Theres a LOT of UK registered under 30 yrs old cars for sale it seems...check out how much the VRT is before buying one!!!

rebel.ranter

I think this is a lot of fuss about nothing. In fact it used to be legal to drive on UK plates here a (good) few years back. Re-registering was optional, and not just for 30+ cars.
The tax evasion argument is a bit petty too, it's not as if there are huge sums involved. I would rather be looking at the original plates than some out of control ZV system or worse still 56-C-000.
Since when has it ever mattered what plate is on the car for insurance purposes? If someone in a UK classic car runs into me I don't care about the registration plate, all I care about is if the owner has adequate insurance.

Sids Not

So what would happen then......that person wont be the owner of the car ( unless of course he is the actual person named on the v5)..but he does have insurance to drive it as his insurance will have reg no. on the cert and we assume he is insured to drive any other car as long as he doesnt own it..but he does own it....do you see where i'm going.....:rolleyes:

my op was about the re reg thing anyway...i just dont see why its such a problem for drivers...unless theres something more sinister going on ...:D

G Luxel

carchaeologist wrote: »

I agree here too, if we had a decent re registration system in this country i wouldnt be too bad,but the ZV system at the moment is a joke.

Five digit plates..what the f**k?

They dont look good,five digit plates were never issued for normal use in this country,and they are usually on the car on cheap motor factors pressed metal plates that are the wrong font size,though if you were to make them up in the classic format i dont think the number would fit.

I know its only a small thing in most peoples eyes,but imo it takes fron the car completely.

Am i the only one that hates the current ZV system?? Anyone else have an opinion on this?Am i just being stupid?:p


No you are not being stupid.
I dont like the ZV plates or the 73 D/85 TS or 16 D:eek:

I dont think they are any way ''period related'' or ''nostalgic'' to our old number plate system.
I would demand that the Department of Transport or whatever department is in charge of this licensing system replace every single ZV and Pre-87 year-county-digit plate in the country before 1987 with an age related county number (free of charge, as we are already hard pressed with tax):o

eg ZV 45 or 71 D 45 would now be 45 ZI

using a number from a dismantled car, as long as it was authentic enough to match the year of manufacture of the car.

by the way, I do like those red and white plates for the cortina.:)

carchaeologist

I dont know about using the number from a dismantled car,id say it would be hard to authenticate it,besides theres a load of ringers around already as it is.
There should be a way to diffrienciate what is imported or not,just it should be done properly not like what is being issued these days.

There is some unissued pre 1987 regs still,including ****IT and **** IY ****WI and these could be used.And before someone says that they are specific to a particular county,ZV was a dublin issue,due to come up after ZS.
Perhaps some of the unissued three letters /three digits types could be used on 70s/80s stuff?
Is this a crazy idea of is it workable?

The four digit ZVs already issued are ok as they fit in with the older system anyway,and having leading letters look reasonably authentic,for the older stuff anyway.When the ZV system was started the classic scene in this country wasnt what it is now and i suppose they thought the 9891(i think)numbers allocated would do for years and years.

I know most of ye out there dont care one bit what reg number is on the car,but having a field full of ZVs that look like foriegn numbers looks wrong.
If you took the imports out of Durrow yesterday what would be there.Theres alot of scope for a decent set up.

Anyone else have an opinion on this either bad or good?

Anan1

With cars over 30 years old, my guess is that many of those on UK plates have in fact been reregistered here - they're just not displaying the plates.

macplaxton

^^^^ More like the Garda won't bother me anyway, so I'll do it when I have some time to waste down Revenue office....probably

Silvera

carchaeologist wrote: »

I dont know about using the number from a dismantled car,id say it would be hard to authenticate it,besides theres a load of ringers around already as it is.
There should be a way to diffrienciate what is imported or not,just it should be done properly not like what is being issued these days.

