Car registered in certain counties harder to sell than others?

Needler

Not trying to stir up anything here but just wondering is there any truth to it? and what is the reason for it, I presume it would be down to small mindedness of the buyers, can't think of anything else.

Leonard Hofstadter

This has been done about a million times, but yes, some people in Dublin are stupid enough to pay more for a car because it has a D reg.

PennyLane88

Yes its true for some people. I'll be honest and say that when i was buying my car last month, that there were a few reg's from certain counties that i wouldnt buy. I don't know why really. Both cars i have owned are not from the same county that i'm living in.

PennyLane88

captainspeed wrote: »

This has been done about a million times, but yes, some people in Dublin are stupid enough to pay more for a car because it has a D reg.

Really? I didnt know that. I wouldn't go paying more money just to have a certain reg, cant afford to be that picky! My car is a D reg and i live in Galway. Some people say to me 'do you mind that its a D reg'?

YouTookMyName

Some Counties have crap roads.

A fella i know said, a dealer in galway wouldn't let him buy a brand new car if he was going putting mayo plates on it, because the dealer would never get rid of it when it was time to trade it in.

I Was VB

Greatest load of ****e, i drive a MH reg atm, i've also driven W, L, LD, TS regs dosent make a blind bit of diffrence, bar fools who wont buy a certain reg.

Zubeneschamali

Check out this post by Prosperous Dave, who was shopping recently for a Laguna. Two identical cars, same age and mileage in the same garage, and the dealer wants €500 extra for the one with the D reg.

Wolverine_1999

I Was VB wrote: »

Greatest load of ****e, i drive a MH reg atm, i've also driven W, L, LD, TS regs dosent make a blind bit of diffrence, bar fools who wont buy a certain reg.

I agree, and disagree.

Where the condition of a car solely depends on how the owner takes care of it, I would be embarrassed to be driving around in certain registrations I think a Dublin reg is the most neutral reg in the country as you see them everywhere. Very rare to actually find a Dubliner driving one outside of Dublin! (i.e the country )

Henry Ford III

Swings and roundabouts I think.

The population is largely based in Dublin, so perhaps that's where the demand is? In addition a D reg might suggest to a buyer that it's avoided the worst of Ireland's roads.

The flip side is that a D reg is likely to be doing a lot of stop start and urban runs, neither of which are good for modern cars, particularly diesels.

bijapos

YouTookMyName wrote: »

Some Counties have crap roads.

A fella i know said, a dealer in galway wouldn't let him buy a brand new car if he was going putting mayo plates on it, because the dealer would never get rid of it when it was time to trade it in.

I find this hard to believe, if it is true then its no wonder some dealers have gone to the wall.

si_guru

When looking at a BMW recently I was advised to put it on D plates to have better resale in the future.

In the end I got a red car on C plates... and I live in Kerry!

The Bishop Basher

Had a C reg once. It never felt right. Having said that I've never noticed any price differential between buying in Dublin and anywhere else. If I did see a difference I would not pay over the odds for a D reg.

Berty

KY Reg driven by a Middle aged man very boring, dull and well serviced.

D reg driven by a scangball around the city on the limiter nearly every other day, serviced in his front garden using parts from Halfords.

Both are on the same used car forecourt, same make/model/year with identical mileage and spec. Which is worth more?

si_guru

Beer Baron wrote: »

KY Reg driven by a Middle aged man very boring, dull and well serviced.

..you don't know my wife do you?

robbie_998

Have a KE reg now and its perfect

the dealer i went to had another civic the exact same (but different color !) and was a "D" reg and was about €750 more expensive and i couldn't for the life of me figure out why.... the mileage was a tiny bit less but only a tiny bit... other than that it was the same car !

driving a KE reg in Dublin.. and i dont care... it makes me special :pac:

and when i do end up in other counties my car is less likely to be burnt out cos my cars says im from kildare !

bigneacy

si_guru wrote: »

..you don't know my wife do you?

