SIMI - Consumer should be able to change their county registration number

Berty

So I heard this on the radio today (If discussed already then please delete)

http://www.simi.ie/utilities/news_details.aspx?id=251

SIMI wrote:

At the SIMI’s (Society of the Irish Motor industry’s) press conference today, Alan Nolan, Director General, called on the Government to allow buyers of used cars to re‐register their vehicle in their home county.

Mr. Nolan said, “At the moment, many motorists drive cars with another county’s registration plate but most would prefer to drive a car with their own county’ ‘stamp’ on it. We propose that car owners who want to do so should be able to get their registration changed to one from their county. A fee of up to €250 could be charged for this change, which the local authorities could then reinvest back into our local road network. This is an important issue for car buyers and the Motor Industry and could be implemented very quickly.”

So many issues

Garda pulse would be a major concern.

Traffic Fines.

M50 Toll (barely works with normal registrations)

Drummerboy08

Whats the bleedin point?

Another moment of massive intelligence from the SIMI.

Berty

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Whats the bleedin point?

Money

They claim the money is for the Government but I forsee them getting in a G car in Dublin and changing the reg and charging a premium to do it.

Drummerboy08

Berty wrote: »

Money

They claim the money is for the Government but I forsee them getting in a G car in Dublin and changing the reg and charging a premium to do it.

There isnt too much in the difference say between a Golf 1.9TDi with a LK reg and a D reg. Or any other car for that matter. Its maybe worth €250-400 less than the D reg, IF its sold in Dublin.

It kinda negates the €250 charge to change the plates in the first place if you ask me...

Berty

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

There isnt too much in the difference say between a Golf 1.9TDi with a LK reg and a D reg. Or any other car for that matter. Its maybe worth €250-400 less than the D reg, IF its sold in Dublin.

It kinda negates the €250 charge to change the plates in the first place if you ask me...

Im sure the dealers will charge a nice margin on top of the €250. We already know most dealers charge €50 for plates so we are at €300 already and they will likely round it up to €500 for good measure.

The value of the car will stall the same but will have the option of changing the reg for €500.

As we already know the forum is full or registration snobs so there is surely a demand for it.

kildare.17hmr

Berty wrote: »

Im sure the dealers will charge a nice margin on top of the €250. We already know most dealers charge €50 for plates so we are at €300 already and they will likely round it up to €500 for good measure.

The value of the car will stall the same but will have the option of changing the reg for €500.

As we already know the forum is full or registration snobs so there is surely a demand for it.

I dunno where you have bought plates but fcuk me they seen ya comin!! as for the bump it up to 500, seriously man thats a bit far fetched. re register your car, bring the form to your local motor factors, get new plates made for 25-30 euro, get a philips screwdriver and change them yourself!!

Yakuza

Presumably there would be a facility for the public to check the history of a reg (i.e. part of a free motorcheck report), or if the car has had its reg changed, to make it obligatory to let the prospective purchaser know.

What if a car "moves" from Dublin to Galway to Dublin again - would it get its old reg back?

It's not a bad idea in principle, but some safeguards would need to be put in.

Spain moved to a country-wide registration system about 10 years ago (to prevent, say, Madrid-registered cars being easily recognised in Bilbao or Barcelona and getting keyed (or worse)). Previously , such a car would have had a reg like M-1234-XX (while the others would have been BI-1234-Y or B-1234-ZZ) but now all cars have 1234-XYZ, irrespective of where they came from (starting at 0000 BBB, 0001 BBB.... 9999 BBB, 000 BBC etc (just skipping vowels))

Perhaps we should move to some form of global reg system, preventing reg snobbery in the first place, and removing the need for the service as described in the OP.

opinion guy

This is an important issue for car buyers and the Motor Industry and could be implemented very quickly.

I don't know about the rest of all y'all, but its not an important issue to me.

Eric Cartman

all youd have there is border county/ west of ireland cars being re-badged by dealers to D reg's and put up in garages here, motorcheck would have to include a "was it ever registered in a place with ****e roads" catagory

corktina

Maybe a new system with no county/city mark should be adopted.

joolsveer

corktina wrote: »

Maybe a new system with no county/city mark should be adopted.

