Blocked out number plates in ads

Peterbilt

Greetings all. What's the story with ads where cars have their plates hidden? Does it automatically ring alarm bells - dodgy history, dodgy paperwork etc - or am I missing something here???

dar_cool

No, means seller doesnt want to give his address away, which could be found if say an nct employee or gardai employee wanted to find it.

Alanstrainor

dar_cool wrote: »

No, means seller doesnt want to give his address away, which could be found if say an nct employee or gardai employee wanted to find it.

Ah jaysis, that's reading into it a bit much isn't it?

People hide regs because they're stupid. They think they're being safe, but they are really just putting buyers off. You'll hear of people talking about wanting to prevent cloning of your plates etc, but I don't buy it. They could get that info in any car park in Dublin for most cars.

californiabear

I know someone who had their car for sale and then started getting bills for unpaid M50 tolls. Turned out their reg had been cloned and was being used on another car of same model and colour. Took ages to prove and sort out. This could be one reason why people hiding reg in ads, but I agree the same info is available if you stroll around any street looking for a parked car of same model and colour.

grogi

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Ah jaysis, that's reading into it a bit much isn't it?

People hide regs because they're stupid. They think they're being safe, but they are really just putting buyers off. You'll hear of people talking about wanting to prevent cloning of your plates etc, but I don't buy it. They could get that info in any car park in Dublin for most cars.

Take a typical get-away car - a lexus GS450h. How much driving would you need find number for a black one? I needed 30 seconds to find one - https://www.motorcheck.ie/free-car-check/06d50724/...

Skatedude

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Ah jaysis, that's reading into it a bit much isn't it?

People hide regs because they're stupid. They think they're being safe, but they are really just putting buyers off. You'll hear of people talking about wanting to prevent cloning of your plates etc, but I don't buy it. They could get that info in any car park in Dublin for most cars.

only if same car and colour , or you can simply look up the same car and colour in seconds on a car sales site and get a set of plates made. Only an idiot would not block out their plates on a sales site.

I love Sean nos

Peterbilt wrote: »

Does it automatically ring alarm bells - dodgy history, dodgy paperwork etc

It would for me, yes. I'd want the reg to run a Cartell report or similar. Also to check tax and possible insurance costs. I suppose I could visit the seller and get it then, but then I'm possibly viewed as a timewaster as I'm not going to purchase at that point, or even ask for a test drive, without making the checks mentioned above.

bazz26

This topic of thread pops up very regularly.

I can see a seller's point of view, they doesn't want to make it super easy to have their reg plates cloned, used in scams, etc.

The solution as I see it, is that a genuine interested buyer will ring the seller, ask a few questions about the car and either ask for the registration to do a history check or go view the car at which stage they will see the registration anyway and then decide if it's worth doing a history check. A genuine seller would have no problem giving the reg over the phone once an inquiry has been made, if they have nothing to hide.

xabi

californiabear wrote: »

I know someone who had their car for sale and then started getting bills for unpaid M50 tolls. Turned out their reg had been cloned and was being used on another car of same model and colour. Took ages to prove and sort out. This could be one reason why people hiding reg in ads, but I agree the same info is available if you stroll around any street looking for a parked car of same model and colour.

This is why I do it, had my plates cloned last year and started getting M50 bills, Guards couldnt do anything.

Old Perry

Its funny, sometimes I see lads block out the reg then show a picture of their nct or tax clearly stating reg number.

grogi

Old Perry wrote: »

Its funny, sometimes I see lads block out the reg then show a picture of their nct or tax clearly stating reg number.

But that's enough for the crooks to move to next ad.

mgn

What about garages who but there name on the plates.Are the stupid too.
It's not a big job to ring or message seller for reg,If the don't give it forget about it.

Peterbilt

Car in question on Done Deal for only €150, in Galway, 2002 1.6 Focus, 150000 miles. Was curious about the plates
though. Car would be for someone else, so wasn't sure.

Peterbilt

Well crap. It's gone. Wasn't 2 full days on there either. Nice black Zetec model. Ah well. Sounded a bit
too good to be true though. Always late for the party I am....
Anyway thanks all for the replies.

RoboRat

From someone who works for a dealership the reason we block the number plates is so a car thief doesn't get a fake reg done up and put it on the same spec car they have stolen.

biko

It's usually done by seller as some sort of precaution but tbh it's just annoying.

Bigus

biko wrote: »

It's usually done by seller as some sort of precaution but tbh it's just annoying.

Yes, a precaution of making an actual sale .