Everyone knows your wife si_guru :pac:

(JUST KIDDING!!)

I think if I was looking at a car and the dealer/seller started talking about the little letter(s) in the middle of the reg, I wouldn't need any more of a reason to walk away.

cjt156

We have a C reg and a D reg at home (Dublin), and I've had cars from all over in my time - made no odds to me or to anyone I've sold a car on to.
However as mentioned before I have heard of some who wouldn't drive anything but their own county reg - and its not just a Dublin issue.
I'd agree that D is the most neutral as they end up all over just by sheer numbers.

I'd think twice about a DL plate, though...automotive bandit country...yeah, I said it!:eek::D

furtzy

Used the get chased out of Dublin garages with my MN regs in the past

Wouldn't bother me but I would draw the line at DL regs. Awful roads and the way they drive...no thanks

Matt Simis

Henry Ford III wrote: »

The population is largely based in Dublin, so perhaps that's where the demand is? In addition a D reg might suggest to a buyer that it's avoided the worst of Ireland's roads.

Thats oft repeated but technically incorrect. By far, most of the population lives outside Dublin county. Dublin is the largest singular population centre, however its not even close to "most people in Ireland are in".

S Line

I always get a great kick out of this topic

I think that the D reg. thing is only important on prestige cars. If you decide to trade in say your CL500 / 645i that the biggest market for this car is in Dublin. I bet I’m not wrong when I say that the majority of Dubs would hate to have a ‘bogger’ reg.

Also it’s a county loyalty thing I would proudly drive a car with my county letter on it but IF (fat chance) it came to pass that I was getting a brand new CL65 AMG I would probably put a D on it.

It’s funny and I’m not going to be specific because I don’t want to cause offence but I reckon there is a hierarchy in the motor trade when it comes to county reg’s

As an example I think it’s John Magnier who owns Maybach which I saw once and I’m nearly sure it was TN/TS. On one hand you might say he is a proud Tipp man and wants to show it on the other you could say that it probably should have a D on it but he didn’t because it might annoy his fellow county people.

Same goes for the time I saw a ‘SO’ TVR, I reckon one of Westlife owned it and did to want to be seen to snob their own county with a D on it

Kojak

captainspeed wrote: »

This has been done about a million times, but yes, some people in Dublin are stupid enough to pay more for a car because it has a D reg.

That's absolute madness imo. I couldn't give a fcuk what county reg is on my car, as long as the car is in good condition I couldn't care less.

Wolverine_1999

furtzy wrote: »

Wouldn't bother me but I would draw the line at DL regs. Awful roads and the way they drive...no thanks

Agreed.

Wolverine_1999

Matt Simis wrote: »

Thats oft repeated but technically incorrect. By far, most of the population lives outside Dublin county. Dublin is the largest singular population centre, however its not even close to "most people in Ireland are in".

I don't think he meant it that way.. but more how you suggested, single county with the highest population.

Having said that, the other comment about good roads in Dublin = tosh! The roads which I drive on in Kerry are in better condition than the city centre roads in Dublin.

Man hole too low after man hole too high after road dug up for cabling... I thought my car was going to fall apart by the time I'd gotten out of there

Stevie Dakota

If you're buying a BMW KY makes a lot of sense, makes it less painful come service time.

Wolverine_1999

Stevie Dakota wrote: »

If you're buying a BMW KY makes a lot of sense, makes it less painful come service time.

None left, all broken How I ended up with D reg's..

spoonface

YouTookMyName wrote: »

Some Counties have crap roads.

A fella i know said, a dealer in galway wouldn't let him buy a brand new car if he was going putting mayo plates on it, because the dealer would never get rid of it when it was time to trade it in.

TBH, that sounds like such a made-up story. I mean that these days when almost no-one is buying a new car, that a dealer would risk losing a sale over something tiny like the reg-county. I mean the dealer might never even see the same car again and wouldn't be obliged to accept it for a trade-in if he didn't want to.