Maybe we should ask the SIMI to come up with a system that they approve of.

Drummerboy08

joolsveer wrote: »

Maybe we should ask the SIMI to come up with a system that they approve of.

Maybe we should ask the SIMI to go away.

bmw535d

every donegal car would be re reg'd as a D reg even though it's had the guts shaken out of it.

Berty

kildare.17hmr wrote: »

I dunno where you have bought plates but fcuk me they seen ya comin!! as for the bump it up to 500, seriously man thats a bit far fetched. re register your car, bring the form to your local motor factors, get new plates made for 25-30 euro, get a philips screwdriver and change them yourself!!

I get my plates for €7 each in my local factors actually. I SAID Garages charge in and around €50 during their "fees" when they register a car new. It includes the parts and labour.

Garages trying to squeeze another big margin? Whats far fetched about that?

40% margin is quite average really.

Cookie_Monster

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Maybe we should ask the SIMI to go away.

maybe we should tell them to **** off and maybe we should leave the plates how they are cos there is no problem with them

Neilw

I'd happily pay €250 to get the County I wanted on the car. Has put me off buying cars before.

cyclopath2001

One advantage of plates having the county of the driver would be to allow Dublin drivers to know who the 'out-of-towners' are and to be ready for unexpected behaviour caused by disorientation, or poor traffic light discipline. Apart from all yellow-plates, there's certainly a few counties on my own personal blacklist, that I always give a wide berth to.

Cookie_Monster

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

One advantage of plates having the county of the driver would be to allow Dublin drivers to know who the 'out-of-towners' are and to be ready for unexpected behaviour caused by disorientation, or poor traffic light discipline.

:rolleyes:
that is just ridiculous!

cyclopath2001

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

:rolleyes:
that is just ridiculous!

I had a Monaghan-registered jeep in front of me this afternoon, while stopped at red lights he was constantly inching forward. Then when the lights changed, he didn't see the signal as he was too far forward. Happened twice, then at the third set he was in a dedicated right hand filter lane and then decided to go straight.

I don't know about you, but I risk-analyse based on year, county, behaviour and vehicle type.

monkeypants

Jesus, this country!

Who benefits?

The government gets extra cash.

SIMI members get extra cash.

Motorist gets different letters on numberplate.

Does anyone really give a fcuk about their registration?

galwaytt

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

...I don't know about you, but I risk-analyse based on year, county, behaviour and vehicle type.

...yeah, I know: I judge cyclists the same way, too.

galwaytt

monkeypants wrote: »

Does anyone really give a fcuk about their registration?

...actually I do, but not in the xenophobic sense..........I'd be interested in a proper 'personal' reg, which would be both 'nice' to have, and, get out of the age-related thing, all in one go. If the fee was reasonable, I don't see why not, and I certainly don't see how Revenue haven't spotted the earner this can by, yet.

Murt10

Garages register their fleet of hire cars in Feb/Mar in one county. They sell them on 6-7 months later and they are reregistered with the latest number in another county.

The people buying the car will show off their new reg. All the neighbours etc are convinced that the new owners bought a brand new car, rather than a 6 month old ex hire car.

Garages will naturally be able to charge a premium for this car now that it has a newer reg.

I think that's what it's really all about.

Our man in Havana

There will have to be full traceability of regs so to stop garages doing exactly that.

sentient_6

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

I don't know about you, but I risk-analyse based on year, county, behaviour and vehicle type.

:rolleyes: the sh*te you come out with.

opinion guy

Neilw wrote: »

I'd happily pay €250 to get the County I wanted on the car. Has put me off buying cars before.

For the love of God, why ?

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

One advantage of plates having the county of the driver would be to allow Dublin drivers to know who the 'out-of-towners' are and to be ready for unexpected behaviour caused by disorientation, or poor traffic light discipline. Apart from all yellow-plates, there's certainly a few counties on my own personal blacklist, that I always give a wide berth to.

You know plenty of D cars you see on the road could be rentals. And to be fair the lanes etc in Dublin are pretty messed up - I don't blame out of towners for finding things confusing.

cyclopath2001

opinion guy wrote: »

You know plenty of D cars you see on the road could be rentals.

