hi all just a quick 1. im on my second cooper D now and i thought i had a good repore with my dealer but found out after doing some research the t**t lied to me about picking my reg from a list he was given by the dvla to put on new car orders. as he said we dont have such a list anymore. well like i said after doing my reserch and even talking to somebody else at the same dealership i found that such list does exsist and i got stitched with the crap reg and it is a crap reg. dealer.. bluebell wilmslow.... dealer name.. oliver jarvis. cheers MR P

To be honest they are usually pretty **** anyway seeing as they require certain digits in relation to the vehicle year, region bought and DVLA office. We generally keep our plates for around 2 years and then stick a private one on them.

I understand you are peeved at the fact he lied to you, but its really not that big a deal.

cheers mate i was pi**ed off as my girlfriend is called mel and on her new car she could choose her reg and guess what **59 mel was avail so she got that lucky git!

There is NO list. The details are entered onto a DVLA system, which then gives you a choice of 3 registration numbers. All the good numbers which can be sold off are removed. So your girlfriend was VERY lucky to have got her name. He didn't lie. In the old days there was a book and you could pick a number.

I hope that helps you.

I believe the explanations on the other side were more than satisfactory. Mr Perfect has had this explained to himself, and it is my belief that this thread can be deleted as it is both unfair and misinformed.

there IS a list...my dad got to choose his reg on his 300C

There is no explanation here. If Mr.Perfect isn't telling the whole story he really should do on here, or someone else could fill in the blanks.

by scrogg

First a quick bit of History...

Years ago, when a car was built, a V55 document was issued by the manufacturer and sent to the dealership that sold the car. The DVLA issued registration numbers to the dealerships in batches of 50 at a time. Most dealerships then wrote these numbers in a book, and allowed customers to choose from the list when they bought a new car (which to some sad individuals was more exciting than choosing the car! ). When the car was ready to be registered the dealership filled the customer details in on the V55, along with the chosen registration number, and took it, along with the customer's insurance and a cheque to cover the cost of the tax, to the local DVLA office, where they registered the car and issued a tax disc.

As you can probably imagine, this was extremely time-consuming and costly, so as levels of new car sales rose and rose the DVLA decided they needed a quicker and simpler way of doing it.

So, in consultation with most of the major manufacturers (incidentally, it was Fiat who did most of the work) they devised a way of registering new cars online without the need for V55s to be printed and sent and without the need for dealerships to drive to their local DVLA office every time. They called this online system Automated First Registration and Licensing (AFRL)

Now, virtually all dealerships use AFRL.

So, what happens now?

When a car is built the details are entered onto the DVLA database by the manufacturer, and into the AFRL system of the dealership that sells it. The dealership attaches the customer details and then clicks 'Get Reg Marks'. AFRL then gives them a choice of 3 registration numbers. No more, no less. There is no list to choose from. The dealership then registers the car, completes the blank tax disc and voilà, the car is ready to be handed over to its new owner.

So how do some dealerships offer a choice?

Well, there are 2 options.

Some are still using the old system, so still get their numbers issued in batches, and some (who clearly have way too much time on their hands and aren't busy enough) will spend ages on AFRL copying each allocation of 3 numbers down until they have compiled their own list.

All dealerships that use AFRL could do the second option, but most see it as a complete waste of time so don't.

So no, generally you do not get to choose your registration number unless you go onto DVLA Personalised Registrations (or one of the commercial sites that sell numbers) and buy one.
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by harpo
Mr Perfect, how can you call an issued number as crap?

Firstly, the last three letters are actually supposed to be a random issue - which doubtless you already knew.

Secondly, I don't suppose for a moment that you were lied to. It was much more likely that the salesman made a genuine mistake, either at the initial conversation, or maybe at the latter. Equally, he may not have been fully trained, or possibly just had a bad hair day.

Finally, there were no fewer than 33 spelling and grammar mistakes in your original post and header - I would have thought a crap number would have been perfect for you.

No pun intended Mr Perfect.


Hope this helps clear things up somewhat.

There is NO list. The details are entered onto a DVLA system, which then gives you a choice of 3 registration numbers. All the good numbers which can be sold off are removed. So your girlfriend was VERY lucky to have got her name. He didn't lie. In the old days there was a book and you could pick a number.

I hope that helps you.


Well I agree with that, because when I bought mozza I had a choice of three.

So someone else from the dealership lied about their being a list, or the first person lied about their not being a list, or did the second person not exist? :confused:

There is NO list. The details are entered onto a DVLA system, which then gives you a choice of 3 registration numbers. All the good numbers which can be sold off are removed. So your girlfriend was VERY lucky to have got her name. He didn't lie. In the old days there was a book and you could pick a number.

I hope that helps you.
listen mate i saw the list they offered my girlfriend with my own eyes!! the dealer had about 30 poss reg in a book you could choose from. cheers MR P

As has been pointed out further up the fact that some dealers use a list, others don't was posted on totalmini. There are two methods of registreing a car and it's down to the dealers internal procedures which they use.

Who's to say they'd have had a "special" reg for you on their list anyway.

You want a special reg, pay for one!

What is it about people these days, they get so angry at the least little thing.

Have dealt with Wilmslow myself, and to be honest found them to be nothing but helpful.

What is the problem? You are buying a car, not a reg plate!

For what it is worth, I got given a choice of about 4 when buying my current car. They did have a long list but most of them were scored out as they were already allocated.

Perhaps you bought the last car for that month or something?

Enjoy your MINI :)

I should maybe add that my car was pre-buillt and available from dealer stock.

I got to pick the reg on my last two Mercs from the list that the dealer had. I went for letters that meant something to me but very little to anyone else.

When my father bought his last car from another dealer, they said that they couldn't do that so I expect it just depends on the dealer.

its not really a big deal.. its just a series of letters and digits why does it matter? if you care what your reg is so much buy a personalized one?

I don't think this warrants naming and shaming a dealer. Lie implies that he deliberately avoided telling the truth, why would he do that if this option was available to him? As has been said, buy a personalised reg if it means that much to you, generally I don't think this is an option so your girlfriend should think herself lucky but to call a dealer a liar seems a bit of a stretch on this basis.