There is some unissued pre 1987 regs still,including ****IT and **** IY ****WI and these could be used.And before someone says that they are specific to a particular county,ZV was a dublin issue,due to come up after ZS.
Perhaps some of the unissued three letters /three digits types could be used on 70s/80s stuff?
Is this a crazy idea of is it workable?

The four digit ZVs already issued are ok as they fit in with the older system anyway,and having leading letters look reasonably authentic,for the older stuff anyway.When the ZV system was started the classic scene in this country wasnt what it is now and i suppose they thought the 9891(i think)numbers allocated would do for years and years.

I know most of ye out there dont care one bit what reg number is on the car,but having a field full of ZVs that look like foriegn numbers looks wrong.
If you took the imports out of Durrow yesterday what would be there.Theres alot of scope for a decent set up.

Anyone else have an opinion on this either bad or good?

I agree totally!!

They should either issue unused old pre-87 plates, or reversed ZV plates (i.e. xxxx ZV).
Five digit ZV plates are just wrong ...and were mostly likey thought up by some bureaucrat who had no idea or interest in reg numbers/classic cars.
I'd say they just looked at the 'ZZ' system (temporary plates, which went over 10,000 in 1989) ... and decided to follow suit with ZV system.


BTW, love those period white/red Cortina plates!
Would love to know where he got them made up?!!

corktina

the idea of using more Irish-looking number is a great one...and one that a lot of people wouldnt mind paying for. Like in the UK, you should be able to have whatever number you want (within reason) and it would help the tax situation too. I have three cars , all with modern numbers, I would be happy to pay, say, €100 each to swap them to Co Cork numbers....and dont forget , theres no reason why this shouldnt be done for modern cars too.

carchaeologist

corktina wrote: »

the idea of using more Irish-looking number is a great one...and one that a lot of people wouldnt mind paying for. Like in the UK, you should be able to have whatever number you want (within reason) and it would help the tax situation too. I have three cars , all with modern numbers, I would be happy to pay, say, €100 each to swap them to Co Cork numbers....and dont forget , theres no reason why this shouldnt be done for modern cars too.

If it cost a few quid to do it is would be ok with me as it would definatly be better than those rubbish ZVs
I dont agree with re-issuing any of the already used pre 87 regs, it would just lead to confusion,theres enough unissued old marks to go around for a long time,and it would be easy to spot an imported car without it being too obvious like it is now.
Whats left for cork,as a county as both city and county were combined in the 80s is ***FZF TO ***YZF.
As an example say,147EZF is definatly better than ZV25893.

L1011

Could we not just flick the ZV system to XXXX ZV for the time being?

Citroen Guru

Was on my way to a car show in West Cork last summer and came across a Customs checkpoint with 5 revenue men on a Sunday morning checking foreign registrations. You can bet there will be more of a crackdown this year. They need the money.
There are one hell of a lot of uninsured drivers out there running UK plates.

rugbyman

I never cease to be amazed at how many craw thumpers there are on boards, esp on motoring topics.


How many times have you seen comments on the fact that such and such is an original irish car. equally so is abc 275 an original english car which belonged to mr smith of weston super mare, bought in 1959, mot certs available, pictures when new etc. this is the history of the car.

How many people on here have decried those "awful" zv plates. I personally cringe at the sight of them.

one of the earlier posters here suggested the owners of original reg uk cars were trying to save 100 euro, I doubt it, I think they have a soul!


Regards,Rugbyman

rugbyman

I had been meaning to broach another b,related topic at some stage.

perhaps it needs a new thread, perhaps its been discussed way back,

In the uk there is a fairly exact way to restore a rust bucket and still legally keep the reg no. . this is often done because the owner wants to re create his fathers car or some such, or because he wants to retrieve a valuable reg number off it for re sale.

There is some formuls for what percentage of the original rust bucket must be used..

Say for ex I had a rotten car reg ABI 100, monaghan and I wanted to recreaate it rather than just stick the plates on another car, is there a way to do this?


Rugbyman