Covered up registration plates.

carchaeologist

In many ads on various car sales sites these days you can see cars and vans for sale with their plates covered up with bits of cardboard or rags.
Why would you do this, is it to hide a UK reg, or hide a ringer or to stop a history search being performed?

If I see it done to a car I wonder is there something dodgy going on. Anyone else have a view on this?

trevorbrady

I advertised a car on donedeal a couple of years ago with the reg plate in full view. I had a couple of people call me up just to tell me that it was the wrong colour. I had repainted it and not updated the log book with the new colour. They had run the number through cartell and it came up as a different colour and obviously they were feeling a little lonely that evening and just had to reach out and touch. They had no interest in buying, just being busy bodies...

That can't be the reason for blocking the number though, it does look a litte shady when you see it on ads...

GalwayKiefer

Leaving the reg plates visible in photos makes it easy for someone with a stolen car to find an exact match to the car they have so they can get matching plates made up. That'd be my take on it anyway.

WolfgangWeisen

GalKiefer wrote: »

Leaving the reg plates visible in photos makes it easy for someone with a stolen car to find an exact match to the car they have so they can get matching plates made up. That'd be my take on it anyway.

This is spot on. Online car advertisements makes car cloning easier than ever. Blocking the registration number is a simple step to protect yourself from becoming a victim of it.

carchaeologist

Interesting views lads. And all good points.

okistag

A friend of mine in the UK who is a dealer told me the reason's for it as said above to stop stolen cars taking up new ID.

Also conman, would get all the vehicles details from HPI check and were able to re finance a vehicle as 99% of cars for sale or with dealers were free of finance..

Blanking registration plates started in the UK.

red sean

Was chatting a dismantler last year and he said the guards called to ask to have any reg plates visible from the road removed. Car cloning was the reason given.

MrFoxman360

I am aware of the reasons for covering up a reg, but it puts me off any car when I see the reg covered up.

Especially a vintage or classic car with the reg hidden, makes me suspicious as to what is being concealed, what with ringing of cars and all that :rolleyes:

Although thats probably the very reason why they do it in the first palce!

2cv

The boys and girls from the Revenue check online ads on a daily basis. As we all know, it's illegal to sell a UK registered car in this country...

I had a chat with someone in the VRO in Cork about this a while back and she confirmed that they do track these cars... If you buy a UK reg car here, and you bring it in to be re-registered, that's when they hit you with the penalties ;-)

This is why i won't even look at UK registered cars online anymore, unless they're in the UK

ianobrien

If I was selling a car through Done Deal or any website, I'd probably cover the last digits but leave the year exposed. The reason is to stop car cloning etc. However, if somebody phoned and seemed interested, I would tell them the full reg no.

That being said, being involved in Motorsport had its benefits in that there is a good "bush telegraph" and I've never had to advertise any of my cars. All I had to do was put the word out. Also, if I was looking for a certain type of car, I'd also put the word out before looking at the web.

trevorbrady

out of interest, has anyone come across a "ringed" car, i.e. the faux twin of their car? Not a UK car with an Irish reg applied to it. I mean a duplicate of an existing, roadworthy Irish car...

Strikes me of internet scare mongering really...

2cv

A friend of mine bought a 05 Golf about a year and a half ago.... when the book didn't come and she couldn't book an NCT appointment, she got suspicious....

took the car to the gards and it turned out to be a 07 Golf that was stolen in Belfast. The guy that sold it spotted a 05 golf in Dublin, copied the reg and the day before she collected the car, he broke into the 05 Golf to steal the tax disk and the NCT disk.

So hiding your reg online doesn't mean your car can't be cloned. Simply driving it around is enough ;-)

trevorbrady

2cv wrote: »

he broke into the 05 Golf to steal the tax disk and the NCT disk.

yeah, I've met a real live car thief and he confirmed that this happens. He admitted to having done it himself to sell on a stolen car.

still though, that's high value modern cars where it's worth the risk of jail. Does it happen with classics? And yeah, you're more at risk of having your reg copied on the open road than on donedeal I would have thought...

carchaeologist

A friend sold a Stag recently that was here since about 1997 but never cleared nor driven in this country. does that mean the guy who bought it gets nailed with the back VRT?

2cv

carchaeologist wrote: »

A friend sold a Stag recently that was here since about 1997 but never cleared nor driven in this country. does that mean the guy who bought it gets nailed with the back VRT?

Possibly....

When you re-register a car, you need proof of when the car came into the country. If you don't have proof, it's up to them to decide...