Henry Ford III

Matt Simis wrote: »

Thats oft repeated but technically incorrect. By far, most of the population lives outside Dublin county. Dublin is the largest singular population centre, however its not even close to "most people in Ireland are in".

Fair enough.

It follows therefore that in a private resale the single biggest mass market is there too.

Zubeneschamali

spoonface wrote: »

TBH, that sounds like such a made-up story.

Exaggerated somewhat. The Ford salesman didn't want to sell me a green S-Max for this reason (really didn't want to take it back later), but the way he put it was just "I'll offer you €1500 less for a green one at trade-in time, and so will everyone else", which has the same effect.

MugMugs

I refuse point blank to drive an LH reg car. Mainly because I believe that they are the worst drivers on the road and would lose my ranting entitlements if I drove one.

Went to a garage years back to buy my former Passat. She was a 03 MH. I said to the salesman to get some money off her, "I'm not driving a Meath reg car" he very quickly replied, "But Sir, this is not a meath reg.... It's a Malahide reg"

I had to give him kudos for that one so gave him a cheque and drove her home too.

Wolverine_1999

MugMugs wrote: »

I refuse point blank to drive an LH reg car. Mainly because I believe that they are the worst drivers on the road and would lose my ranting entitlements if I drove one.

Had to drive my Aunt's LH reg for a while down here.. no major issues to be honest.

We have the same contingent for bad drivers also however, TN reg's

Matt Simis

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Fair enough.

It follows therefore that in a private resale the single biggest mass market is there too.

Bit of a stretch to suggest selling a car in Meath or Dublin represent different markets does it not? This is small Island after all!
Selling a car in Germany is a different market to the UK.

smash

YouTookMyName wrote: »

Some Counties have crap roads.

I agree with this

YouTookMyName wrote: »

A fella i know said, a dealer in galway wouldn't let him buy a brand new car if he was going putting mayo plates on it, because the dealer would never get rid of it when it was time to trade it in.

But this is not true, the dealer has no say on where it's registered. It has to be registered to the new owners address and in this case it's Mayo. If the dealer doesn't want a trade in come resale then he doesn't have to take it.

bandit197

YouTookMyName wrote: »

A fella i know said, a dealer in galway wouldn't let him buy a brand new car if he was going putting mayo plates on it, because the dealer would never get rid of it when it was time to trade it in.

Nonsense.

YouTookMyName

Believe what ye want to lads.

Maybe i should have said it was back in the boom days.

Swampy

Totally. I've a LH reg but Louth must be in my top 3 hated counties. But the car was worth it!!!!

Leonard Hofstadter

n97 mini wrote: »

Could have been worse tho, she could have had a KY, OY, CE, RN, DL, CN or MN reg. I'd regard them as being lower down the pecking order (i.e. at the bottom), with D at the top and probably followed closely by KE (have you ever seen how flat KE is and how many miles of motorway there is there) and then MH, WW.

Personally, I'd be very hesitant about buying a redneck reg.

I'm sorry but this is a load of absolute tripe.

What the hell is a 'redneck' reg:rolleyes::eek:?

Needler

We don't have enough sunshine for anyone's neck to get red

dgt

My old car was a KK. It was beyond fúcked when I got it and I gave up after 3 years trying to straighten it. I also go stopped alot around Slane by gardai asking "was I local"... My current hack is MH, (conveniently where I'm from) much less hassle trying to straighten it for the road My BMW is WW registered, relatively well minded, my old BMW was a D reg and was treated like crap by the previous owner... Counties don't have a huge im[act on a carshealth its the owner and how they drive it. Some of the roads in Meath are just awful but I mind what I have

Would stay away from KY, DL, CW, LD, WX and CN

-Chris-

n97 mini wrote: »

My apologies. Replace 'redneck' with 'culchie' if it helps.

Infracted for Trolling.

bandit197

YouTookMyName wrote: »

Believe what ye want to lads.

Maybe i should have said it was back in the boom days.