'D' reg, no hub caps ans small yellow sticker on rear windshield= hire car. 'D' reg, no hub caps, no insurance disc, funny aerial= something else. You've got to use every pice of info you can. And yes, it's understandable that out-of-towners will make mistakes, so, the easier to spot them the better.

monkeypants

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

I don't know about you, but I risk-analyse based on year, county, behaviour and vehicle type.

Could you please explain how you perform a risk analysis based on year?

-Chris-

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

I had a Monaghan-registered jeep in front of me this afternoon, while stopped at red lights he was constantly inching forward. Then when the lights changed, he didn't see the signal as he was too far forward. Happened twice, then at the third set he was in a dedicated right hand filter lane and then decided to go straight.

I don't know about you, but I risk-analyse based on year, county, behaviour and vehicle type.

Was your previous point not that under the current system you can't tell where someone's from by their reg?

Gophur

It's an excellent suggestion and one that could create extra revenue for the State. If nobody re-registered their car then we'd only be the same as we are now, if many do it the State would benefit.
For one thing, it would stop the sheer and utter BS that dealers, especially in Dublin, use to denigrate any non-D registered car.

I know a man, trading a spotless Mercedes, who was refused a trade-in quote in four Dublin dealers, because his car do not have a "D" plate. His car was a much better example, guaranteed, than 99% of similar aged cars with "D" plates.

Atomic Pineapple

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

I had a Monaghan-registered jeep in front of me this afternoon, while stopped at red lights he was constantly inching forward. Then when the lights changed, he didn't see the signal as he was too far forward. Happened twice, then at the third set he was in a dedicated right hand filter lane and then decided to go straight.

So how did you manage to find out where the driver was from?

djimi

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

One advantage of plates having the county of the driver would be to allow Dublin drivers to know who the 'out-of-towners' are and to be ready for unexpected behaviour caused by disorientation, or poor traffic light discipline. Apart from all yellow-plates, there's certainly a few counties on my own personal blacklist, that I always give a wide berth to.

Disorientation and poor traffic light discipline? Do you think that there are no traffic lights outside of Dublin or something, or that people from outside the capital are not used to driving in built up areas? What a strange outlook on driving...

Our man in Havana

I currently own a D reg car, but I am not from Dublin. Who would have gussed that such a thing was possible.

opinion guy

Haddockman wrote: »

I currently own a D reg car, but I am not from Dublin. Who would have gussed that such a thing was possible.

Yet I am in Dublin and have a non-D reg car!
Weird !!!!

-Chris-

You guys should swap, otherwise Cyclopath won't know which of you understands how traffic lights work.

cyclopath2001

djimi wrote: »

Disorientation and poor traffic light discipline? Do you think that there are no traffic lights outside of Dublin or something, or that people from outside the capital are not used to driving in built up areas? What a strange outlook on driving...

I know there are traffic lights outside of Dublin.

People who are not familiar with their route are going to be, on average, more likely to make sudden unannounced stops or changes of lane or direction.

So, if there's any way to anticipate the unexpected, I'll use it.

ahal

I saw this the other day alright. Total red herring. My only guess is that this is to start a debate on the registration system we have, then it'll be decided "Ah sure, while we're at it let's look at the year system as well".

Of course that would be the year system that pressured so many to buy new and served the trade well for 21 years, but now it doesn't suit anymore. I see this county drivel as a smokescreen.

Smoke and daggers even (Shakespeare? - eh, maybe not )

Tony.

mike65

I'd pay not to have certain county plates.

Stephen

I'm all for a German-like system where you keep your reg for as long as you live in a particular place.

changes

I would support a complete change where neither the county or the year were on the plate.

But so long as the county is on it i'd pay the €250 for a DL number plate.

MunsterCycling

€250 ffs, it should be nothing of that magnitude, its a simple database field change and takes no more than 15 secs to complete, €75 at most

-Chris-

It costs €1,000 to reserve a reg, €250 is a relative bargain! :rolleyes::D

bogmanstar

Rough roads will mean you need new shocks and possibly springs and some bushes etc; but as any dealer will (not) tell you, a city car is always more shagged than a car that’s been used in rural or on motorway areas. Motor cars wear out relative to the number of hours they have been run for, the number of times the engine has been started (particularly from cold), and the number of times brakes, clutch, gear change etc have been used. 10 miles in the middle of a busy city is like 60 miles on the motorway.

