Palio said:

When I bought my Punto back in 1998 I was offered a choice of reg by the dealer - all the letters were the same but they were just off to Oxford to register 510-525 (I think). Did I have a preference as it would just be allocated that day otherwise. Didn't make any difference to me!

I didn't (and don't) see the rush as an issue - I thought it was nice to be given an option before the numbers were put on the different cars - I've not been given a choice since.

There is more of an issue with registering it in January if it's not ready, but do you know this has actually happened? If it was registered Jan 31st I'd want it on my drive within a week or so, and that's not unreasonable. If it's going to drag on for weeks I'd want to know why it was registered early. Although I don't believe the change of reg makes a huge difference now that it's twice yearly (especially if you're keeping the car for several years - people don't care which number it's on when it's 5 years old), I'd definitely want a late Feb car delayed until 1st March.

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and thts the point im getting at. he said it be in the country last week, on fri his last email was "he let me know when it arrives and should be next week"....which actually is this week

jan 26th email said it should arrive in the uk that week

but thts more my bug bare is that he doesnt keep me in touch [i have to keep asking] and ok the rush is to get jan figures is fine is the car is here within a short period of time, by the way i ordered the car xmas week which is another reason im suspicious as tht wasnt too long ago

As I think has been mentioned already in this thread, it may well be a good move to have a word with the sales manager in order to establish what is going on and for you to tell them your concerns.

I think too much is read into this selecting your number plate.

First off, the first two letters indicate the area/city/dvla office.
LA to LY indicate London.
MA to MY indicate Manchester/Merseyside
and so on.

The two numbers are it's year or part of.
Early part of the year March to Sept get 15.
Sept to following March get 65.

So out of seven, you can't choose the first four unless you wait until the appropriate year and/or buy your car within a region that uses the first two letters

The last three digits are totally random letters and are issued in bulk to all the local dealers, those are what some dealers "offer" you to select, they have many, so why not offer them, first come first served.

So for example, a London dealer will start before March with a list of registrations to add to there sales.
LA15 AAA to AZZ
The next
LA15 ABA to ABZ
And so on.

They have these bulk lists as they are really the only people that have need of them, used car dealers don't, the newsagent doesn't need them either!

DVLA cream the good ones off first and sell via auctions (or don't issue them for obvious reasons, say PI55 OFF) and the rest go to dealers.

You can't walk into a dealers that have LA15 AAA to AZZ on their list and ask for MP15 TZM, it's just not their list of numbers to assign, you'd have to arrange the purchase of that number (if available) yourself or buy from a dealer that still has it on their list (But it'll be in the North West, not London)

Another thought from these comments, is the vehicle registered in your name or in the dealer's name. To register in your name, they'd have needed you to insure it. If they've registered it in their name, you will be the second owner. Is this what you agreed to? The financial deal may be reliant on this, but were you told? If not, you are now buying a "used" or second-hand car, but for the new price. They may now need to share a lot of their bonus with you as a big discount. Read the order form carefully before then talking to the sales manager.

Dealers don't require the purchaser to insure a car themselves so it can be registered or taxed, they usually do it themselves via a limited 14 day policy they sell the car with, saves a lot of messing about sending policies back and forth.

I know it's something Fiat UK do, both myself and the Mrs got 14 days free policy, then spent two weeks fending off calls from "Fiat insurance" trying to sell us insurance at three times the price!

Dealer registered cars are getting thin on the ground these days due to them having to cough up the tax/vat on them, but then not getting all of it back once sold on, as mentioned it's no longer a new car and won't be priced as such, so a portion of the vat needs swallowing.

Dealers more likely buy cheaper from cars already in the importers stock, they get back all the vat, customers get a new car quickly without the build wait, but they don't usually get a say on options and certain colours.

Goudrons said:

Dealers don't require the purchaser to insure a car themselves so it can be registered or taxed, they usually do it themselves via a limited 14 day policy they sell the car with, saves a lot of messing about sending policies back and forth.

I know it's something Fiat UK do, both myself and the Mrs got 14 days free policy, then spent two weeks fending off calls from "Fiat insurance" trying to sell us insurance at three times the price!

Dealer registered cars are getting thin on the ground these days due to them having to cough up the tax/vat on them, but then not getting all of it back once sold on, as mentioned it's no longer a new car and won't be priced as such, so a portion of the vat needs swallowing.

Dealers more likely buy cheaper from cars already in the importers stock, they get back all the vat, customers get a new car quickly without the build wait, but they don't usually get a say on options and certain colours.

