We've succumbed to a personal plate for our still on order 500, but I'm a bit confused about what should happen when the car arrives.

The nice lady at the DVLA said that I should receive a certificate (which will arrive well before the car by the looks of things) that I can take to my dealer and they will be able to register the car to the personal plate (which I would assume saves a bit of money by the dealer not having to get an 08 plate for the car).

When I called the dealer to let them know this, they said that this couldn't be done and that the car would have to be registered with an 08 plate and then transfered to the personal plate by ourselves at a later date. (one thing the delaer suggested was that this would allow us to keep the plate when selling on the car at a later date, but I also got the impression that it just wasn't possible to have the car registered straight to the personal plate).

The plate is personalised to the car, not us, so there is a chance that should we ever think of selling it on, the plate might go with it. However, I sort of assumed that should we decide to buy another 500 and therefore keep the plate, we could then register this car for an 08 plate at a future date, i.e. when/if we decide to sell it.

Can anyone tell me whether the lady at the DVLA was right, or the dealer. I sort of trust the lady more, but didn't want to get stroppy with the dealer when I'm not sure of my facts. Any facts gratefully received

Hi! I have got a personalised plate ready for my 500 on order and my dealer is quite happy to register the car with my plate number ,in fact he has already got it written down so they can make the plates up, also on the other 500 site I know there are quite a few who have their plates registered on their new 500 so think its your dealer who is not telling you the whole truth!!

By the way , what plate have you gone for???

Thanks for that information. We went for Y500 FUN which was the only 500 FUN left on the DVLA web site. (I'm really hoping that ownership IS fun, I'm getting a bit nervous..... the last car I bought new was a 1996 LHD Renault Twingo (still going [fairly] strong!)

As for the dealer, I didn't mention the actual number plate so it is possible he thought that no-one in their right minds would only register a car against a personalised plate. I just wanted to feel more confident of my facts before I called back to discuss it again, so thank you.

Thats ok,my dealer also said that if I want to sell the car later on I can just get an 08 plate registered for it, dont know whether that would cost extra but probably!!! so what spec have you gone for and when do you get your new 'baby'??

It's to be a Passo Red 1.3 Sport with (hopefully) split rear seats and a chrome kit. I say hopefully since we added the split rear seats and chrome kit the day after the original order (they are written on the order, but with hearing about others' problems with things added later, I'm half expecting the car to come without them....)

As to delivery I'm still waiting for the dealer to get back to me on that one - I suspect I'll need to chase it up. The order went in on 1st Feb, so hopefully April sometime. I'm not overly keen to get it until after road gritting stops though

So you've gone for the multijet engine?? I ordered mine on the 15th feb and was told build week11 and delivery hopefully first weekish in April so will wait and see!

I got a personalised plate fitted by the dealer but when I first mentioned it one of the sales men told me they would have to register my car on an 08 plate and I'd have to transfer the personalised number myself.

I went back a week later and mentioned it to a different salesman and he said they could do it, no problem . Go back to your dealer and speak to someone different - perhaps the person you spoke to just couldn't be bothered to deal with your query.

Personalised plates can be registered direct onto a new car, however when you come to sell the car the DVLA will allocate an appropriate MY plate to the car, this will cost you £80 (currently) to re register the car onto its plate.

You will also have to pay a retention fee to hold you plate if you dont transfer it immediately to another car.

[ My son has a personalised plate currently on retention]

The problem here is a lack of knowledge on the part of the salesmen.

But that is because the registering of private plates on brand new cars is something Fiat salesmen very rarely have to do.

Phone a Jag dealership and ask them.

Thanks for all your input. I'm really impressed with this forum - so many helpful 500 enthusiasts out there

I'll call the dealer on Monday and sort things out.

I am transferring my cherished plate to my 500 come April/May.

Dealer is doing it for me although I have to pay a DOT transfer fee of £80.

Cherished plate is not related to 500 but my age and a particular word.

I'm playing with the configuator just to pass the time....!

Yep also have a personalised plate bought last year

W500 CAR, Dealer happy to get fitted (Desira Ipswich) so no probs, try again as suggested.

Gill

I got my 500 with the personal reg on it. You just give the dealer the dvla certificate and they with register it with your number.