Ahh c'mon, you have to admit that your friend may have been telling stories. Think about it. This dealer wouldn't sell a new car to anyone from Mayo because he reckons he couldn't sell it again after a trade. Did he stop at Mayo? What about the good people of Clare. Was he biased against their reg too? Was his policy just to sell to residents of the county of Galway? I'm sorry but that story is bollocks.

Ellis Dee

I kicked the octane fascist habit about 15 years ago and haven't had a car since then; I use public transport or taxis, or a bike or walk, but I remember in the old days that a car registered in a maritime county was viewed with suspicion if it was a few years old. I don't know if there was any truth to it, but the belief was that the salt in the air in places like Galway or Clare tended to rust cars faster than would be the case with, say, a Westmeath or Offaly or Kidare registration.:)

si_guru

The thing that is funny is that some of you said you would stay away from a KY.. I live in KY. But if I bought and drove a D on the very same roads (as the BMW dealer suggested) you would buy it...

Leonard Hofstadter

si_guru wrote: »

The thing that is funny is that some of you said you would stay away from a KY.. I live in KY. But if I bought and drove a D on the very same roads (as the BMW dealer suggested) you would buy it...

That's exactly why D reg snobbery is so daft!

Mr.Boots

I wouldnt buy a DL reg or a MN reg......Simply because alot of people i know wouldnt either and therefore it leads me to belive it would be harder to sell on.
Im not saying i agree with it but put it this way...a house in ballsbridge is more disireable than the same house in Tallaght....same principle realy.
When i trade in dealers allways ask me what county reg the car has...so it has some standing in the value wheather you like it or not.
Its probably not the dealer driving the price but the market.

CiniO

After reading this thread, I started wondering...

Why is there a county sign on number plates at all...
Very few people keep brand new car for more than few years.
After it it goes to someone else, very often to other county.
What's the point then, in having a county name in your reg?

F.E. in Poland there is a system, that you have to have a reg which complies with the place you live in.
So if you buy a car from someone living in different town, you have to change your number plates. If you move from one place to another, you have to change your plates.
That's stupid, but on the other hand, you know where a person is from... Sometimes that might help people who go into some foreign towns and cities, to be treated more politely by locals, as they don't know the roads and might take the wrong turn, or take the wrong lane, etc...

But I completely can't see a point for county names on Irish number plates, if they stay the same for the whole life of the vehicle.

Leonard Hofstadter

CiniO wrote: »

After reading this thread, I started wondering...

Why is there a county sign on number plates at all...
Very few people keep brand new car for more than few years.
After it it goes to someone else, very often to other county.
What's the point then, in having a county name in your reg?

F.E. in Poland there is a system, that you have to have a reg which complies with the place you live in.
So if you buy a car from someone living in different town, you have to change your number plates. If you move from one place to another, you have to change your plates.
That's stupid, but on the other hand, you know where a person is from... Sometimes that might help people who go into some foreign towns and cities, to be treated more politely by locals, as they don't know the roads and might take the wrong turn, or take the wrong lane, etc...

But I completely can't see a point for county names on Irish number plates, if they stay the same for the whole life of the vehicle.

The pre 87 registration system did it by county as well, but because it was always combinations of two letters that rarely, if ever, had anything to do with the county in question, it didn't really matter.

Like a ZB or a ZG reg. These are Cork and Dublin regs under the old system, but you'd need to be seriously knowledgeable about the number plate system to know this.

With the system used since 1987, it's obvious straight away what county a car was first registered in, and that is the biggest downfall of it, along with the fact that it makes it very obvious to everyone how old your car is. The old system also did things by age, as they used to change codes once all the combinations of letters and numbers were used up, but again you'd really need to know it backwards to try and figure it out!

Even the SIMI don't think the current system is such a good idea, because it means that virtually all the sales for this year are gone now even though we are only half way through the year. Even if scrappage was continuing, it would make SFA of a difference at this stage - sales are always very low between July and December.

savagecabbages

I think the D reg snobbery is mainly amongst people from Dublin. Friend was selling a KY car in the past and a few callers lost all interest once they found the reg out. 'Sure I couldn't be seen in a culchie reg!!'
Fair enough really if someone was going to get slagged of for having one its their money to spend as they like. I dont get it, but whatever!

