New Car Registration

steps_3314

Hi all

Bought a new car last week (2012)

Whilst haggling with the dealer he mentioned that he could get a discount for me if I allowed him to register the car in the dealers name and then register it in my name afterwards or something to that affect. He said the manufacturers are looking to get their numbers up at the end of the month so that would be the best time to apply. Anyway I didn't want to wait until the end of the month so went ahead and no more was said.

Anyway collected the car and I think he may have done just that anyway and did not pass on the discount. I don't mind about the discount but just wanted to check if anyone knows about this. And if so how can I tell if this was the case. He also put his own set of number plates on the car with the name of the garage. This is something I am also unsure of. Does every new car contain the name of the dealer where the car was bought on the number plates or can the plate contain no dealers name.

Hope I am being clear.

If he did register the car in their name before mine I doubt it means anything but would still be curious to know.

Cheers for reading

kleefarr

I think you had better find out who it's registered to.
If it's not registered to you, I would think that someone else (Dealer) is the owner on paper.

loconnor1001

I bought a used car last year and the dealer name and number was on the plates.

Eire sun

Also if they registered it first, would that not make it second hand before you got it

Yakuza

I bought a prereg in 2010. I was the second owner on the logbook (Nissan being the first) so any new-for-old clause in my insurance wouldn't apply (something to note) but I paid 26K cash for a car that retailed at 31K, so the prereg discount was somewhere around 2.5-3k for me. I traded it in this year (same garage) and the price I got for it was the same as it would have been had I not bought a prereg, so being one didn't affect its trade in value.

Gumbo

Op, you better find out quick as it makes a difference on whether you are the first owner or second owner.

Come sale time, you will have a two owners car instead of a one owner car.

Tropheus

I bought a new BMW a few years back and the dealer wanted to register it in their name. Told me that it's easier to sell it as a demo when they take it as a trade in.

I reckon it was also to make sure that I went back to them with repeat business. I declined as it sounded messy when it came to taxing the car. I also had concerns around what would happen if the dealer went out of business.

steps_3314

So like i say i did not agree to this but somehow i think this is what may have happened.

How can i check if this was the case without contacting the dealer which i will do at some stage.

Im concerned now like previos posters said i bought a car which in theory is second hand and when it comes to selling it it has had 2 owners which may or not make a differenence.

I dont like the fact i did not give permission to do this.

PaddyFagan

When you get the registration documents the number of owners will be on it - it should be 1 (you), if it says 2 it means it was registered to someone else (the dealer) first.

But if you're talking about the number plate surounds with the dealers details in the orignal post - they'll put these on any car they sell. The only indication of the pre-reg will be in the documentation as listed above.

Paddy

Padraig Mor

This happened to me before. I bought a new Citroen C5 in 2008. I got a pretty serious discount (~25%) which the dealer put down to "a lot of help from Citroen". What he didn't tell me though was that it would be a pre-reg. I only found this out as I got no VLC in the post (the dealer had taxed it for me with money I gave him). Only on following up did I find out the car I was driving was in fact registered to the dealership! They initially refused to change it into my name until the car would be three months old, but relented when I threatened to involve the Gardai.

Dealers doing this are usually playing fast and loose with the rules. The distributor gives them a car at a discount price to use as a demo on condition that they do not sell it until it is X months old and/or has Y miles on the clock (to help preserve new car values). A dealer who sells a pre-reg without permission will hold onto the VLC to show to a distributor in case of audit (i.e. "I still have that car").

It's also worth noting that the first question most insurance companies ask you is if the car is registered in your own name.

mytime

PaddyFagan wrote: »

When you get the registration documents the number of owners will be on it - it should be 1 (you), if it says 2 it means it was registered to someone else (the dealer) first.

But if you're talking about the number plate surounds with the dealers details in the orignal post - they'll put these on any car they sell. The only indication of the pre-reg will be in the documentation as listed above.

Paddy

This is incorrect section J3 of the tax book will have number of previous owners on it. It should read 0 as there is no previous owners ie you are the first owner. If its says 1 then you are the second owner.

EPM

Padraig Mor wrote: »

It's also worth noting that the first question most insurance companies ask you is if the car is registered in your own name.

That would be my immediate concern. And in addition a like for like replacement (which is the norm with if a new car is beyond economical repair for some reason) may not happen either.

I would sort the insurance out first OP, then go after the dealer. If they have done something underhanded be polite but firm. Threaten to go to the distributor - you might be able to wrangle a few services or something out of this or a replacement car. The car itself will be absolutely fine, and if you plan on keeping it a few years the number of owners will make little difference. Try and get the most benefit to yourself out of this situation.

corktina

Dealers name on the plates/back window/mudflaps and even I have seen them applied to bodywork is a big no for me. I simply specify when ordering that I dont want to be a mobile advert for them

OP check your VRC, if it says number of previous owners anything other than 0, take the car back and ask for a replacement.

steps_3314

So i rang the dealers an they have confirmed that the car was registered in our name first and not as a demo. I guess having the number plates with the dealers name attached was what was leading me to believe we were registered second.

Thanks for all the input folks. Have learned a few things here.

EPM

steps_3314 wrote: »

So i rang the dealers an they have confirmed that the car was registered in our name first and not as a demo. I guess having the number plates with the dealers name attached was what was leading me to believe we were registered second.

Thanks for all the input folks. Have learned a few things here.

Good to hear, when you get the VLC I think it's section J3 is for the number of previous owners just to be sure.

As saif the plates and stickers are par for the course. Usually the first thing I do is take all that off.

steps_3314

Cool, i dont really mind the stickers but thats just a personal thing for people. Would rather without but i dont mind leaving them on if it helps the dealer sell more cars and boost the economy

EPM wrote: »

Good to hear, when you get the VLC I think it's section J3 is for the number of previous owners just to be sure.

As saif the plates and stickers are par for the course. Usually the first thing I do is take all that off.