Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi, i have had a phone call from the dealer that sold me the Morris minor that the DVLA are sending someone out to inspect the car and vin number as the dealer kept the original reg and is having the car re registered is this normal , i am in the middle of doing a restoration the car is striped down to a shell, i did take a plate off the engine bay but i dont think it was a vin number, can someone tell me where the vin number is. thanks

Hi Jeff,
As below.
Best wishes,
Mike.

Yes it is normal... but unless the vehicle is in running order and able to move under its own power, the registration number won't be transferred

Cars of the Moggie era do not have a 'VIN' as such, but they do have chassis & body numbers to add to confusion. As Mike illustrated, it's on the plate on the bulkhead.
The place where it is stamped into the body varies, either on the same bulkhead about 8 inches lower down, or on the interior Drivers floor.
Those with the number on the floor are of course at much greater risk of not having a stamped body number because it will have vanished when a floor has been replaced.....
I'm not sure when the change from stamping on the bulkhead to stamping the floor came about; my SII has it on the bulkhead.

See this old thread: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=55165&hilit=Body+number+location

geoberni wrote: ↑Wed Aug 05, 2020 9:23 am
I'm not sure when the change from stamping on the bulkhead to stamping the floor came about; my SII has it on the bulkhead.

It was around 1965.

Matt wrote: ↑Wed Aug 05, 2020 9:15 am Yes it is normal... but unless the vehicle is in running order and able to move under its own power, the registration number won't be transferred

If dvla refuse to allow the transfer does that mean that the op keeps the original number on his car free?

Well it won't be transferred off it...

jeff-d wrote: ↑Tue Aug 04, 2020 8:13 pm the dealer kept the original reg and is having the car re registered

ianmack wrote: ↑Thu Aug 06, 2020 8:32 am
If dvla refuse to allow the transfer does that mean that the op keeps the original number on his car free?

Seems to be a little bit of confusion here (I do realise I've quoted 2 different people above) if only on my part....

Cherished Number Transfer has strict rules.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ion-number

From the first aspect, I don't see how the Dealer can be having the car re-registered as he's already sold it to jeff-d.
As I understand it, the re-registration should have occurred before he sold it on.
The onus will now be on jeff-d to register it once rebuilt.

On the 2nd point from ianmack, it sounds as thought the Dealer has already separated the vehicle from it's registration and sent off the paperwork to keep the registration or transfer directly to another vehicle.
Again, I think jeff-d has been left in the lurch by the dealer.
It may be that the previous owner kept the reg for another car, but sounds like the Dealer may have seen the opportunity to make a few extra ££ and sell the plates on separately....

But if dvla want to see the car presumably the transfer process has not been completed. If the dealer or previous owner wanted to keep the number they should have done this while they kept the car. The number will only have a value if it can be transferred.

If transfer is allowed dvla allocate a replacement age related number, jeff shouldn’t have to re register it.

ianmack wrote: ↑Thu Aug 06, 2020 11:36 am But if dvla want to see the car presumably the transfer process has not been completed. If the dealer or previous owner wanted to keep the number they should have done this while they kept the car. The number will only have a value if it can be transferred.

If transfer is allowed dvla allocate a replacement age related number, jeff shouldn’t have to re register it.

That's why I'm confused.
I think by stripping the Moggie down for repairs at this time, I thin Jeff may have done himself no favours.
It may all hinge on whether the Dealer has completed Option A or Option B of the V317.
Selling the vehicle on in the middle of the process was not the cleverest of ideas IMHO, not when dealing with DVLA, and then throwing the pandemic into the process too....
You're right, they may refuse the transfer, but I think it more likely they will allow the transfer, but refuse to allocate a new reg to the Moggie until it's roadworthy.

jeff-d wrote: ↑Tue Aug 04, 2020 8:13 pm Hi, i have had a phone call from the dealer that sold me the Morris minor that the DVLA are sending someone out to inspect the car and vin number as the dealer kept the original reg and is having the car re registered is this normal , i am in the middle of doing a restoration the car is striped down to a shell, i did take a plate off the engine bay but i dont think it was a vin number, can someone tell me where the vin number is. thanks

Hi Jeff,
As Matt has pointed out, to be eligible to retain or transfer the registration number the vehicle needs to be able to move under its own power. According to the DVLA website it must also have been taxed or had a SORN in place continuously for the past 5 years.
Do you have the new log book (V5C) in your name? It would seem difficult for the dealer to keep the original reg if DVLA has not completed the transfer yet. The DVLA state "You lose the right to use the reg number if you sell or destroy your vehicle before you get the V778 retention document."

It looks like the dealer has taken shortcuts and that's coming back to bite him as it should. Unless Jeff made a formal agreement to accept a car with an unknown or ambiguous number-plate it's on the dealer to put right - if the DVLA says there's something amiss. Ie if the DVLA says they can't tell the identity of the car so it can't go on the road then the dealer has sold something not fit for purpose.

The registration 'lplates' belong to the DVLA so if you own the car and the plates hadn't been correctly transferred then maybe you now own the right to drive around with them displayed? Sounds like a bit of a minefield.

hi all, i had the DVLA out to inspect the car, i found all the model numbers etc and i have a new reg DVLA are sending me a new log book sometime this week and the dealer has sorted this all out for me so really pleased its done, thanks for all your replies cheers Jeff

jeff-d wrote: ↑Tue Aug 25, 2020 4:32 pm hi all, i had the DVLA out to inspect the car, i found all the model numbers etc and i have a new reg DVLA are sending me a new log book sometime this week and the dealer has sorted this all out for me so really pleased its done, thanks for all your replies cheers Jeff

Can I ask, did you buy the car without a registration? or were you aware the dealer was going to retain the original number?
Have the DVLA allocated you an age related number or a Q plate?

If you have been allocated an age related number that will be non transferable.

Hi Murrayminor i knew the dealer was going to keep the old reg as he tried to sell me it, The new reg is in keeping with the age of the car cheers Jeff