Theres nothing really wrong with having the county on the car. I do have an issue with the year being on the car though. Here in Ireland there is an obsession with what year a car is. Its a cultural thing i guess. All driven by the motor industry to keep people buying new cars. The result has been the famous 'Paddy/ Spec' shiny new cars devoid of any options or equipment. [this has become less prevalent with the death of the tiger, but ye get the idea]

A friend switched from a '99 206 to a '02 Focus recently. She seemed to go to great lengths to point out that she had 'moved up' 3 years much more than the fact she now has a much better car all round. She could easily have gotten a worse car and still be boasting about having moved up.

The UK has its years displayed, but less obviously and there seems to be much less of a culture of getting the newest car regardless of the penalties paid in getting an inferior car.
/rant:p

Leonard Hofstadter

savagecabbages wrote: »

I think the D reg snobbery is mainly amongst people from Dublin. Friend was selling a KY car in the past and a few callers lost all interest once they found the reg out. 'Sure I couldn't be seen in a culchie reg!!'
Fair enough really if someone was going to get slagged of for having one its their money to spend as they like. I dont get it, but whatever!

Theres nothing really wrong with having the county on the car. I do have an issue with the year being on the car though. Here in Ireland there is an obsession with what year a car is. Its a cultural thing i guess. All driven by the motor industry to keep people buying new cars. The result has been the famous 'Paddy/ Spec' shiny new cars devoid of any options or equipment. [this has become less prevalent with the death of the tiger, but ye get the idea]

A friend switched from a '99 206 to a '02 Focus recently. She seemed to go to great lengths to point out that she had 'moved up' 3 years much more than the fact she now has a much better car all round. She could easily have gotten a worse car and still be boasting about having moved up.

The UK has its years displayed, but less obviously and there seems to be much less of a culture of getting the newest car regardless of the penalties paid in getting an inferior car.
/rant:p

The UK also changes every six months, so there is less of a big deal made every time the reg plate changes over there compared to here, as ours is annually.

And yes, I know a lot of people like your friend who think a car is automatically better because it's newer.

People think an 11 reg 1.6 TDI poverty spec Golf is better than a 10 reg 2.0 TDI with all the extras ffs!

Needler

Maybe they should just change all the regs to a completely randomly selected number in hexadecimal, would sort out a lot of the snobbery although 0xDEADBEEF will be worth quite a bit

rebel.ranter

I bought a car 5 weeks ago (6 Series), there were three cars that were in my narrowed down list an LK, LH & a C reg.
I was not that bothered about the reg on any of them, I was more concerned about the car itself. However what really surprised me was that all the dealers selling them seemed to be concerned about the registrations than I was! They offered unprompted comments like "don't mind the Reg it's a good car", the C Reg was for sale in Dublin & it was the only car on his website that had dealer plates on it for the photos. He even said to me that he was lucky to find a Cork guy to buy it!

Even my wife was put out by the LK Reg & said that the LH was worse!
I went with the C Reg in the end, not for the Reg but because it was the better car of the bunch.

On a related point:
I do think you should be able to change the Reg of your car to your local county & it should also be possible to buy "vanity" plates like the DVLA. Not for my own really, but any extra source of revenue (that's optional) would be welcome. The current system of buying a specific plate in this country is so convoluted & is not really capitalizing on the potential to profit from people's vanity.

Bob Cratchet

The REG has absolutely nothing to do with the car's condition, you get careful and careless drivers anywhere, this is a tiny homogeneous country of 4 million people. Wise up you parochial snobby bumpkins. A good car is a good car. Having said all that, carry on, as it leaves some nice bargains for the rest of us.

I do believe that for privacy reasons the year and the county should not be shown on a plate, that was a scam by the SIMI and FF.