Hypothetically, what would I need to do if I was going to buy an old car to restore and it has no V5 and, more importantly, a chassis number can't be found?

I've not checked over the car myself yet or got the full story but I am told it has no V5 and the owner has not been able to locate a chassis number.

Hypothetically, you would need to keep your wallet in your back pocket and run away in the opposite direction

No chassis number=impossible to get a V5.

You need it to get a V5, there may be a way if you have the registration number. Possible british motor heritage ora club may be able to help. But assume nothing....

If it has ever been MoT'd under the new computerised system chassis no. should be recorded. If you have chassis no. & reg you can apply for V5, but as said, I would be very very wary, or pay price for spares only!

I don't reckon this has seen the road for quite some time but hopefully the owner is just not looking in the right place or needs glasses so I will be having a look over it myself and will have the full story in the next few days.

I remember there being 2 ways to get the V5.. There's two forms from the dvla and I wish I could remember them now...

One of them is a request for a replacement, the owner can do that no problem (theoretically!)

The other is a request to change the V5 to your name, and they contact the previous owner to check the change

I had the latter done to me, I have an old landrover that has been SORN for years now, twice people have tried this to steal the registration number

When I pursued this someone had registered the number against his jaguar and I had to arrange for the police to inspect my old car to prove I still owned it. Both attempts happened in the same time frame so I suspect someone was selling the registration on.

Anyway if you have the car you can prove ownership, however without plates how do you know what you have purchased is not stolen or the registration sold on.

[Edited on 18/4/13 by mark chandler]

Worth noting that cars before a specific date (somewhere around 1973) didnt have to have a chassis number.... My old TVR didn't which caused arguments at every MOT...

Geez.. Jack Dawkins (artful dodger) clearly Lives on in the Country of his birth.
What's that old saw? "you cannot cheat an honest man" :-)

Defo time for some Cardio training chap!


Description


[Edited on 18/4/13 by Daddylonglegs]

18 months or so ago I bought a CB750 with no V5, but the chassis & engine numbers were clear, spoke with DVLA, and they could do nothing without a registration number, I tried several avenues, Phone, Paper form in post, online application, all gt the same response, without a registration number they cannot re issue the registration doc.

The bike had a moth eaten tax disk from 1981, and I could see the letters and 2 number, I knew it was S reg, so went through DVLAs road tax checker, putting in no.s 0 - 9 in the missing spot until I identified the bike as last being taxed in 1981. Sent off a paper form with the reg number chassis number, and got a V5 inside 2 weeks.

I wasn't bothered whether I got a V5 or not, CB750 chassis and V5s are plentiful, and the bike will one day get a full nut and bolt rebuild, OK it might have been considered a ringer, but I was lucky and now have all matching numbers.

Isn't it nice


Chassis1

[Edited on 18/4/13 by r1_pete]

quote:

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Originally posted by tegwin
Worth noting that cars before a specific date (somewhere around 1973) didnt have to have a chassis number.... My old TVR didn't which caused arguments at every MOT...

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Surely the owner of the car has photos of it when it was in a better state to see the reg no ?
and you are sure there are no number plates on or in the car

Getting a V5 is not a problem, as long as its not stolen, or had any other misfortune in its life
as we do not know what car it is, none of us are able to help with prices, but if you go on ebay or any other auction places, what does a car like this one go for ? that would be my concerns , as if its a 50k car, and you can pick it up for 1k i would do it , more than a missing V5, as there are other means of getting a car on the road

Steve

With some of my experiences, if you have no paperwork, walk away. Every case is different, but you really can be letting yourself in for some grief.

Worst grief I had (legally) was the acquisition of an Imp, with no V5, but a partial chassis number. An application for a V5 then came with the Vehicle Inspectorate knocking at the door, with the Police in tow.
I acquired an Ebay van with a green slip (no entire V5) and a (real) MoT, again that went a bit sour when I applied for a V5.

So no, now when I acquire a vehicle it has to have some sound paperwork.

And no, you don't have to have a chassis plate. My pre 1973 Land Rover has no chassis number. The numbers are normally stamped on the dumb irons at the front. Her Majesty's finest then welded huge 1/4" plates down the front and rear legs, covering the chassis stamping, but raising the Landrover a few inches. There's no contention at MoT time, since the V5 is correctly presented.

So taking all the above into consideration, I either need a reg number or chassis number otherwise there could be problems.

I've applied for V5's before but it is quite straight forward when you have both a reg number and VIN! Only problem I've found is trying to get the DVLA to send back a correct amended V5 after I've told them (with the correct form) that I've changed the engine.