Hello - Im looking at getting a new plate for my car as it had a personal one on it when I bought it which I dont really like so I want to sell it - has anyone done this themselves without using a company like regtransfers and if so is it fairly straight forward to do? Ta 
Mark,the plate remains with the vehicle unless you pay for it on āRETENTIONā once you have done this the plate is āshelvedā for you and the car reverts back to itās exsisting plate or, if that can not be determined or itās year of manufacture then DVLA will issue it with a āQā plateā¦
take ALL relevant paperwork (log book,MOT,Tax disc) and get an application for retention at the local DVLA office to you and they will do it over the counterā¦
the whole process takes approx 7 days.you will be given a certificate to prove ownership and a further certificate permitting a number plate maker to make the plates for youā¦
Totally correct except for the āthey do it over the counterā not anymore as I have just found out. I am having to take my car to be inspected by DVLA before they will let me put my private plate on retention. I applied, in person, on the 4th Jan and got the inspection date for 22nd Jan. This has held up the sale of the car as you are not allowed to sell it till all has been passed. Pain in the butt as I cant get my new car.This is not done to all retention applications, apparently about 25% get picked out, something to do with combating āringingā. worth bearing in mind if you need it done in a hurry
Ditto to the above. You can also phone up DVLA and ask them to send you the form. You can then do it through the post and IIRC it took me about two weeks. I was lucky not to get asked to take the car in for inspection, since it was SORN-ed, not taxed or tested, and so it would have cost me more to get it towed for inspection than the plate was probably worth (but I wanted to save the plate because it was my parentsā initials, Iād bought the car off them when they emigrated and I wanted to keep the plate for them in case they ever ended up back in the UK and wanted it again)
Donāt know how you go about selling the plate privately (i.e. NOT using someone like regtransfers). You can do it (the forms you get from DVLA will explain how you transfer a number once itās on retention. Thereās forms to fill in and a fee to pay, but itās not difficult), but I think the difficulty will be finding a potential buyer. My understanding of regtransfers and similar coās is that they basically act as a big shop window of available plates and the amount they charge you is like an agentās fee (for finding a buyer, and, if necessary, for doing the transfer paperwork on your behalf).
If your reg was specific to a type of car or bike then I suppose you could advertise via an ownersā club for that car/bike. Otherwise, your problem will be finding a cheap way to advertise widely enough that you manage to find the buyer who wants your plate
Cheers for the replies - just what I needed Im gonna pop up the DVLA offices & the post office tomorrow to get it sorted. My cars been SORN since August so hopefully I wont have to take it anywhere to be inspected! Gonna advertise my plate on a few forums that Im on & ebay etc so I dont have to pay regtransfers etc their fee.
look on regtransfers though to give you some idea of its worth
Got my current plate valued at Ā£400 - plate Im buying is Ā£180 