First Hello From A Newbie - And In Need Of Advice

[ant_8u]

Hi Guys
I've just recently found this forum, and rather than lurk around in the background I thought I'd say Hello and introduce myself



My name's Anthony, I'm 29 years old and I live in Warwickshire.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, bubble baths, and reading poetry


About ten years ago I owned a low mileage Willy 3. The thing was immaculate


One day (around five years ago) my car got severely vandalised, and the insurance company wrote it off. I was gutted


Ever since then I've always wanted another one, but didn't know if it would ever compare to my last car. I've always been worried that it wouldn't really feel like it was "my car"


Anyway, after five years I reckon I've finally got over myself, and I'm on the look out for another minter - So if anyone has one for sale please let me know


So, now I've got that out of the way, let's get to the difficult part of this post.....


My old car had a registration number which I'd like to transfer onto my new car


I spoke with the insurance company at the time my car was written off and they said all I had to do is let the dvla know when I have a new car to transfer the reg onto


I also got a letter from the insurance company saying they have no interest in the reg number


Now, here's the bad news.....
I spoke to the dvla this morning and told them I'd like to reinstate my old reg number shortly, but they told me I can't and that it's lost/gone forever


They said the insurance company should have told me to put the number plate on retention, and that as my old car has been scrapped ie; no longer exists there's no way they'll ever allow me to use my old reg number again


That was a pretty rubbish phone call!


So, I'm looking for some advice and experiences from you guys


Has anyone else ever been through this?
Has anyone been able to reuse a number from a previously scrapped vehicle, or am I just wasting my time in pursuing this?


Thanks guys
Any help you can offer is really appreciated

[p4cks]

If the DVLA say it's gone then normally that's that I'm afraid. Welcome by the way.

And I'll have an immaculate Williams 2 for sale soon if you're interested (having already finished my Williams 3 which I will never ever sell!). I'm currently restoring it to its former glory and is currently away having a respray. I've got a thread going on Pistonheads if you want to have a look.

[ant_8u]

Thanks buddy

I spoke to a couple of people at the dvla
The first person said it's down to the discretion of someone at my local office
The second person said I'd got no chance as my car had already been scrapped

I'll have a look on pistonheads to see how you're getting on

Can I ask, how come you're keeping the 3, but doing up the 2 to sell on?

Thanks

[p4cks]

I bought the '3' last year as a winter hack, and planned to spend just a couple of quid on it to tidy it up. Over £4k later I am pretty much finished it as there isn't much else to do on it. My other car is a Z4 Coupe which never goes wrong so my weekends have been quiet of late and I love tinkering, hence why I bought the '2'. It's very satisfying when people admire the work you've done and I thought I'd do one and let someone else reap the reward as not everyone wants to take on a tired, 17 year old French car!

Hope that made sense!

[ant_8u]

Sounds good to me

[ant_8u]

Update time

Since my last postings on here, I've continued looking for a car, but without much success

BUT, I think I have now found the most perfect car for me


I'm going to see the car next weekend to check it over and see what work needs doing

The bad news is I don't think it's in very good condition
But despite that, I still think this is "the car" that I have to own

I'll provide more details after I've been to see the car
Fingers crossed it's in better condition than I'm imagining




(From past experiences I know I should be buying the best car I can afford, but as always, there's a story behind this one.......Isn't there always??)

[ant_8u]

Ok guys, I'm in need of some ideas

I'm based in Warwickshire/West Midlands, and the car I'm interested in is as far south as could be
It's around 250 miles away, and would take 4 hours to drive down to it

I've already thought about getting the train, but the lines are closed due to damage from the bad weather


I obviously want to inspect the car before buying it, but I really wouldn't want to do this trip twice
So, I think I have to go and view the car whilst being prepared to buy it there and then

The problem with that is the car is SORN, and I don't know if it's got an MOT or not yet

Because of this, I think I need to go and inspect it, and take a trailer with me
That way if it's no good I can walk away, but if I do decide to buy it I can just chuck it straight on the trailer

The only downsides to this are......I haven't got a towbar, and I don't know anyone that could check the car over for me (because I don't know what I'm doing)

I think I could get around the trailer problem by hiring a car transporter instead, but that still leaves me with a lot of effort, and still having to inspect the vehicle by myself


I'm hoping someone will read this and come up with a good idea regarding how I can get the car inspected and transported

I know there are companies out there that can do things like this, but I've heard bad stories from people which has scared me off

Is there anyone on here that could offer any assistance or suggestions?


Thanks to everyone in advance

[Wobba]

Where is the Williams? Is it someone's here?

A few members go check cars out for other members if they are local to save people the journey, just depends where it is

[ant_8u]

Thanks for the reply mate
very much appreciated

The car isn't owned by a forum member
It's located in the South West of the country, around the Lostwithiel area

I think I'm going to have to hire a car transporter and drive down to view the car
That way, if it's a goer I'll load it onto the transporter, and if It's a no-go I'll just leave it.

I'll have lost out on the cost of the transporter hire and petrol money, but at least I won't have to do the drive twice......and I've pretty much made my mind up that I have to buy this particular car, just so long as it's not a death-trap.......so if I didn't go prepared to buy it I'd only have to drive back down there the following weekend anyway

If there's anyone here that fancies a day out in Lostwithiel with me I'd really appreciate the support

[16v_paddy]

Laine_16v is the man to ask as he's in St. Austell