Now, if that car was advertised a couple of years back, and the Revenue has a record of that car being on sale, he's goosed

carchaeologist

2cv wrote: »

Now, if that car was advertised a couple of years back, and the Revenue has a record of that car being on sale, he's goosed

Nope. It was in a shed since it arrived here. Had a history file like the bible, but that's not really going to make a difference to the new owner when registering it.

vektarman

Here's a linked cloned car story in the Indo:
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/motorists-warned-over-number-of-cloned-cars-sold-by-crime-gangs-2481537.html

Included in it is: 'The vehicle is fitted with a false registration plate, matching a similar model, and the identity number is either replaced or removed while alterations are made to the stamped-in chassis number.'

trevorbrady

high value stuff that some folk might consider worth the risk of getting caught and doing time over.

But cloned (relatively) low value classics? While I'd hate to see it happen, I'd still be interested to hear about it. Albeit a morbid interest...

Capri

2cv wrote: »

The boys and girls from the Revenue check online ads on a daily basis. As we all know, it's illegal to sell a UK registered car in this country...

I had a chat with someone in the VRO in Cork about this a while back and she confirmed that they do track these cars... If you buy a UK reg car here, and you bring it in to be re-registered, that's when they hit you with the penalties ;-)

This is why i won't even look at UK registered cars online anymore, unless they're in the UK

I brought this up a while ago about the number of UK reg'd cars for sale on DD etc, then I bought one off someone who'd left it here as he was flying on to Spain. I wanted to make it commercial but could I get the 'commercial' specs off Revenue / NCT - passed from Billy to Jack and back without any info , so I'm selling it 'for export' :cool:
Might even export meself from this kip too :P

MercMad

If you look on Donedeal now you will see any number of cars listed as "for export". Its because they were bought, kept in sheds until they were 30YO, but the rules changed and they are stuck and dont want to pay the full VRT.

There are plenty of UK reg'd cars in the country for sale but you are looking for trouble unless they have arrived in the last week.

corktina

MercMad wrote: »

If you look on Donedeal now you will see any number of cars listed as "for export". Its because they were bought, kept in sheds until they were 30YO, but the rules changed and they are stuck and dont want to pay the full VRT.

There are plenty of UK reg'd cars in the country for sale but you are looking for trouble unless they have arrived in the last week.

thats not really true. A registered Dealer can hold stocks on foreign plates for however long it takes to find a buyer.

Can you post a link to the "fro export" listing?

Carazy

corktina wrote: »

thats not really true. A registered Dealer can hold stocks on foreign plates for however long it takes to find a buyer.

Can you post a link to the "fro export" listing?

Why is this the case for 'dealers'?

Kenny Logins

trevorbrady wrote: »

out of interest, has anyone come across a "ringed" car, i.e. the faux twin of their car? Not a UK car with an Irish reg applied to it. I mean a duplicate of an existing, roadworthy Irish car...

Strikes me of internet scare mongering really...

Yes. Not my car, but I do know somebody that has had a visit from the Gardaí after 'his car' was chased through Smithfield one weekend, 140 odd miles from where it was parked.

trevorbrady

Kenny Logins wrote: »

Yes. Not my car, but I do know somebody that has had a visit from the Gardaí after 'his car' was chased through Smithfield one weekend, 140 odd miles from where it was parked.

classic or modern motor?

Kenny Logins

trevorbrady wrote: »

classic or modern motor?

Yep, I get you now. It was a modern car, Impreza, and plated just for duration of the joyride/getaway.

KM88

2cv wrote: »

The boys and girls from the Revenue check online ads on a daily basis. As we all know, it's illegal to sell a UK registered car in this country...

I had a chat with someone in the VRO in Cork about this a while back and she confirmed that they do track these cars... If you buy a UK reg car here, and you bring it in to be re-registered, that's when they hit you with the penalties ;-)

This is why i won't even look at UK registered cars online anymore, unless they're in the UK

Pfffftttt!
Those girls in the VRO in Cork do love winding you up.

Do-more

I remember many years ago a haulier getting caught cloning his own trucks so that he could run two trucks on the one tax and insurance. All was fine until one day two trucks with the same reg were parked on either side of the street in Moate and an observent Garda spotted that they both had the same number.

hi5

Do-more wrote: »

I remember many years ago a haulier getting caught cloning his own trucks so that he could run two trucks on the one tax and insurance. All was fine until one day two trucks with the same reg were parked on either side of the street in Moate and an observent Garda spotted that they both had the same number.

It was a common practice back in the day,a haulier in Kilkenny used to do the same.
It was joked that you could overtake one of his trucks going the same direction and then meet the same truck later on coming in the opposite direction:D, all his trucks were the same model and colour.

galwaytt

2cv wrote: »

.. If you buy a UK reg car here, and you bring it in to be re-registered, that's when they hit you with the penalties ;-)

Nonsense. If you've just bought it, you're not liable for penalties - they guy who sold it, maybe, but not you.....

I bought a UK reg vehicle, off an ad on DD in the last few weeks. It was here since March 2011, and, they knew about it: the guy had booked the inspection at NCT, and never turned up. I found out when I went to book it, and they had all the details already.

They just gave me a new date, and took my cash. They could care less where it had lain for the last year...