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Completely agree. The 14-day 'free' insurance is not really an act of total kindness by the smiling salesman, as it simply ensures that the dealer makes the sale stick and removes the risk of the buyer not getting insurance at the right price and potentially walking away. Nothing really free in this world is there....

portland_bill said:

Another thought from these comments, is the vehicle registered in your name or in the dealer's name. To register in your name, they'd have needed you to insure it. If they've registered it in their name, you will be the second owner. Is this what you agreed to? The financial deal may be reliant on this, but were you told? If not, you are now buying a "used" or second-hand car, but for the new price. They may now need to share a lot of their bonus with you as a big discount. Read the order form carefully before then talking to the sales manager.

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really??? oh god there is so much more to this car buying lark than i thought
no he never mentioned anything like that, i just presumed it be reg in my name.

ummm order form???? what order form????

mantababe said:

really??? oh god there is so much more to this car buying lark than i thought
no he never mentioned anything like that, i just presumed it be reg in my name.

ummm order form???? what order form????

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I doubt anything like that is going on!!! The only reason people are speculating is because you haven't asked the dealer what's happening - surely that's your first port of call? Speak to the dealer principal if you can't/won't speak to the salesman. :idea:

The order form should have been given to you to sign when you paid the deposit. It's important not least because it details what is meant to happen & what your cancellation rights are. It also details what the spec etc of the car you've ordered is, and you should have been given a copy. Never come across a dealer who isn't keen to get your signature on the contract - are you saying you don't have one?

Palio said:

I doubt anything like that is going on!!! The only reason people are speculating is because you haven't asked the dealer what's happening - surely that's your first port of call? Speak to the dealer principal if you can't/won't speak to the salesman. :idea:

The order form should have been given to you to sign when you paid the deposit. It's important not least because it details what is meant to happen & what your cancellation rights are. It also details what the spec etc of the car you've ordered is, and you should have been given a copy. Never come across a dealer who isn't keen to get your signature on the contract - are you saying you don't have one?

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all i got was a copy of the Finance Suitability Documents. the order was placed on the phone and the options i chose were sent via email

i got no order form from him, in fact i emailed asking if i got any order paperwork. and he said no and that everything is signed on delivery

This is getting silly now. There is also some incorrect information being given.

First off Mantababe, you need to speak to the dealership. Until then, anything is speculation and is therefore little use to you. We can't answer it all, neither should we have to. The dealer is being paid by you and Fiat, so they need to do their job.

Secondly, Fiat do not issue documents to enable registration of a vehicle. The vehicle moves through various statuses on Fiats system, from when it's ordered to when it's delivered. Once it reaches a certain stage the dealer is able to link it with a customers details and a registration number via AFRL (Automated First Registration & Licensing), which is a computer link to DVLA. At this point they are able to print a document which contains the vehicle and customer details and the registration number. The customer is to check all the details are correct, sign and date the document and the dealer then confirms the registration on AFRL, which sends the information to DVLA for them to print the V5C registration certificate/log book and post it to the customer.

Registration numbers cannot be picked at random by the customer as Goudrons as correctly pointed out. You might be lucky if your initials match, for example my initals are LM, so if I bought a car from London I might end up with LM64 or LM15, but otherwise it's likely the reg number will mean nothing as they are allocated at random through AFRL to the dealer. For example a dealer may have their area prefix and age identifier (in Oxford that is OA-OZ, then currently 64) followed by a selection of random letters usually following a pattern, ie AAA, AAB, AAC. They might not have AAZ, that might go to another dealer, and its highly unlikely they'll have anything that means something to most people. That's what private plates are for.

Therefore the issue here isn't so much being able to choose a registration number, as the dealer is effectively powerless there. The problem is they appear to have registered a car on a 64 plate, when it might not turn up until such time that it could've been a 15 plate. This you will only be able to check with the dealer. If it turns up this week as the salesman said, then no problem. However, if it turns up after 15 Feb, then you could potentially have asked if they'd hang on to register it as a 15 plate for March 1st. They might've said no, especially as you've had a hefty discount. However if they haven't provided you with an order form with any terms and conditions, they're on dodgy ground in saying what is or isn't allowed.

A 2015 64 plate Panda is likely to be worth a few hundred quid less than an equivalent 2015 15 plate in 3 years time, so you could possibly ask for compensation in terms of money or accessories/fuel. Around £250 is reasonable, any more is a bonus. If they turn down any request you could choose to cancel your order, but again I don't know where you stand with this as they've not provided you with an order form. You would need to speak to Citizens Advice or a Solicitor if you decided to go down this route.