The comments about culchie and Nordie drivers are par for the course for any capital city dweller; they’re just better at everything, according to themselves : ) In reality, careless drivers are everywhere in Ireland, city and country, North and South. In the South, matters are not helped by having thousands of unqualified drivers on the roads. You see inept drivers every day on Irish roads – nervous about filtering onto motorways / meandering over while lines / switching lanes without warning / jumping red lights / driving in cycle lanes / suicidal overtaking deriving from an inability to read roads or gauge speed of oncoming traffic / daydreaming and texting etc. The last estimate (no-one’s too sure) was around 400,00 drivers with no licences. Throughout Ireland, lane discipline is poor in or out of town. However, while an out-of-towner may dither (when frantically looking for guidance from inner-city Dublin’s haphazard signage and arbitrary traffic flow “systems”), at least they may be less likely to cut you up and to jump red lights like a Dublin taxi driver. On motorways, we tend to tailgate, hog the overtaking lane and then cut in at the last minute when spotting an exit. At roundabouts, indicators are optional, it’s always good to keep drivers seeking to enter the roundabout guessing ... Driving standards are noticeably better in Germany and Scandinavian countries; not least because the Scandinavians require people to pass meaningful driving tests, instead of the excuses for a test that currently apply both North and South. We have a suburban-oriented driving test. We’re deemed competent to drive any car(!) in all conditions by virtue of doing some stage-managed, gentle, low-speed manoeuvres in a quiet suburban housing estate at speeds of less than 30 mph in a little underpowered Micra or similar. Among other inexcusable omissions:

- Motorway driving is neither taught nor tested.
- Night driving is neither taught nor tested.
- Safe and effective cornering is neither taught nor tested.
- Reading the (rural) road / use of ‘vanishing points’ is neither taught nor tested.
- And, above all, winter driving and low-grip driving (snow, ice, rain on ice, surface water, diesel, gravel, leaves, over-banding, manhole covers, mud, grass cuttings) is neither taught nor tested; as is evidenced by the near-hysteria that grips the country once we have an inch of snow.

As for county plates – why not switch it to your home county if that keeps you happy? As it is, quite a few people put county stickers or Manchester Utd and Liverpool etc badges on their cars; so there is a human need to display identity. What good Cork-man wants to be mistaken for a Dub : ) To say nothing of the angst that being seen driving a culchie plate may cause to some of our Dublin friends. What really needs to happen is to take off the year as that encourages new car snobbery. And changing a plate should be a simple and cheap thing to do. You can do it in the North for a few quid; can’t remember exact price, but it’s nowhere near 250. Other countries manage this no problem as usual we make a big fuss about it and suggest to rip everyone off in the process.

-Chris-

Wow, that's quite a mouthful!

R.O.R

-Chris- wrote: »

Wow, that's quite a mouthful!

And that's what she said!

Atomic Pineapple

Having a split year on the number plates makes more sense.

JJJJNR

Great idea would do away with people paying over the odds for a D reg... FYI MarkN

Actually 250 euros LOL thats a bit much.

opinion guy

draffodx wrote: »

Having a split year on the number plates makes more sense.

Huh ? What do you mean ?

Our man in Havana

One reg covering Jan to June and other to cover Jul to Dec.

opinion guy

Haddockman wrote: »

One reg covering Jan to June and other to cover Jul to Dec.

Hmmm actually thats not a bad idea. how would you do it - a letter

90 D 12345 A A meaning Jan to June
90 D 67890 B B meaning July to Dec

CiniO

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

I don't know about you, but I risk-analyse based on year, county, behaviour and vehicle type.

How would you risk analyse me?
You could meet me in Dublin in
01D Fiat Bravo
03MO Nissan Primera
03G Transit
90WH Volvo Vanhool

In all cases the same driver?
What would be your risk-assesment while meeting me in those cars?