Another problem for the dealer is that if they have registered the car without you seeing the AFRL documents with your details on, they're in breach of their AFRL agreement. The documents with your details on are what form the registration document sent from DVLA, and DVLA take a dim view of errors on registration documents caused by the dealer not checking details with the customer. If they found out your car had been registered without you checking the details first, they could suspend the dealers AFRL license, meaning they would legally not be allowed to register any more cars - serious stuff. Whether DVLA would resort to this for one breach I don't know, but if a number of errors were made because of it, they probably wouldn't be best pleased, and they do audit dealers who have AFRL licenses to ensure they're complying with the rules.

I know all this as it's been my job to register cars on AFRL for a number of companies over the years including a Fiat dealer, and I've also worked for DVLA. Therefore apart from allowing for any changes to legislation in the past 9 months since I stopped doing it for a living, I will be correct.

thank you JDT for your lengthy reply i really appreciate it as you can deffo tell i know nothing about buying new cars and feel totally out on a limb. tbh its not as i expected at all and im rather despondent by the whole thing, this is costing me money [of course] which i thought long and hard over if i can justify spending or should i just do my usual and buy a 2nd hand car.

i really looked forward to the fun of getting a new car, but now the fun has gone and been replaced by worry, due to not knowing how it all happens and thus feel ive been duped by my salesman.

i always thought it was weird that i didnt have any paperwork, to the point of even wondering if hed actually placed the order, [as silly as this sounds] i was looking forward to be able to say my car is at status 20.30 ect but alas no, i have to keep asking where it is, and i just get replies it should be in uk next wk...thats gone on 3 weeks now.

i do realise i am being very tiresome on here, but i really am a complete novice, i work as a nurse and thus work hard [like you all] i have not much knowledge with machines engines [yawn yawn] how to look after paint work, my idea of a great car is ....what colour is it?

my OH is great BUT he doesnt believe in spending money on cars so hes no help in this situ, so im sorry guys you are all ive got.

this salemans actually tried to add on a few hundred pounds when i first enquired asked about cost, it was only due to being on here that i found out how to work out the PS, i ended up having to ring fiat and he contacted the salemans and found out he was adding something [cant remember what] onto my quote that fiat already pays for, so thus getting the money twice.

i should be very excited by the prospect of my car arriving this week...however, i bet it doesnt and thus i have no excitement, as i can see it take weeks and tht means stress for me as i have to approach the salemans to complain ..........not what i imagined happening buying a new car

Sorry to hear the stress you've had with this one mantababe. It doesn't sound right at all the way you have been treated (I've seen your other posts about how you've not felt very welcome at all by the sales guy).

Have you actually paid any deposit at all yet? Would be interested to know.

Anyway, I think your best bet at the moment is to stick with what JTD_Liam said back in post 6; if the car genuinely isn't on the way for a while then you should get Fiat CS involved.

yes ive paid a deposit, and do you know what, im sure ive not got a receipt for it, i shall check my bank account later to see if its been taken out. i paid the deposit over the phone when i ordered the car in december.

What a shame your sense of anticipation has been spoiled - however, I'm sure the reality when you (finally) take delivery will make up for all the hassle.

I quite agree babbo_umbro.

I am relative "newbie" of Fiat ownership compared to some on here, but six years isn't too bad going

The cars (500, Panda and Punto) have all been great in their own little ways. The after-sales side of things...well, it's been pretty pathetic over the years to be honest. I'd almost go as far to say it's non-existent actually, although I have dealt with some really good people and dealers in that time (who are often frustrated at the lack of support/info from "higher up").

Anyway, what I'm trying to get at is that the car will be great I'm sure - try not to worry about all the incidental c***

I think at this stage I would want to avoid telephone contact and perhaps put some simple questions in email to the dealership (preferably copying several recipients and FIAT customer service):


1. Will the car be first registered in my name? If not, why not and what would be offered in compensation? (they did this to me once - wasn't happy)


2. What will be the registration date of the vehicle and what is the anticipated delivery date?


3. Please provide a copy of the purchase contract listing the prices.


Plus anything else you can think of....


Always in 'writing' so that you have an audit.

tht is really good practical advice

i have been dealing with him by email

can anyone else think of anything else i should say? as i will do an email this pm, although i need to add a receipt for deposit

but any other questions for me to put please tell me......REMEMBER IM A TOTAL NEWBIE

ok £500 deposit paid on 17 dec 2014

ok car has been reg as me as first owner and reg on the 31st
he thinks it should be here today or tomor and ready for the week end

mantababe said:

ok car has been reg as me as first owner and reg on the 31st
he thinks it should be here today or tomor and ready for the week end

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So far so good then. I'll state the obvious.


When you go to pick-up the car, try not to be rushed. Look all around for defects and inspect slowly and methodically, create a checklist if it helps. Forget the bunch of flowers on the seat and any other diversion techniques.


This is your money, so taking time to check for perfection BEFORE signing the documentation is for your own benefit.